Philosophy Now Forum

When did you, and how did you, stop planting the seeds of misery, if that is what you have done? When I realized that desires, cravings, and expectations are causing unhappiness, it made me stop planting the seeds. I realized that instead of focusing on greed, let me stop at my need. Let me not use...

Then why do many people choose misery in their lives? https://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/12215635.jpg People choose misery in their life because they are ignorant of the effect of the cause. For instance, if I know that this dish of mushroom will lead to food poisoning and I still eat it, then it i...

Dubious wrote: Any examples of those who accomplished this metamorphosis into who we truly are?

Naming a few of those who had accomplished this metamorphosis in the
past: Buddha, Jesus, Moses, Adi Shankaracharya, Ramana Maharshi, Vivekananda, and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

AiR

What happens when we dream? We forget who we are because in our dream, we are somebody else in different circumstances - maybe we are on a plane flying to an unknown country with strangers, but that’s what we are. The point is: imagine that you had the power of deciding whether you want to continue ...

Who are you? Have you ever thought who you are? Are you the body? Are you the mind? Are you the intellect? Are you the Soul, the Energy? Unfortunately, we presume that we are what we look like, but in reality we are not what we look like. Science has proved that we are bundles of energy, trillions a...

When the spiritually realized ones talk of renunciation and discrimination, and living with virtues; when they talk of overcoming this world and going deep within the realized true self, what are they trying to communicate? They are sharing an experience that they have encountered; an experience tha...

What does the past and the future do? Have you ever thought: what is the role of the past and the future? If you look at it deeply, you will realize the truth - they are meant to rob the present. The only thing that belongs to us is the present, the now, this moment. But because the mind creates the...

As human beings, we all have needs. We need food, shelter, clothing; we need those basic pleasures that keep us happy. We need affection. We need love. We need friends. But why is it that we human beings don’t stop at fulfilling our need? Why is it that we are greedy? One home is not enough, we need...

Isn’t life meant to just have fun? Isn’t life meant to enjoy? The world thinks this way, but why did a prince, who lived several centuries ago, think differently? Siddhartha Gautama, a rich prince in ancient India, had all the riches, all the pleasures that the world could offer him. Why did he give...

Should we live a life of illusion? The question that comes to me is that if I know that the pizza in front of me is plastic, would I still pick that plastic pizza and put it on my plate and then admire it, smell it and look forward to eating it? When I know that it is a plastic pizza, then what is t...

Have you ever wondered why God can’t do what a little spider does? What does the spider do? A spider does something quite unique. Out of its own body, it creates a web, a world by itself – a world where the spider climbs, dances, moves. But where did the spider’s web come from? There was no external...

We often say, “This is my hand, my leg, my mind - this is my body.” Whose body is it? Who are we referring to? When we say, “This is my body, my hand and my foot,” who is this ‘me’ speaking? Have we ever stopped to think that we are actually not the body? It is our body of course, but we are not the...

Explain to me, please, this idea of "just appear." Do you mean "from nothing"? At one point, the something that we are talking about has been created by something beyond our understanding, which we can call nothing. If we keep going backwards, there is the question – Where was t...

Is there a Creator? Did the universe just appear or is there a Creator? What do you think? You are reading this message either on a smart phone or a computer or perhaps, a printout. Who made each one of these? Did the gadget, the paper, the pen, the computer appear on its own or is somebody responsi...

Why do we find it so difficult to trust someone? Why do we doubt? When we look at somebody, we are not able to trust them immediately. Have you ever wondered why? It is because we look at a person as a body-mind, and we feel that this body-mind will not be true, may not behave with honesty and integ...