Posted inBooks Free will Science

The dizzying joy of being freed from “free will”

Free will is an illusion. We're full of wants, desires, thoughts, emotions, and such. But we can't want our wants, desire our desires, think our thoughts, emote our emotions, or freely choose anything. This is the convincing central message of Sam Harris' "Free Will," a short book that I read halfway through today and am enjoying as much as I thought I would. It's only 66 pages long. Yet it could have been even shorter, because Harris necessarily repeats his no free will theme in various ways -- getting his point across from different perspectives. I say "necessarily" since the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Unauthorized photo of Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Ah, this feels so deliciously tabloid'ish. I received a photo of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, from an utterly anonymous source. This wouldn't be newsworthy if the guru wasn't so camera-shy. To my knowledge there are only a few authorized photos of Gurinder Singh Dhillon (he's at the top left in the Google Images search). When I did security volunteering for RSSB in the 1990's, I was more than a little astonished to observe the guru waving "no, no!" at someone who was taking a photo of him in a public place from quite a ways…
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Posted inBooks Free will Science

Sam Harris’ “Free Will” arrives today

Ooh, ooh, I'm so excited! Amazon tells me my pre-ordered copy of "Free Will" by Sam Harris should be delivered today. Can't help my excitement. I have no free will. Harris gives away the plot line of his book in The Illusion of Free Will. In that short piece he ends with a great question: How can we make sense of our lives, and hold people accountable for their choices, given the unconscious origins of our conscious minds? His new book is just 96 pages long. Good. I want to learn Harris' answer.
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Posted inMiscellaneous

Aging is upward ascension of the human spirit

As an old geezer respected elder who now is on the Social Security gravy train, I'm always on the lookout for reasons to look upon age 60+ as the "golden years." Yes, right now I'm enjoying life. But at the beginning of the video below, Jane Fonda correctly says that our culture has tended to look upon aging as the downward cycle of a human lifespan. From middle-aged vigor, it's a steady slump into decrepitude. Fortunately, her central eleven minute message is a heck of a lot more positive. Bodies may decline in various ways, but the "spirit" (which I don't…
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Posted inPlotinus Radha Soami Satsang Beas

My letter to a supposed Godly guru

As noted in my previous post, devotees of various Indian "Sant Mat" movements believe that the gurus who head up these groups are GIHF -- God in human form. If such were true, Jesus is alive and well in various bearded, turbaned male bodies. Including that of Gurinder Singh, guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). I was an active member of RSSB for over thirty years. Near the end of my involvement with the organization I had quite a bit of personal contact with Gurinder Singh.  I had several private interviews with the guru, and met with him in…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Sant Rajinder Singh: “godman” revealed as ordinary guy

Christians might be surprised to know that Jesus is alive and well, right here on Earth. Not the historical Jesus who died on the cross several thousand years ago, but other humans who share Jesus' divinity, his "son of God" status. Such is the teaching of Sant Mat movements. They're based in India and have an affinity with Hinduism and Sikhism. A central Sant Mat tenet is that God-realization requires initiation ("baptism") by a perfect living guru who is considered to be God in human form. Just like Jesus! Which makes these Sant Mat movements appealing to people who want…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Jeff Bethke says “I hate religion,” but he loves organized Christianity

Not being clued in to the latest Christian YouTube trends, until I read the latest issue of TIME magazine last night I'd been unaware of the super-buzz surrounding Jeff Bethke -- whose Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus has gotten almost 20 million views. (The TIME article is only available online to subscribers, but here's an earlier piece about Bethke.) It's a slick video. So slick, it seems likely this wasn't solely produced by a Jesus-loving young guy whose only motivation was to draw people away from organized Christianity. But before I say more along this line, have a look…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Science

Doubt is the stepping stone to truth

I was so sure that I was right. It turned out that I was wrong. But after finding this out, I was able to get on the road to rightness. What got me facing in the right direction was doubt. Thank you, doubt! If it weren't for you, I'd have headed in the wrong direction for quite a bit longer. I'm not talking about a religious belief, though I could be. The lesson I learned last week is universal: don't be completely, absolutely, 100% sure about anything. Even when we're super confident that we're correct, it's important to leave open the…
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Posted inPolitics

Republicans want to establish a U.S. theocracy

I used to joke about the "American Taliban" -- fundamentalist Christians who say they want to make this country into a Bible-based theocracy. But now that every Republican presidential candidate has endorsed this crazy notion in one form or another, it isn't nearly as funny to me. Losing our constitutionally-guaranteed right of freedom from religion is a serious matter. And one worth fighting hard to prevent.  I've voted for Republicans in the past, and would consider doing so again if moderates of the sort we Oregonians used to elect came back into G.O.P. fashion. But nowadays Governor Tom McCall, Senator…
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Posted inReligions

Keep the good religious feeling. Discard the religion

Recently I had one of my marvelous enlightened insights. These occur regularly now that I've forsaken the confines of "thou shalt" religiosity. I'm not sure how much more enlightened and insightful I can become. Maybe infinitely. Can't be sure, since one of my core insights is that uncertainty and unknowing are part of the human condition. Mystery is us. Also, the cosmos. Anyway, My Big Insight (haven't copyrighted it, so feel free to share, steal, embrace) is this: If you've given up unfounded religious beliefs that you used to embrace, yet miss the pleasurable feelings those beliefs produced, keep the…
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Posted inBooks Taoism/Tai Chi

I’m loving “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Taoism”

Taoism is a way of life for fools. So when I bought The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism, I expected a good match between the usually informatively entertaining Idiot's Guide series, and my favorite philosophical approach. (I'm such a fool, I read the entire book through once, and now am re-reading it with a different colored highlighter in hand.) I was right. Brandon Toporov, writer, and Chad Hansen, Chinese scholar, teamed up to produce an overview of Taoism that is easy to read, inspiring, and practical, while also possessing intellectual rigor. I'm confident of that last assertion, since I searched out…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Ah, the wrath that awaits us at death–Satsangi Revenge 101!

Here's David Lane's great response to some highly judgmental (and theologically questionable) rants by a Sant Mat follower on a recent blog post. I say "theologically questionable" because Sant Mat teachings, Radha Soami Satsang Beas variety, at least, say that every disciple/initiate, wayward or not, will return to God within four lifetimes under the guidance of the perfect living guru, a.k.a. "God in human form." So I'm saved! Doubly saved, since I was baptized Catholic. Doesn't that get me entry to purgatory, at minimum? (I'm vague about the details of Catholic dogma; never got confirmed, thank God.) David writes on the Yahoo…
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Posted inScience Universe

“Nothing” replaces “God” in modern cosmology

Nothing is a big deal in physics nowadays. As noted in a previous post, scientists have found that even seemingly empty space actually is seething with energetic activity.  So much so, as cosmologist Lawrence Krauss describes in his new book, "A Universe from Nothing," nothing can reasonably be viewed as the creative principle which brought the universe into being -- a job most religions give to God. We have discovered that we live in a universe in which empty space -- what formerly could have passed for nothing -- has a new dynamic that dominates the current evolution of the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Does religious familiarity breed contempt?

I'm amused when other people try to understand why I did something -- like diassociate myself from the religious organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), that I was an active member of for over thirty years. Heck, I don't even know why I do stuff much of the time. None of us does. Neuroscience tells us that most of the brain/mind's activity occurs outside of conscious awareness. A desire, thought, inclination, motivation, or whatever pops up and we act on it. But where it came from or what made it rise into awareness is a mystery. To ourselves. To other…
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Posted inPolitics

Republicans want laws to be optional. Drink & drive!

Until I read Rich Lowry's column in the Oregonian today, I didn't realize how wacko the religiousy libertarian wing of the Republican Party had become.  Way wacko.  Following Lowry's logic about why Catholics with a moral distaste for contraception shouldn't have to comply with health insurance laws that apply to everybody else, apparently anybody with a moral objection to any law should be able to ignore it. About a month ago, people who thought religious institutions shouldn’t be forced to pay for things they morally oppose were unremarkable, boring even. Now, they are waging a heinous War on Women. Through the…
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Posted inHumor Personal/Stories

Universe is sending me a “Fuck. That. Shit.” message

I've got no idea who "the Universe" could be. Or if it is a "who." Or if it is, at all. Regardless... The Universe seems to be trying to communicate an important message to me.  Fuck. That. Shit.  It also comes in a different cadence and punctuation. Fuck that shit! Today I came across the Mother Ship source of the first link, a cool xkcd comic. Read it. Maybe the Universe is out to give you the same message.  Here's an excerpt from the comic that I liked a lot: I don't know how to jolt myself into seeing what…
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Posted inHumor Miscellaneous

Got to share some poetic hate-mail insults

I've got to give credit where credit is due: one of my most avid non-fans does come up with some marvelously creative (and alliterative) insulting comments.  Often these go into a Typepad spam filter, where I just discovered some heretofore unnoticed gems. Usually I ignore hate mail, but these communications struck me as possessing an admirable "Howl" style (Allen Ginsberg's classic poem) and deserved to be shared with a wider audience. why you such a two bit second grade hypocritical coward you miserable little runt eyed prat, what you so goddamn chicken about you pitiful little two faced rat? You…
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Posted inGod Science Universe

Science’s “nothing” different from religion’s “nothing”

You'd think that if secular scientists and religious true believers could agree on anything, it'd be the nature of nothing. After all, isn't nothing, well, nothing? Zero. Zilch. Nada. Absence. Void.  But, no, here too science and religion are butting heads. Scientific nothing is quite different from religious nothing. And while I used to be more on religion's side when I thought about what nothing meant in the Big Question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?", now I strongly lean toward the headbutt (or to the faithful, butthead) of science. Physicist/cosmologist Lawrence Krauss does a great job laying out…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Humor

I’m doing the “work of Our Lord.” Surprise to me.

Who knew? Certainly not me. Just got this email from Rev. Shawn Malloy, my "brother in Jesus." Dear Brother Brian My brother in Christ I want to say I love the sight [site?] and I pray that your Facebook launch will be success.  You are doing the work of Our Lord so my prayers are with you. Sincerely, Your Brother in Christ Jesus ________________________________ Reverend Dr. Shawn M. Malloy DDFounder and Senior PastorMalloy Ministrieshttp://www.malloyministries.org Excellent news. If I learn after I die that I'm wrong, and Jesus truly is the Son of God who died for our sins, I can…
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