You understand some things better than others
The problem with religion is that people who need something like religion don’t actually want religion, as weird as that sounds.
My brother and I are intuitive thinkers. We are feeling people, so to speak. This means a lot of emotions, fast judgment, and a lot of unrest — but also a lot of skills. It is very hard to verbalize that you see layers of reality that not everybody sees. It feels like, when you think, you play the piano; you think with your whole body. Both of us can be knocked out for weeks by things we can’t explain. It’s not that we think we are better than other people; it’s more that we experience reality differently.
I was listening to podcasts by religious people — specific religions, of course, but that’s not the point here — and I was shocked by how recognizable their stories were. It is as if you are looking for something, but you don’t know what it is. And you are also looking for a form of inner peace.
Why Freethinkers Can’t Stand Buddhism
Buddhism is the opposite of what you want. You want to think about negative and positive things. You want to think all the time. You don’t want to meditate and focus on your breathing. There is no point.
Buddhists are scared of leaving the here and now. But you can’t leave the here and now. If I relive a horrible thing that happened to me in my imagination, that actually helps me recover from it. It’s not that I am hurting myself by doing that. Our bodies work fine.
Sometimes Buddhists say, “Wise men are always full of wisdom and compassion, no matter what the situation.” Well, Buddhists, the whole point is that you lose your mind sometimes, because sometimes the only right action is actually to lose your mind and lose control. If wisdom and compassion were the answer to every question, we would already have all the answers — which we don’t. Because there are questions that have different answers.
That is what living in freedom means. I can sit the whole evening thinking about something horrible — maybe something I have experienced, or something that only lives in my imagination. I learn from those experiences. It is flat-out dangerous to avoid everything through breathing or other meditation techniques.
Try to see it like this: I never have to run anywhere. I never have to do anything. That is freedom. If I had to focus on my breathing all evening, I would have no freedom.
Voor Newton vielen er toen ook al appels van de boom? Vielen er toen al dingen?
Serieuze vraag. Misschien was een vallende appel toen iets anders dan een mens- of dierval.
Ik denk dat mensen toen meer respect hadden voor hun omgeving, omdat ze niet alles op één grote hoop gooiden. Maar misschien ben ik gewoon sentimenteel.
Er vielen waarschijnlijk wel dingen, maar we noemden dat niet zo. Aan de andere kant: heb jij weleens een appel van de boom zien vallen? Ik nog nooit. Ik zie ze wel liggen, maar nooit vallen. Ik geloof wel dat ze vallen. Er ligt alleen een onevenredige focus op, want meestal vallen dingen niet.
Waarschijnlijk is zwaartekracht een van de meest overgewaardeerde dingen op aarde, want het gebeurt steeds maar heel even.
Before Newton, did apples already fall from trees? Did things already fall back then?
Serious question. Maybe a falling apple was seen as something different from a human or animal falling.
I think people had more respect for their environment back then, because they didn’t throw everything onto one big pile. But maybe I’m just being sentimental.
Things probably did fall, but we didn’t call it that. On the other hand: have you ever actually seen an apple fall from a tree? I never have. I do see them lying on the ground, but never falling. I do believe they fall, though. There’s just a disproportionate focus on it, because most of the time things don’t fall.
Gravity is probably one of the most overrated things on Earth, because it only happens for very brief moments.
Geniet er maar van, want ooit zijn je gedachten op, zei de slechterik. Je hebt al een flink setje gehad, maar ze raken steeds meer op. Geniet dus maar van je gedachten. Wie weet is het de laatste keer dat je deze gedachte heb
Enjoy it, because one day your thoughts will be gone, said the villain. You’ve already had quite a few, but they are running out more and more. So just enjoy your thoughts. Who knows, it might be the last time you have this thought.