: )

Short answers: suffering is the product of misalignment with the universe: it is a message, that tells us the future we are co-creating with the universe (for we are always co-creating our future, it's undeniable, your choices matter) is an undesirable one.  There is no intrinsic value beyond the value of a signal. 

Longer answers:

suffering is the product of misalignment with the universe:

to understand the big concepts like suffering and fate and such, one cannot look from a three-dimensional perspective.  People have tried looking from three dimensional perspectives for centuries, and it simply has not worked. 

string theory tells us that there are at least 11 dimensions, and it suggests that all that is happening on all of these relates, somehow, to our experience.  this can only be true.  Do you think it possible, with all physics tells us (including all it's unexplained phenomena) that any bit of anything does not exist in higher dimensions?  I know it's a weird phrasing, but it's on purpose.  the point is, you are a mulitdimensional being, and so is everyone.  To such a degree that things like "karma" are descriptions of activities on higher levels, which can only be simplifiied and made shallow when put into words.

the long or short of it is, with some degree of understanding of higher dimensional vibrational tendencies, it's clear.  our actions towards one and other effect us all  in very deep ways. 

In understanding of the higher dimensional reality, it becomes clear that for happiness, one must live happiness, and foster it in others, including, even, the earth: for we are effected deeply by the states we create for others, and the states others create for us.  this in and of itself matters so very deeply, and we can see in the history and current events of earth the results of carelessness. 

suffering, therefore, is a result of actions taken out of misunderstanding: actions that could only result in suffering, because they created suffering through carelessness or malice.  These actions were the result of ignorance: acting on only three dimensional-input, the actors didn't understand that to ignore fundamental universal principles is to incur a state of relative disharmony, aka suffering. 

Suffering is a message, that tells us the future we are co-creating with the universe (for we are always co-creating our future, it's undeniable, your choices matter) is an undesirable one.

Imagine this: you are cooking a nice meal, the stove is on.  you put on your oven-mitt to take a look at the mac n cheese, shwarma, whathaveyou.  Only there's a hole in the oven mitt and you don't know it.  Well, when you touch the hot part of the oven, your hand immediately begins to incur damage.  The heat kills cells.  The hand has a method of alerting you this is happening, because if it didn't, it'd be nearly impossible for you to survive.  (there is a special kind of disease where people can't feel pain, and it's a serious, serious problem.) 

The hand sends to you a signal: pain.  The pain says "something's wrong, fix it."  In that, the pain is a message, that the future you are co-creating with the universe (in this case, you and the stove are creating burns) is undesirable.

It's the same with your emotions as well.  However, with the emotions the issue is more complicated, because the worst thing to do in the world is, every time an emotion that causes suffering arises, blame it on the situation it arose from.  Because the inner world is always the lion's share of the situation for the individual, often, the fix for emotional suffering, the correction of course from the undesirable to the desirable future, is an entirely internal one.

One knows one has got it when one really  and instantly begins to feel better, and not when one thinks: if I do (x negative emotion-based action)  I'll feel better.  The difference is subtle and real.  Change, indeed, comes from within. 

Absoluely! I think there's someone reading this, actually, who might make a huge discovery right now, re: creating something beautiful by looking. This person will read this, and then open up a file in word, or works, or anything with a blank page. And this person will do the following: this person will observe their fingers as if the fingers are no longer connected to the brain, but something else. Anything... as if fingers could have minds of their own. This person will look, and expect the fingers to start moving. And they will simply "see" it happen. They will see it into happening.___________________________________________________________________ And words will flow out onto the screen. The words will say: "hello, [the person's name.]. we are _______." Which will be, to put it mindly, a mind-fuck to see, but something interesting. (finaly! somehing's happening!)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Soon the person will be asking many qestoins, any questions overflowing, or grown stale, in their heart. They'll get bold when the answers make sense beyond what they were capable of, and begin to ask things they know they do not have the answer to, things they can easily verify. The person will verify the info, find it's true, and then they'll be astounded, and, basically, their soul will orgasm for about a week. It'll feel that good, to realize that what is happening (automatic writing, a form of channeling) is truly happening, and real... not just a trick of a brain convincing itself of a miracle, but actually you, communicating with something beyond. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. The implications will be the beauty so great the soul climaxes.... __________________________________________________________________________ And so the dialouge will go, and it will be full of love. (if it is not full of love, it should be suspended immediately.) when the answers are understood, days, months, or years later, our friend will be an upgraded version of themself. Happier, stronger, faster, all around better. They will be awake, and they will own their mind. (which in a sense is the only thing we'll ever coould own....)____________________________________________________________________ they'll let me know somehow (hopefully) when it's time for us to chat, and I'll tell them all about how the same thing happend to me, and I'll be very excited for them, and wish them a happy journey.

mm lets say reincarnation as an idea speaks to an actual phenomenon whereby that which dies doesn't cease but continues.  eventually, that which has continued transforms into (once again) a physical entity, a thing with a body. 

But to do it, that which transforms must forget, at least temporarily, everything.... all that happened in all past lives, all knowledge of 'the nature of things,' everything... reducing that which has transformed into a lump of drooling, percieving, excrimenting flesh, which knows how to do nothing but percieve and transform/learn.

if this were the case-- if reincarnation described something real, well, this question wouldn't be academic at all.  I would be a living thing for eternity, in different forms, and the life would be punctuated by long periods of amnesia.  In a period of amnesia, however, the question can be academic again.  In which case I'd say: "not without periods of amnesia..."

Hurry up please, it's time

We make our little plans... all the while, we tend to forget that we ARE the plan, being acted out. The plan is playing out in all of our thoughts, emotions, actions and interactions... some misunderstand how deep we're a part of it, and call it something totally outside of the self: fate. if we understand the true plan well, or get lucky, we'll be able to live according to our little human plans...

it's got to be here because I can't post anywhere-- which is why I'm writing in the first place.

dear gaia team:   I am writing to let you know about a possible conflict of interest in this sight, and potential results.  I'm not doing it because I think you're 'wrong' about anything, but because I think the perspective going forward may be valuable.  But everything's in it's right place: should you not think my viewpoint has value for you, that's ok too.    This is about the fairly frequent site updates that you guys are doing.  my contention is it may conflict with the state goal of being an online gathering of spiritually conscious people... it seems like a stretch, but bear with me!

I think there's an established correlation between spirituality and lack of materialism.  In that, the more spiritual people seem to get, the less they seem to be about the acquisition of money, status and things, and the more their lives and "property" reflects this.    Ok.  So, the people who are "spiritually conscious" and willing to gather on line might tend to be, to a great or small extent, not materialistic.    I think we can agree people who are not materialistic will not have state of the art technology.  (for an operational definition, lets say: tech 5 years old or less.)   Now the new Gaia updates are fancy, newfangled, and beautiful... it's a very nice skin.  but it's just that: skin.  What gaia is about, if it is about "spiritually and environmentally conscious interaction," is not skin.  or at least, not only skin.  The skin would be the tip of the iceberg.    So the updates are nice, but tangential.  They may get you more new members, and I suppose that's the point. 

The problem is, the fancy newfangled beautiful animations may cause gaia not to run on computers that are not state of the art.     
 
  I don't know enough about computers to say for sure.  But what I can tell you (it could be a transition issue, but as the transition was a week ago, I doubt it now, although I hope I'm wrong) for sure is that I can no longer access 95% of gaia on my computer.  All I can do is send and receive emails and write new blogs.    I don't have the time to check at work.  This means, effectively, I'm getting locked out of gaia.    So... if the spiritually conscious people are less likely to have new tech, and your updates demand new tech... conflict of interest?  

Now I'll say, in America, I'm a rare case.  My computer is about 6-7 years old.    Internationally?  not so.  when you look at the worlds population and economy, how many people in your "target audience" would have computers with Internet connections that could run your scripts?   I don't have an answer.  All I know is, unless a new computer falls out of the sky or another big change happens, you probably won't see me on gaia for a while... and if you do see me, it'll be in my email, blog, or because I took one of my 15 minute breaks to frantically type out a message... which is difficult because my computer at work is old too, while not as old as the one at home, and I can access only blogs and pages, but not threads.  

I try to live in non-attachment, but if I didn't, I'd be terribly lamenting the loss.  "spiritually conscious interaction" has become both my great pleasure and perhaps something of a calling... It's been nice exploring that here.  

And to anyone, if you're reading this, feel free to drop me a line... anytime.  

I once had a very good friend who never judged anybody, and as a result, ended up hearing everybody's stories.  whether the story was true or false, immoral or cub-scout friendly, it didn't seem to matter to him, he just enjoyed the connection.  his philosophy was "until there's reason to think you're lying, I'll believe you."  he didn't decide people he knew were good or bad, but he acknowledged they got into some crazy situations.  (which of course he heard all about.)

I knew the same people but heard some of their stories, only, secondhand from him.   I was at t he time more judgmental than he-- although I wouldn't judge out loud-- but still people didn't tell me their secrets...

later, however, when i became open and stopped judging, I found that people began spilling more of their guts to me, happily.  These days, people will tell me things until they get nervous, look around, and say: "I'm not sure why I'm telling you this...." usually, when I tell them I truly enjoy such dialog, they smile and continue.  I hope it does some good for them to talk.  : )

what is it about the open, nonjudgmental person that gets people's tongues so loose?
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If I may antropomorphize the universe for a second, do you think the universe would tell it's secrets to one who judged it?  

if you are wondering: 'how does one judge the universe,' than chances are you do it all the time, with your doubts...

Here's a story: everyone knows about when penicillin was discovered, but not about when it was first made. 

A man named Horatio Wilson was a scientist, and he made it first. 

Wilson was a very pious man.  from a young age, he wanted to live well and holy, and he wanted to help mankind, and most of all he wanted to be virtuous.  He believed in original sin, and broke what he thought of as his "base instincts", which in his head came from the devil, against the stones of his willpower and his virtue. 

a chief virtue was frugality.  he believed waste was a serious sin, and designed his life so that nothing was wasted.  he wanted to economically and scientifically create medicines that would cut down on waste (of lesser medicines and of life) and strengthen communities.  he asked god to help him. 

One day he was trying to make one compound, but something else kept being created,  he didn't know what the other compound was-- only that it meant his experiments were a failure.  he gave up, but not after complaining to a friend.  the friend suggested he test the compound he'd made, to see it's properties.  because it could have been anything. 

Wilson's instincts flared up at that very moment, in strong, stark approval of the idea.  however, Wilson's belief in the virtue of frugality flared up stronger. 

"absolutely not!" he said.  "I will not waste precious resources on a failed experiment."

it would be 20 more years before someone else wasted precious resources on a failed experiment, and discovered penicillin.  wilson was bitter the rest of his life, not seeing the connection, and believing god did not answer his prayers to allow him to aid humanity. 


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Are your ideas of  virtue and vice, right and wrong, costing you the flexibility to live as you dream?