Some people say they write for themselves, and some say they write for their readers, and others say they write for both.

However, I am convinced that everyone writes for themselves. Even if they write for others, they are writing for others for themselves. That’s right, our motives are intrinsically selfish. If you are one who says that you write for others, you do so to please your readers, but pleasing your readers pleases you. The root motivation is selfish. Selfish is not a bad thing, it’s a natural thing. Our root instinct is to survive, to preserve ourselves. Everything else we do branches off of this basic instinct. So yes, everyone writes for themselves.

“Time,” has been of interest to philosophers for ages. Everyone eventually ponders it. Some say that time does not exist, and others say that time is a measurement of change. And myself? You could say that I believe in Presentism. I do not think that there is a timeline that is laid out that we can travel upon to and forth. There is no evidence that the present continues to exist after it has passed (would then be labeled as the past). And there is no evidence that the future exist before it comes into present. Therefore, I think that there is a greater possibility that there is only this moment, and the contents of this moment simply keep changing. In relation to what you are saying, I would agree that it is in your best interest to be “aware” of the moment.

On thing to help realize our now-ness is to acknowledge our inhales and exhales. We are breathing all the time, so much that it is instinctive. We don’t have to think about it. But if you stop, and realize that you are breathing, become aware of your inhales and exhales, it helps to make you aware of the moment. You are here, now, alive, and aware.

Check out my new Zune! The back is designed by Nobumasa Takahashi.

The podcast you see here is from Point of Inquiry.

It has been through my observations and experience in life that has led me to disbelieve in the existence of a god. I have found absolutely ZERO direct evidence to support the theory that a god exist. I have researched and discussed the subject with believers and non-believers alike, attended various churches, and participate in a society where the majority believe. Even though the majority are believers, none of them have been able to provide any shred of evidence that the god they believe in does in fact exist. Despite this lack of evidence, believers insist in the existence of such a deity and further claim that this deity created the universe to support mankind so that mankind can in turn worship the deity. Their main source of inspiration for this belief is the Bible.

Why don’t I believe that a supernatural being exist? It’s pretty simple actually, as I stated, there’s simply no direct evidence that supports that a god exist. That is a big one, NO EVIDENCE. Not to mention that it would seem rather egotistical to believe that the universe was created just to be disposed of by man. But what makes me most skeptical is what I have observed as the reasons why believers do believe.

It is the nature of man to survive, it is man’s primal instinct. Man has this self-preservation trait engrained into him, and therefore he does what is necessary to live as long and as well as he can. So when a religion comes along as promises him life everlasting in heaven as long as he abides by the words of the Bible, he is naturally attracted. The promise of life everlasting scratches the itch of this self-preservation trait, which is just a subset of man’s parent characteristic, “selfishness”. Not only does such a promise satisfy the hunger of this self preservation trait, but it also comforts mans fear of death. People are afraid of the unknown, especially the unknown of death. Even the most intelligent people don’t want to die, so they too can and will choose to believe in this promise of afterlife. But in order to believe, they need to prove to themselves that it is true despite all contradicting evidence. This is where “faith,” comes into play, that is, to believe in something without evidence. This is an absolute necessity to such a belief. I have observed that people who choose to believe in god rely on faith to convince themselves that what they are believing is true. To further convince themselves that god is real and this promise of life everlasting is true, they relay this belief to everyone else as though it were true. In effect, they are attempting to self brainwash themselves in to believing that it is true.

But the truth is, they are not interested in the truth. They are interested in comfort. The thought of a creator\caretaker in the sky that watches over them and protects them, and will give them a reward of life in heaven if they follow and believe in the words of the bible, makes them feel good. They would rather easily believe in this then face the challenging ongoing search for answers of why we live, what happens after we die, ect…

Creationist, aka “Intelligent Design Theorist,” obviously claim that an intelligent designer created the universe and that this intelligent designer is an uncaused cause. Saying that the intelligent designer is an uncaused cause, prevents the argument of, “if god created the universe, then who or what created god,” which usually ends in an infinite regression, sometimes referred to as the, “it’s turtles all the way down” argument. But once again, they have no proof that god is an uncaused cause.

When asking a believer of god for evidence to support their beliefs, they often refer to the Bible, refer to faith, or they become defensive. The reason many become defensive is that they need to preserve all the work and efforts they have put into proving to themselves that their belief is based on truth. When they are unable to provide evidence to a non-believers question, they often revert to various misdirection techniques to avoid ever really having to answer the non-believers questions, such as name calling, saying the non-believer will go to hell for not believing, asking for proof that god does not exist, etc… anything that will allow them to step over the nonbelievers question.

Being a pursuer of truth, a problem I have is that creationist promote creationism as though it is proven and true. This is simply a lie and false advertisement. The idea that the universe was created by a deity has not been proven to be factual. However, creationist sell it as a fact. This is dishonest, and this dishonesty ends up discrediting creationists argument even further. I find that even the evidence for the big bang and evolution outweighs the creationist “magician in the sky” theory. Creationist discourage “reason and logic” by promoting and requiring members to have “faith - (believe without evidence)” in their theory to gain acceptance. In return, they promise life everlasting in Heaven. The reward is selling the theory, definitely not evidence.

I teach my 3 sons not to use the word “hate.” The word itself is just that, a word. However, the meaning and power it carries by simply using it can be devastating. When one says, “I hate “this or that,” hate is not placed in that in which you hate, but rather in the haters heart, your heart. It is more damaging to the one that hates then to that in which is being hated. When you have hate in your heart, it can spread like a virus, and it becomes easier to hate, thus polluting your heart in this endless hatred, finally turning your heart black. Just by using the word “hate,” whether you mean it or not, it can spread, battle, and conflict with the love that is also in your heart. There is no good that comes directly from hate. By hating something, you allow that thing to further bother you even more then it already has. If you really “dislike” this thing so much, then let it go, if you don’t then you are allowing it to control you, thus increasing your hatred towards it. By just simply using the word this chain reaction can happen. The word “hate” should not be used lightly, preferably not at all.

How can one prevent oneself from hating? Where does hatred come from? There can be many reasons and ways for hatred to come about, but there is a simple answer. More or less, the source of hatred forms when our expectations are not met to our satisfaction. When one expects something, and it does not happen how we expected it to, we become disappointed. If we continue to have ideas on how things should be, and discriminate between things based off of our opinions, we are sure to eventually be let down. This can lead to hatred in that in which is not to our satisfaction. The answer, Do not expect. If you do not expect, you can not be disappointed. Remain neutral and remove your discrimination and prejudice which both can lead to hatred. Remember that discrimination can be as simple as valuing one thing over another. Remove that.
Don’t be afraid that by reaching this neutral state that life will be boring. It will not. Everything will be beautiful, and at the same time not, because the relativeness is gone. This is also the way to cease suffering.

The fact that I stated hate is a bad word implies a discrimination, an expectation, a prejudice is in effect. If I was in this state of neutrality myself, hate would neither be bad nor good. The two would be one. However, I used this headline to make a point. To bring forth awareness, like a slap to your head that wakes you up, just when you thought you were already awake.

If it is true that everything is a lie (an illusion), then the statement contradicts itself by being true, thus making the statement false by involuntarily proving truths existence.
If it is false that everything is a lie (an illusion), then it again simply proves truths existence.
Either way, Truth is proven to exist.

In life, “the illusion” is often prettied up and designed to sell, and at that, at discount prices. People bite at the bargain, It seems easier and cheaper, so their off with their bargain, and go down this long winding road until they eventually are lost, and finally reach a dead end, the end of “the illusion.” They are then forced to turn back, and back track to where the road originally split, sometimes taking them what seems like an eternity just to get back to that fork. Once, they are there. Then, they take that road, yes, the one less traveled, the one that leads them to the way of enlightenment, the way they wish they would have traveled to begin with, the way their hearts originally pointed to, the way of the truth.

Today I heard somebody say, “Where am I?” I thought to myself, “You are right where you are.” You are always right where you are. You are always right here and now. Then I pondered my use of the word “always.” “Always” is a word that shouldn’t be used lightly. It’s an endless word like “never.” I started working it out in my head, Are we really ALWAYS right where we are? What about when we die, when we are buried below the ground, or have been turned to dust and thrown in the ocean. In death, since there is no conscious to think or say, “I am here,” are we sincerely no longer here? Which naturally raises the next question.

Who is “I”? When we speak of ourselves, when we say, “I,” is this “I” - us physically, or is “I” simply our conscious, or maybe something more? I’m sure this is an age old question, but I feel it is important to understand, to come one step closer to living aware and in the light of truth. If “I” or our “self” is just our “conscious awareness,” then when we die, I would assume that “I” would cease to be, thereby forcing me to remove the “always” from my previous statement. The reason I would have to “assume” that “I” would cease to be in death and not know it as a fact is because I have never died. I do not know what death consists of other then our physical parts cease to function and our bodies rapidly descend into decay.

If “I” is more then just our conscious, say for example it consist of our physical form, and even maybe a spirit (though I have yet to uncover proof of spirit existence) then perhaps the above statement has a chance of holding true even with the always, but It may be unlikely. The only thing I have found consistent in the world, that would constitute using the word “always” is “change.” Change is always occurring.

Even as I write this, I keep using the word “I” to reflect “me.” But what really is “I” or “me.” Further thought might conclude that “I” is a reflection or the resulting reaction of everything that “I” has come in contact with, thus making “I” a part of everything. So even if my body and my conscious die, The “I” still lives on in everything else. How is this possible you ask? In this scenario, “I” is not only a reflection or the resulting reaction of everything, but also a contributor to everything. Everything “I” comes in contact with is effected from that moment on. This motion is happening every moment, a continuous chain reaction linking us all together as one.

The conclusion, there is only one “I.” We are all “I.”

Think of it like this, each of us resembles one word, and these words create one diary, a diary that is continuously being written. If someone outside of this chain were to read this diary and every word in it. As they pass through each word, those individual words may die, but their meaning and contribution to the diary still lives on.

James over at “Right On!” posted his opinion on a new plan called, Edge (Evolutionarily Distinct Globally Endangered), a conservation effort to save endangered species. James’s focus was on “man” and mans obsession with control and stepping in on Mother Nature by trying to preserve a “naturally?” dying out species.

There is nothing new about this. Groups and organizations have been out there for a long time to protect endangered species. As far as if it is right or wrong, who can say? Doesn’t it not equally effect nature in saving a life and in taking one? We take animals lives all the time, for survival, for food. Would it really hurt so much, to save? There is a whole lot of killing in the world, and not much saving. In this respect, I can’t complain about the act of saving a creature, a life. If the species were about to go extinct, and we saved it, therefore, not becoming extinct, and have the possibility to repopulate, is this unnatural? What is natural anymore? Does a snowflake not fall perfectly in place?

I do agree on “mans” ego though and trying to control everything. We are too big for our britches. With power comes responsibility, and the modern man has not been as responsible as it should. Our abuse of nature is outweighing our respect and care for nature. In the end, we will have destroyed ourselves due to a lack of responsibility of our power. Maybe we should take a refresher lesson from our native Indians on “resourcefulness.”

What are your thoughts?

When people ask me what religion I am,
or what do I believe…
I reply,
“I believe in the truth.”

Have a problem handling the truth?
Take it down with a cup of understanding.

Don’t understand?
Then empty your cup.

Now you’ve made a mess.
Clean it up.

Now go wash your hands.

Now go.
You are ready.