Bill, empathy is an eternal human attribute, it's also gifted to animals...what do you think about the idea that as consciousness we consciously but unconsciously choose our own particular life experiences because that experience is just what we need to experience in order to evolve to the next level of consciousness?
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We have to be gentle as a lamb on the one hand but be as slippery as a snake on the other.
I read a story in the news recently about how a decent respectable family invited a homeless young man to come and live with them in their own private house out of the goodness of their own hearts..and the young man ended up murdering the entire family...the point is, we have to be very careful...when it comes to trusting other people. Can we ever truly know or trust another person..I don't think we can.
I think you are right and I understand what you are saying.
I see GIFs of people playing & being hugged by their huge pet bear or lion. I LOVE those. Yet I know that I would be eaten if I ran into a hungry bear in the woods, it would eat me.
I am not eating meat or fish right now in order to see if I can increase my empathy towards other living beings.
Kind-of wrote this thread with an eye upon the subject of politics. In my country, America, most individuals fear or hate their fellow countrymen based upon which political party one affiliates with at any one particular time.
To a large degree, because of my philosophical perspective, I've been detached from this love/hate relationship lately.
There is a freedom in this. A detachment.
Like the family you exemplified, I'm sure I'll get my head bashed-in shortly. But for now I appreciate the philosophical freedom I have been able to distill of late...
I take a lot of interest and read all about American politics all the time. I understand...I'm British...born in England. I love your country.
But my philosophy has always been to be true unto yourself only and all else will fall into place naturally. It is not up to man who is walking even to direct his step.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need...metaphorically speaking...this is not religious jargon claimed by humans, it's freedom speaking, it's your true self that has no copyright or claim to be. It is not religious.
And lets's not confuse the pronouns for literal things in and of them self, which humans mistakenly do all the time until they see through the illusion of other and into the real seer.
This is an eternal value...it's not to be taken literally, it's a metaphor to live in sync with what's actually happening in the moment and not what we expect to be happening..expectation is such a negative wasted energy that robs us of the bliss of the eternal now that is always at peace and rest, it's our only true home and nature...always here now.
Negative emotions... Nay, all thought, are 'organic' ie. carbon-based, which we are. And sometimes, it's really good to give some idiot a piece of my mind, when it's clearly deserved.
