It is well known that the modern world religions which trace their origins to the Axial Age are centrally concerned with death. Some might call this concern an obsession. Of these world religions, only Hinduism does not have Axial roots. This is not to say that “Hinduism” (which is neither singular nor unified) was unaffected [...]
Tags:afterlife·ancestors·axial age·Brahmins·Buddhism·death·deification·Denial of Death·dying·Ernest Becker·existential·Hindu·Hinduism·immortality·impurity·India·Jainism·Kali·psychoanalysis·purity·rebirth·reincarnation·Sanskrit·Stuart Blackburn·thanatos·Vedic·Wendy Doniger·world rejecting
Out of body experiences are a human universal. Why? Because human brains are constructed in a way that enables such perceptions. Dreaming, drug use, and near death experiences regularly give rise to such experiences. Recreational users of ketamine are quite familiar with the experience, and none of these people are operating under the illusion that [...]
Tags:altered states of consciousness·association·Avatar·cognitive architecture·dissociation·dreaming·drug use·ketamine·near death experiences·out of body experiences·reincarnation·Richard Alleyne·soul·soul flights·spirit·Tron·virtual reality
As my readers know, there is no such thing as “Buddhism” — there are multiple kinds of buddhisms, some of which eschew spirits and deities while emphasizing consciousness and compassion, whereas others are highly ritualized and enthusiastically enjoin the supernatural realm of gods and souls.
I was reminded of this the other day while reading Electa [...]
Tags:Boulder Shambhala Meditation Center·Buddhism·Buddhisms·credulous Boulderites·Dalai Lama·emanation·Holden Caulfield·holiness·incarnation succession·Khyentse Yangsi Rinpoche·Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche·reincarnation·Rinpoche·Tibetan Buddhism
Though I have had my disagreements with William Saletan in the past — we have briefly debated whether “race” is a biologically valid classification (it isn’t) — I want to be the first to congratulate him on a series of articles (“The Memory Doctor”) he is running over at Slate. The subject is memory and [...]
Tags:cognition·confabulation·Elizabeth Loftus·fabrications·imagination·memories·memory·past lives·reincarnation·suggestibility·William Saletan
