The mixing of religious and non-religious beliefs in an individual.

It Matters Whether You Believe in Will Power

http://www.smartthinkingbook.com/2012/05/it-matters-whether-you-bel...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Samuel the Lamanite on May 15, 2012 at 4:09am

Interesting. I personally believe, from my own experience (not necessarily from my religious background) that humans have the power through our minds to manifest their thoughts into the tangible world. Whether that is something as rudimentary as using willpower to lose ten pounds or Jesus changing water into wine, its the same principle--using faith as a means to visualize, to be a catalyst for action, and to affect the universe around the individual. What we might refer to as miracles are natural consequences of the application of thought towards an end result. I think most religions have a belief that involves the spiritual manifesting itself into the physical plane.

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Permalink Reply by Robert DeFord on May 16, 2012 at 6:20pm

if one had "true" will power, one could stop ones thoughts for more than 5 or ten seconds, empty the mind and achieve bliss and even eventualy Nirvana, "the mind of Christ”.

Will power is absent in humanity...what is called will power is simply aspects of the personality...different "I";s that are heavy lifters, as result of concentration, focussed attention , fantasies running amuck and commandeering the mind like hijackers... but as for true Will power Nyet!

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Permalink Reply by Khem the Is Real-ite on May 21, 2012 at 4:48pm

Quite right, old chap.

Will power is a function of Being, and Being is a function of the occult Law of Gravity. Non-entities such as the dilettantes who frequent this site, have no gravitas, no objective reality whatsoever, so of course they have no "will" much less "will power".

The title of this discussion should be "It Matter Not At All What a Non-Entity Believes".

Robert DeFord said:

if one had "true" will power, one could stop ones thoughts for more than 5 or ten seconds, empty the mind and achieve bliss and even eventualy Nirvana, "the mind of Christ”.

Will power is absent in humanity...what is called will power is simply aspects of the personality...different "I";s that are heavy lifters, as result of concentration, focussed attention , fantasies running amuck and commandeering the mind like hijackers... but as for true Will power Nyet!

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 23, 2012 at 8:39am

In the name of Christ, Robert maintains, "If one had "true" will power, one could stop ones thoughts for more than 5 or ten seconds, empty the mind . . ."

If one could empty ones mind then you might be correct but let's curtail the pseudo-logic and blind speculation. How can oneself "empty the mind"? If it could, without allowing thought to enter the mind, how could one instruct the self to refill the mind with thought.

Robert, the self/soul consists of 3 faculties - Mind, Intellect and Sanskaras (subconscious traits or predispositions). In this framework, it is not possible to "empty the mind". The way to self-mastery or enlightenment or nirvana, as you refer to it, is not to stop thought but to redirect them to a more positive elevated domain. As such,the "I" take negative thoughts and transform them into positive understandings. As such. "I" turn physical understandings into spiritual realities.

Think about it Robert. Tell us how does one with "will power" or stop ones mind from thinking. How does that work? The mind is constantly thinking, constantly aware of something through the interplay of the sense organs and physical organ called brain.

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 23, 2012 at 11:29am

Khem, you continue to lack gravitas old chap. What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY. Without defining your terms, at least to a minimal extend, people will continue to be unwilling to take your myth and superstition seriously. At best, your vagaries are humorous. Are you able to get serious for even an instant? Come on. When are you going to engage in well reasoned debate. Show is some of the light Robert only talks about.

Khem the Is Real-ite said:

Quite right, old chap.

Will power is a function of Being, and Being is a function of the occult Law of Gravity. Non-entities such as the dilettantes who frequent this site, have no gravitas, no objective reality whatsoever, so of course they have no "will" much less "will power".

The title of this discussion should be "It Matter Not At All What a Non-Entity Believes".

Robert DeFord said:

if one had "true" will power, one could stop ones thoughts for more than 5 or ten seconds, empty the mind and achieve bliss and even eventualy Nirvana, "the mind of Christ”.

Will power is absent in humanity...what is called will power is simply aspects of the personality...different "I";s that are heavy lifters, as result of concentration, focussed attention , fantasies running amuck and commandeering the mind like hijackers... but as for true Will power Nyet!

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Permalink Reply by Khem the Is Real-ite on May 23, 2012 at 11:55am

The man who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.

Kernel John said:

Khem, you continue to lack gravitas old chap. What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY. Without defining your terms, at least to a minimal extend, people will continue to be unwilling to take your myth and superstition seriously. At best, your vagaries are humorous. Are you able to get serious for even an instant? Come on. When are you going to engage in well reasoned debate. Show is some of the light Robert only talks about.

Khem the Is Real-ite said:

Quite right, old chap.

Will power is a function of Being, and Being is a function of the occult Law of Gravity. Non-entities such as the dilettantes who frequent this site, have no gravitas, no objective reality whatsoever, so of course they have no "will" much less "will power".

The title of this discussion should be "It Matter Not At All What a Non-Entity Believes".

Robert DeFord said:

if one had "true" will power, one could stop ones thoughts for more than 5 or ten seconds, empty the mind and achieve bliss and even eventualy Nirvana, "the mind of Christ”.

Will power is absent in humanity...what is called will power is simply aspects of the personality...different "I";s that are heavy lifters, as result of concentration, focussed attention , fantasies running amuck and commandeering the mind like hijackers... but as for true Will power Nyet!

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 24, 2012 at 7:09am

As was said, Khem, "What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY?"

Like I said, your path simply leads to the myth and superstition of the past. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you will explain what is the Occult Law of Gravity - but I doubt it. I think you like putting forth riddles.

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Permalink Reply by Khem the Is Real-ite on May 24, 2012 at 8:19am

The non-entity who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.

Kernel John said:

As was said, Khem, "What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY?"

Like I said, your path simply leads to the myth and superstition of the past. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you will explain what is the Occult Law of Gravity - but I doubt it. I think you like putting forth riddles.

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 24, 2012 at 11:08am

The Occult Law of Gravity that you refer to sounds like it is based on myth and superstition. A long way away from the objective reality that you seem to favour.

Personally, I see no reason to shun those who appear to not know what they don't know. If those who claimed to know did this, how could people learn from each other.

Khem, it doesn't take much to realize that none of us knows what we don't know until we know it.

This is too easy.

Khem the Is Real-ite said:

The non-entity who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.

Kernel John said:

As was said, Khem, "What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY?"

Like I said, your path simply leads to the myth and superstition of the past. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you will explain what is the Occult Law of Gravity - but I doubt it. I think you like putting forth riddles.

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Permalink Reply by Khem the Is Real-ite on May 24, 2012 at 12:37pm

ibid.

Kernel John said:

The Occult Law of Gravity that you refer to sounds like it is based on myth and superstition. A long way away from the objective reality that you seem to favour.

Personally, I see no reason to shun those who appear to not know what they don't know. If those who claimed to know did this, how could people learn from each other.

Khem, it doesn't take much to realize that none of us knows what we don't know until we know it.

This is too easy.

Khem the Is Real-ite said:

The non-entity who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him.

Kernel John said:

As was said, Khem, "What exactly IS the OCCULT LAW OF GRAVITY?"

Like I said, your path simply leads to the myth and superstition of the past. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps you will explain what is the Occult Law of Gravity - but I doubt it. I think you like putting forth riddles.

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 25, 2012 at 7:26am

Khem,

Ibid? An lame way to deepen or expand discussion. . . or perhaps that's as deep as you can get on a discussion site like this.

Many years ago I stopped finding my own answers to obscure riddles. This approach leads to solutions that seek an problem.

You can refer to The Occult Law of Gravity but when asked to provide clarification it is obvious that you are unable to provide any clarification. Hardly a surprise. The surprise would have been for you to enter into a well reasoned discussion rather than remain in the shadows that are adjacent to the propagation of the myth and superstition that people like you seem to thrive on. People like you? It's called Infantile Omnipotence. Just because you think it, doesn't make it so.

You're stuck. If you provided the requested clarification you would expose the magical/mystical bases upon which you base your cosmology. If you don't respond, you give the vague illusion, to those looking to others for answers, that you might know what you're talking about.

All I'm doing Khem is asking you to explain what you're talking about - a challenge that you persistently balk at. No surprise here.

Take care.

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Permalink Reply by Kernel John on May 25, 2012 at 10:58am

Sid, I read the article. Thanks for sharing it.

Yes, willpower is the name that we give to the mechanisms (most of which involve the frontal lobes of the brain) that prevent us from carrying out a behavior we really want to perform. . . and it's nice to see science studying a facet of the human psyche that religion has tried to address for millennia. The article is informative and supports some of what was previously posted in the BK Belief Module regarding the subject of Self-Mastery.

As we learn to stabilize the mind through the process of Raja Yoga Meditation by first becoming aware of the domain called Mind, we can begin to direct these thoughts in an elevated direction. The Buddhists call this becoming mindful . . . not sure how my Christian friends refer to the process of becoming self-sovereign - like Jesus. Perhaps someone here could inform us how Christians understand and utilize will power. After all, is it not this that separates us from the immediate self gratification of a child?.