On Enlightenment and Death

[Cyric_The_Mad]

Generally, I'm a pretty positive guy.  I do, on occasion, however, lapse into a short period of nihilism and loathing for humanity.  This, my friends, is one of those pleasent occasions, and I have always been one for a good aimless rant.  This will be a good deal more incoherent than my material generally would be, but fuck it.
(By the way, does this belong here, or in the Literate Chaotic?)

The world is dying.  This is inevitable.  All things become much clearer when acceptance of this small aspect of fate is achieved.  Everything is going to die.  
Not just us humans, mind you, but existence itself has an end.

The mistake of most philosophy and religion is the assumption that this is negative.  Death is usually considered a bad thing, something that is to be avoided.  Judeo-Christians speak of life after death, along with many others.  Some speak of reincarnation, of a return to life after death.  

My question today is;  does it matter?  Is it truly of any importance what happens to a person after his body fails?  Is the consideration of a 'soul' worth the time?  

If I'm not particularly concerned with what will happen to me a few years from now, why should I be concerned about my death?  What happens will happen.  If there is a great metaphysical truth, then I will discover it in time.  If not, then... well...  yeah...

To me, at least, enlightenment is the ability to truthfuly say that if I were to die tommorow, I would be content.  I would be able to accept that my life is and was full.

Death is far to important to our society.  Religion, science, philosophy, is all centered around the concept of death.
This is why I follow the path of Eris.  In my eyes, the path of Eris is the path of Life.
Why focus on a complete unknowable, unanswerable question that detracts from all other things, when you can focus on the life that you so blatantly dance down the path of.

We have vibrancy, energy, power, and instead we drown ourselves in death.  Truly society is filled with fools, to not love the path that they could so easily walk.

Or perhaps I'm full of shit.

Wow, that kinda did a one-eighty at the end, didn't it?  That's the beauty of a rant.  Thoughts wander, and I shift from nihilistic and pissed to pretty well balanced out.  Damn straight.
Loki

[Ben]

Maybe enlightenment is what happens when the light goes out.  In that case, all the spiritual masters are really vampires and should be cursed with 1000 years of life.

[agent compassion]

Meh...

[Ben]

Heh...

[Zurtok Khan]

Bravo!  I agree with you in many ways.  I must say that Buddhism shares many of those same concepts (which is one of the reasons Discordianism is so similar to Buddhism...well, some schools anyway).

[gnimbley]

So, where is the incoherent stuff you promised?

[Cyric_The_Mad]

You know, it didn't turn out as incoherent and nihilistic as I had expected.  I sort of cheered up right in the middle of writing it, and switched mindsets.  I'm in a rather coherent mood right now, though, so I'll have to get it to you later.

IOU- 1 incoherent .... thing...  :
To: Gnimbley

[Ben]

Death and enlightenment are opposites.  Enlightenment can only be achieved above ground.  The dead envy the living.  Or maybe I'm confused.  Maybe the dead are rockin' out while the enlightened strive.

[saint aini]

Death and enlightenment are opposites.  Enlightenment can only be achieved above ground.  The dead envy the living.  Or maybe I'm confused.  Maybe the dead are rockin' out while the enlightened strive.

The living envy the dead.

[Horab Fibslager]

i envy teen celebrities.

[The Open Bar]

So, where is the incoherent stuff you promised?

<a transcript of Bush's state of the nation address appears>


 i know, too obvious...<waits for VoT to appear>