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Long post....I'm rambling tonight.
As I've posted before, I'm a reluctant agnostic. When I say agnostic, I mean it in the true definition of the word -- I just don't 'know' (a=greek negative gnostic from gnosis=greek for knowledge. Agnosis = no knowledge, or 'I dunno').
[Quick ironic aside -- even though it didn't show up on the Religion selector below, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick a faith it would probably by Christian Gnosticism (gnosis in this case is knowledge of God). The Nag Hammadi texts (dated to 4th c.) show Christianity as it might have started out, before a half-dozen Roman emperors and a larger number of Popes and translators got through with history...]
I'm basically a skeptic, but by "skeptic" I don't mean I'm secretly trying to sabatoge any theory that isn't science or atheism. I'm open to any and all ideas, from the multi-spiritual beliefs of Shinto to the afterlife-is-a-brain-trick atheism.
Is there a chance there is such a thing as reincarnation? Since I was a teenager, I've had a scene etched into my brain that I've seen over and over again, usually when trying to fall asleep, but sometimes just out of the blue. The scene never moves, but it's very vivid; kinda like a giant view-master. I'm in Japan...there's a house on fire, deep green grass and a Maxfield Parrish blue sky with a few puffy white clouds. There's a man on a dark brown horse with a sword (the man has the sword, not the horse ;). The sword slashes right across my forehead above my eyes, and I'm pretty sure it's fatal. I think it was part of a battle or skirmish -- not all out war, but not an isolated incident. If I had to pick a time period, I'd guess 1600ish give or take a few decades -- around the time of Nobunaga's rise to power.
The funny thing is there's nothing really ominous about it. If it is a past-life scene, there's nothing in it that I really fear -- I don't fear horses or swords or Japan or housefires or grass or deep blue skies. I do wonder, if it is real, if past lives repeat themselves. In the back of my mind, ever since I was a teenager, I've half-thought I'd die in a car wreck or something (the same heavy slash across the forehead thing) at about the age of 34. I'm 33 now, which will make life interesting the next year or two. Do past lives repeat one's final fate, or is it something that might have made such an impression on my soul that it echos around in my karma -- an aftershock instead of a predictive tremor.
Last night, I dreamed of the snow-covered summit of Mount Fuji. It was modern; I was driving on a highway looking for an exit and Fuji-san was in the background. Now, in full-consciousness, I even remember I was on the right side of the road, like the USA, but I think Japan is left-side/backwards, like Australia and the UK -- so my subconscious can't even get that right. It wasn't forboding or ominous, it was just a dream that, upon waking, reminded me of my grassy village scene.
Here's the rules for this top-5: What would you have liked to have experienced first hand, given all of the time that Homo Sapiens has walked the earth? Who would you be? No famous people, just peons (ie. no 'Cleopatra', but 'Concubine #334 of Ramses' is okay). You must be that person, so if you were a pirate, you must experience it as the type of person who would have had no problem killing or torturing for loot, and raping for the fun and power of it. All modern morals and ethics aside, you must be a member of the time.
Marcus' top 5 past life wannabes
1 -- Carthaginian officer during the second Punic war I've always been interested in Ancient Rome, and I've had a deep facination with Hannibal's campaign. Rome was everything in the world back then -- civilization, art, science, philosphy -- and it was just starting out. Rome was just starting to be a major bully at the time, as well. Something in me finds it facinating to have seen Rome, in all its potential glory, just starting to influence the Mediterranian...and want to crush it out of existence before it got too far.
2 -- WWII US navy non-com This one is a little strange, because my maternal grandfather was a WWII US navy non-com. When the kamikazis dove into their carrier fleet, he was on a tiny destroyer. He was so terrified, he bent his wedding ring while holding onto the ship's rails. It had to be cut from his finger after the battle. What must have it been like to have been so sure of your cause, to volunteer for such a vicious war? The closest thing in modern times to a just, all-out war, with no illusions about one's mortality....eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die.
3 -- Shaolin/Taoist/Bhuddist/Yogi monk, pre-18th century. Renouncing all goods, all vanity, all emotional extremes and devoting oneself, mind, body, and soul, to unlocking the universe from the inside-out. Let the rest of the world rush by, I'm too busy trying to figure out what makes everything tick.
4 -- Random bronze-age hunter/fisherman (either gender). At the dawn of technology, when net and spear tip innovation was more than neat gadgets, they were the difference between living and dying of starvation.
5 -- 16th Century trade-ship captain. The Europe/Far East ship trade routes were well established, but by no means safe. Riches or disaster depended on skill, intelligence, and experience, as well as crew-management, bartering, and diplomacy.
As I've posted before, I'm a reluctant agnostic. When I say agnostic, I mean it in the true definition of the word -- I just don't 'know' (a=greek negative gnostic from gnosis=greek for knowledge. Agnosis = no knowledge, or 'I dunno').
[Quick ironic aside -- even though it didn't show up on the Religion selector below, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick a faith it would probably by Christian Gnosticism (gnosis in this case is knowledge of God). The Nag Hammadi texts (dated to 4th c.) show Christianity as it might have started out, before a half-dozen Roman emperors and a larger number of Popes and translators got through with history...]
I'm basically a skeptic, but by "skeptic" I don't mean I'm secretly trying to sabatoge any theory that isn't science or atheism. I'm open to any and all ideas, from the multi-spiritual beliefs of Shinto to the afterlife-is-a-brain-trick atheism.
Is there a chance there is such a thing as reincarnation? Since I was a teenager, I've had a scene etched into my brain that I've seen over and over again, usually when trying to fall asleep, but sometimes just out of the blue. The scene never moves, but it's very vivid; kinda like a giant view-master. I'm in Japan...there's a house on fire, deep green grass and a Maxfield Parrish blue sky with a few puffy white clouds. There's a man on a dark brown horse with a sword (the man has the sword, not the horse ;). The sword slashes right across my forehead above my eyes, and I'm pretty sure it's fatal. I think it was part of a battle or skirmish -- not all out war, but not an isolated incident. If I had to pick a time period, I'd guess 1600ish give or take a few decades -- around the time of Nobunaga's rise to power.
The funny thing is there's nothing really ominous about it. If it is a past-life scene, there's nothing in it that I really fear -- I don't fear horses or swords or Japan or housefires or grass or deep blue skies. I do wonder, if it is real, if past lives repeat themselves. In the back of my mind, ever since I was a teenager, I've half-thought I'd die in a car wreck or something (the same heavy slash across the forehead thing) at about the age of 34. I'm 33 now, which will make life interesting the next year or two. Do past lives repeat one's final fate, or is it something that might have made such an impression on my soul that it echos around in my karma -- an aftershock instead of a predictive tremor.
Last night, I dreamed of the snow-covered summit of Mount Fuji. It was modern; I was driving on a highway looking for an exit and Fuji-san was in the background. Now, in full-consciousness, I even remember I was on the right side of the road, like the USA, but I think Japan is left-side/backwards, like Australia and the UK -- so my subconscious can't even get that right. It wasn't forboding or ominous, it was just a dream that, upon waking, reminded me of my grassy village scene.
Here's the rules for this top-5: What would you have liked to have experienced first hand, given all of the time that Homo Sapiens has walked the earth? Who would you be? No famous people, just peons (ie. no 'Cleopatra', but 'Concubine #334 of Ramses' is okay). You must be that person, so if you were a pirate, you must experience it as the type of person who would have had no problem killing or torturing for loot, and raping for the fun and power of it. All modern morals and ethics aside, you must be a member of the time.
Marcus' top 5 past life wannabes
1 -- Carthaginian officer during the second Punic war I've always been interested in Ancient Rome, and I've had a deep facination with Hannibal's campaign. Rome was everything in the world back then -- civilization, art, science, philosphy -- and it was just starting out. Rome was just starting to be a major bully at the time, as well. Something in me finds it facinating to have seen Rome, in all its potential glory, just starting to influence the Mediterranian...and want to crush it out of existence before it got too far.
2 -- WWII US navy non-com This one is a little strange, because my maternal grandfather was a WWII US navy non-com. When the kamikazis dove into their carrier fleet, he was on a tiny destroyer. He was so terrified, he bent his wedding ring while holding onto the ship's rails. It had to be cut from his finger after the battle. What must have it been like to have been so sure of your cause, to volunteer for such a vicious war? The closest thing in modern times to a just, all-out war, with no illusions about one's mortality....eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die.
3 -- Shaolin/Taoist/Bhuddist/Yogi monk, pre-18th century. Renouncing all goods, all vanity, all emotional extremes and devoting oneself, mind, body, and soul, to unlocking the universe from the inside-out. Let the rest of the world rush by, I'm too busy trying to figure out what makes everything tick.
4 -- Random bronze-age hunter/fisherman (either gender). At the dawn of technology, when net and spear tip innovation was more than neat gadgets, they were the difference between living and dying of starvation.
5 -- 16th Century trade-ship captain. The Europe/Far East ship trade routes were well established, but by no means safe. Riches or disaster depended on skill, intelligence, and experience, as well as crew-management, bartering, and diplomacy.
