Comments on: Which is More Real: Waking Life, Dreams, or Nothingness?

By: Kristen Vidro

Kristen Vidro — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:57:51 +0000

Anyone going to a cinema for Easter ? I am hoping to be watching Tyler Perrys Madeas Big Happy Family, how about everyone here?

By: How to Take the Plunge into Complete Narcissism: on Steve Pavlina’s Subjective Reality | Beyond Growth

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:22:53 +0000

[...] as if he feels the dream world is the most real reality (instead of waking life or emptiness, as I blogged about here) and has confused waking reality for dreaming reality. While many spiritual teachers from various [...]

By: Dreams, Part 1: Waking Life vs Dream Realityand a little bit on metaphors…. « The Nest

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:41:49 +0000

[...] butterfly or a Butterfly dreaming of being a Human? This brings to my mind the age old conflict of Dream Reality versus Waking Life . The battle of real versus fake. A friend of mine compared this dilemma to a online video game [...]

By: Duff McDuffee

Duff McDuffee — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:54:15 +0000

Hi Stephen,

Sorry–your comment was stuck in the spam moderation folder for comments on Intense Debate…which I just found out existed today!

I should mention that my listing of the integral diagram was a bit tongue in cheek–I appreciate your graphic design skills and putting all the elements of AQAL into one place. And I still think in terms of AQAL more than I like to admit!

By: Duff McDuffee

Duff McDuffee — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:44:45 +0000

LOL, thanks for the comment, Rox. There is a time for philosophy and a time for connection with other human beings, and a time when both can be in harmony.

With this particular post, one thing I was interested in is exploring how we get stuck in a particular view and think it is Reality, that other views are crazy-talk. Getting stuck in our preferred Reality is a cause of much dogmatism, i.e. lack of compassion. In this way, I think philosophy is very practical and affects our human connections.

By: rox

rox — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 23:28:23 +0000

Oy vey, I had to not read that. I HATED that movie Waking Life, and you know I watched it while experiencing my Naropa induced existential crises. That movie was awful! I had dreams that I was walking up over and over again for months! After spending way too much time in Boulder thinking way too much about such concepts, I realized that what matters the most to me is the love and connection I have with other human beings. In as much as dwelling on concepts that you will never generate real answers to may help one become deeper in touch with love and compassion it can be good, but I realized it was taking me only further into my head. And it was not leading up to some "pinnacle of understanding" or enlightenment, but further into linguistic puzzles, conceptual and philosophical masturbation, and utter wasting of life spent having fun with people I love.

Now don't get me wrong, masturbation is fun, so I'm not against philosophy for the fun of it, but when it comes down to it, I have to just say no, to the convoluted random musings on the universe and reality as they take me toward existential crisis and escapism, and away from the reality of my life, which is where I want to be.

I really like people that get lost in such thoughts though as they are very often some very beautiful thoughtful people. (And it could be for you that these thoughts bring you closer to the heart of compassion and that awesome!)

Enjoy your writing Duff.

By: emdsey

emdsey — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 06:18:04 +0000

i live mostly in reality 1 while keeping an open mind about other realities. duff, remember what wilber says about wholons (is that spelling right?). here’s a good analogy:
imagine that the cells in our body were concious of their existence. they would be aware that they existed along with other cells. some cells are “good” because the play their roles and do their jobs. (such as digesting) some cells are “bad” because they destroy other cells (like germs). but how can a cell EVER perceive that he is part of a human body? a cell, given its limited faculties would never be able to observe that. he could theorize or philosophize that he is part of something greater. something that is god-like. or he could assume that once he dies he is forever gone. as a cell, you are completely incapable of seeing the big picture right? same as us people. if most of us live in reality #1, that is perfectly fine. lets just live in this world and do our jobs! if there is a higher purpose, supreme being or whatever, wouldnt it be completely irrelevant? but based on what wilber says it is more probable that we ARE part of something bigger.

By: Dark Night Yogi

Dark Night Yogi — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:29:34 +0000

started #1, then #3 and #5. then sometimes wonder about #6 leading me to try #2. I usually think more about 'whats going to happen when i die' and actually think i got a pretty decent answer from myself on that one. so that's keeping me satisfied for the time being. i think that fear or the thought of death is also what influences which one we choose 1-6.

thanks so much!

By: @Lovitch

@Lovitch — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:05:29 +0000

I'll take #1 and #6 for $100 Alex.

Great post Duff! I especially like your breakdown of #4 (Integral) – it is the most pretentious of the bunch.

Personally, I think #6 can fit into #1 if one is playful about it in a Robert Anton Wison sort of way…

By: Ettore Grillo

Ettore Grillo — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:20:12 +0000

Everything is energy. Einstein demonstrated that at the light speed, the mass changes into energy. The Russian writer Outspensky believes that even the inorganic matter has psychical processes. We move in a space- temporal dimension and we cannot see the metaphisical world but using the material eyes of which we are endowed. For instance a worm can know only the dimension of the lenght; never and never it will be able to know the dimension of the height. So we are, unable to undertand dimensions different from ours.
The book I have recently written may help in this direction and I want to draw it to your attention. The title is "Travels of the mind" and it is available at http://www.strategicpublishingroup.com/title/TravelsOfTh...
If you heve any question I am most willing to discuss about this topic.
Ettore Grillo