Being connected no matter what

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How easy is it to feel a universal blissful connection to all things?

Easy peasy, I just have to think it and then I'll feel it
0
No votes
Very hard, a person would have to do a huge amount of inner work to feel this
1
100%
Not possible, there are situations where we will feel disconnected and there is nothing we can do about it.
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 1

honjaku
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Being connected no matter what

Post by honjaku »

There is a group that I've been a part of for a variety of reasons and one of the goals of their practices is 'being connected no matter what'. That has fostered some interested conversations - including about what it means to feel connected.

There was something Alan Watts wrote, the more you know yourself, the more you realize that you are alone on a fundamental level. You can never really experience what someone else does, no matter how close you get. The barrier of the individual self will always be there, if it wasn't you wouldn't be there.

Some very romantic people I know have been crushed by this realization (when it has come to them). No matter how much passion there is, the two cannot become one except very briefly, and then the separation starts again.

So the only answer is to seek union within ourselves isnt it? Or can we be content separate? What is your thought on being connected no matter what?

Aside: I'm not the biggest fan of new age circles in this matter - one reason is that the first response I have heard from people in new age circles is that hey yes, we feel connected no matter what, we feel this deep blissful connection with everyone and everything. To me if I look closer it seems fake, an expression of a feeling that has no substance behind it, as in most people who say that are lying, they are putting on a mask. That is my (definitely subjective for sure) impression. (but then its an impression!)

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Post by Roncooper »

Honjaku,

I vote for a fourth choice. A person experiences a blissful union with all things not by action, but by grace. By this I mean the Whole enters, or reveals itself, into your waking consciousness.

I think a person can develop a feeling of connectedness to all things, but I am skeptical that it is a blissful feeling, probably more of a warm and cozy feeling.

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Post by romansh »

I like Carl Sagan's
We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.

I might quibble with the word know, but I agree with the gist.

For me this poll is like asking is the Cosmos connected with itself.

When I look deep inside of myself,
I see the universe quietly staring back.
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

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Post by romansh »

I was going to edit my last post, but the gremlins are not allowing edits at the moment.

I wanted to add ... no I don't feel connected, but reason screams at me that I am.
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

Roncooper
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Post by Roncooper »

I am finally back on line.

Isn't it interesting that while it is obvious that we are connected, we don't feel connected.

The situation reminds me of a remark made by Alan Watts. After studying various mystical religions he concluded that the human condition was best described as God, or Brahman, playing an eternal game of hide and seek with himself.

Brahman becomes human beings, who pretend to be separate and hide from the truth. When things get too weird the person wakes up to the fact that they are really the Whole.

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Hey thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry for the late acknowledgement, I didn't get the notice that replies had been made so didn't check. Does look like this forum is very slow though...

Good thoughts.

Roncooper regarding experiencing connection as a feeling, no feeling lasts does it? So any feeling of connection will pass like all things. The experience of continuous connection cannot be a feeling then can it?

"no I don't feel connected, but reason screams at me that I am."

Romansh, thanks for sharing that. What is the reason that is screaming at you that you are connected? Can you elaborate?

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Hey thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry for the late acknowledgement, I didn't get the notice that replies had been made so didn't check. Does look like this forum is very slow though...

Good thoughts.

Roncooper regarding experiencing connection as a feeling, no feeling lasts does it? So any feeling of connection will pass like all things. The experience of continuous connection cannot be a feeling then can it?

"no I don't feel connected, but reason screams at me that I am."

Romansh, thanks for sharing that. What is the reason that is screaming at you that you are connected? Can you elaborate?

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Hey thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry for the late acknowledgement, I didn't get the notice that replies had been made so didn't check. Does look like this forum is very slow though...

Good thoughts.

Roncooper regarding experiencing connection as a feeling, no feeling lasts does it? So any feeling of connection will pass like all things. The experience of continuous connection cannot be a feeling then can it?

"no I don't feel connected, but reason screams at me that I am."

Romansh, thanks for sharing that. What is the reason that is screaming at you that you are connected? Can you elaborate?

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Hey thanks everyone for your responses. Sorry for the late acknowledgement, I didn't get the notice that replies had been made so didn't check. Does look like this forum is very slow though...

Good thoughts.

Roncooper regarding experiencing connection as a feeling, no feeling lasts does it? So any feeling of connection will pass like all things. The experience of continuous connection cannot be a feeling then can it?

"no I don't feel connected, but reason screams at me that I am."

Romansh, thanks for sharing that. What is the reason that is screaming at you that you are connected? Can you elaborate?

romansh
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Post by romansh »

honjaku wrote: Romansh, thanks for sharing that. What is the reason that is screaming at you that you are connected? Can you elaborate?
In short - being connected to the universe by cause and effect. I am not independent of cause ... it is I suppose similar to the Buddhist concept of dependent origination.

The Free Will thread expands in some detail on this theme.
as does the Monism thread.
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Does that reasoning help you feel connected? Does it provide comfort?

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Post by romansh »

honjaku wrote:Does that reasoning help you feel connected? Does it provide comfort?
No not really, on both counts.

I can try and expand if you or anyone is interested?
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Yes, please do so.

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Post by romansh »

honjaku wrote:Yes, please do so.
Here is an essay I wrote a while back on free will
http://www3.telus.net/romansh/juris/freewill.htm
it sort describes partially what I am trying to say.

I believe in cause and effect. Now some people might not - fair enough. .

My actions or behaviour have antecedents and consequences ... ie ABC - antecedents, behaviours, consequences. Now people generally have little problem seeing that consequences are linked to behaviours and that there may be other things out there impacting the consequence(s). Sometimes we don't see the antecedents that cause our behaviours so we treat ourselves and others as literally automatons (in the original sense of the word). We see everyone as agents that in someway are independent of cause.

We see ourselves to some degree as self made men (and thereby alleviating god of an almighty responsibility). I should include women and goddesses (same difference) for the sake of political correctness.

At the psychological level I and my behaviours are caused. Also at the biological, chemical and physical. We then can focus on any planet, country, individual molecule, fundamental particle and see it as in a mesh of cause and effect. And consequently anything is ultimately a reflection of the universe unfolding. This is what I think is at the heart of the Indra's net metaphor.

Everything is connected through time by cause and effect.

Does this help?
"That's right!" shouted Vroomfondel, "we demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!"

honjaku
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Post by honjaku »

Nice essay, the logic is all good. The question was does this analysis offer comfort? Does it help you feel connected? The exploration is of the felt experience of connection. We human being seem to need it, indeed life without it seems almost unbearable. So how does this felt experience of connection manifest? Coming back to the original question, is it possible to have this felt experience all the time? How so?

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