A Wisdom Archive on Existence

EXISTENCE
That which calls itself into being out of the Void. Most metaphysical systems are agreed that matter is "dirt", or at least less perfect than the Void. Just as the manifest world is infinite in its variety of potential forms of matter, so the void is infinite in its parade of anti-potential forms of non-being. From a strictly logistical point of view, the imbalance within the spotless Void arises as one potentiality differentiates itself from another in its degree of anti-substantiation and non-manifestation. Therefore, some of these "nothingnesses" have more "substance" than others, which thereby creates an unevenness from which a negentropic "singularity" has to develop. Thus existence breaks forth, or "falls", in a further effort to maintain the balance, and consequently to know itself. Thereafter, new knowledge necessarily continues to create itself and to expand consciousness to the limits, as it were, of The Infinite.
 

 
(See also: EXISTENCE , Magick, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul,)
 

For more dictionary entries, see » existence dictionary

Pre-existence. The term used to denote that we have lived before. The same as reincarnation in the past. The idea is derided by some, rejected by others, called absurd and inconsistent by the third yet it is the oldest and the most universally accepted belief from an immemorial antiquity.
 
And if this belief was universally accepted by the most subtle philosophical minds of the pre-Christian world, surely it is not amiss that some of our modern intellectual men should also believe in it, or at least give the doctrine the benefit of the doubt. Even the Bible hints at it more than once, St. John the Baptist being regarded as the reincarnation of Elijah, and the Disciples asking whether the blind man was born blind because of his sins, which is equal to saying that he had lived and sinned before being born blind. As Mr. Bonwick well says: it was "the work of spiritual progression and soul discipline.
 
The pampered sensualist returned a beggar; the proud oppressor, a slave ; the selfish woman of fashion, a seamstress. A turn of the wheel gave a chance for the development of neglected or abused intelligence and feeling, hence the popularity of reincarnation in all climes and times. . . . thus the expurgation of evil was . . . gradually but certainly accomplished." Verily "an evil act follows a man, passing through one hundred thousand transmigrations" (Panchatantra).
 
"All souls have a subtle vehicle, image of the body, which carries the passive soul from one material dwelling to another" says Kapila; while Basnage explains of the Jews: "By this second death is not considered hell, but that which happens when a soul has a second time animated a body". Herodotus tells his readers, that the Egyptians "are the earliest who have spoken of this doctrine, according to which the soul of man is immortal, and after the destruction of the body, enters into a newly born being. When, say they, it has passed through all the animals of the earth and sea, and all the birds, it will re-enter the body of a new born man." This is Pre-existence. Deveria showed that the funeral books of the Egyptians say plainly "that resurrection was, in reality, but a renovation, leading to a new infancy, and a new youth. (See "Reincarnation".)

 
(See also: Pre-existence, Theosophy, Spirituality, Body mind and Soul, Spiritual Dictionary,  )

For more dictionary entries, see » existence dictionary

Scriptures by themselves cannot make a person enlightened. They give knowledge, not wisdom. But the Ashtavakra Gita is different. This scripture negates every facet of life, except supreme consciousness.
 
Sage Ashtavakra says to Janaka: "My son, you recite or listen to countless scriptures, but you will not be established within until you can forget everything"(16.1). He stresses the import of knowing one's own self. A person may quote extensively from the Bhagavad Gita or the Upanishads. But only through self-knowledge can he even begin to discover the stainless truth.

 
(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Life and Death: All that Exists is Total Awareness

The mind as a separate live entity does not exist, for it is an instrument in the hand of God. The only thing that remains is 'Being', which covers both existence and non-existence, which is beyond words or ideas. Pure awareness dawns through an understanding of one's own nature. The sage's instruction demands no strenuous effort either through physical rigour or austere practices such as chanting.

 
(See also: The Mind, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » The Mind: Discover the 'I', Be One With God  

In 61 aphorisms, the Nirvanopanishad describes the attributes of one who has achieved Jivanmukti or liberation, while remaining in the physical body. At the very beginning, this Upanishad makes it clear that when one says: “Brahman encompasses the universe”, one is still assuming that there is duality, of the Brahman and the universe. The Jivanmukta, or the realised one, does not see the Brahman as being separate from the universe. For him, the universe does not exist. Therefore, he himself does not exist. The only existence is of the Brahman.

 
(See also: Jivanmukti, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Jivanmukti: A Jivanmukta Lives In Non-duality  

Nothing exists apart from the Absolute. Yet, the Absolute, being transcendent, does not suffer from the limitations of the sense-organs, of attributes, of time. It is imperceivable, eternally pure, unqualified and is bliss.
 
By knowing the Absolute everything is known , and fear and delusion remain no more. The ultimate resting place exists in the Absolute. It is the knowledge of the Absolute that brings about the fulfilment of the nature of man, and the desire for the experience of Being is characterised by peace.

 
(See also: The Absolute, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » The Absolute: Absolute Bliss, Within and Without  

Non-dualism is the highest Vedantic truth. Only Brahman exists. The pluralistic world as we experience it is merely a figment of the imagination. An illusion.
 
At the highest level Vedanta does not encourage any discussion on the nature of the world and its cause. That would merely be emphasising the reality of something which does not exist. It focuses on the direct experience of Reality.

 
(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Life and Death: Illusion And Reality

In Kant and the Platypus , Umberto Eco squares his shoulders and takes on the problem of pure being. For pure being is not just a problem, it is the problem in philosophy in that it underlies everything, including problems, philosophers and platypuses. Or should it be platypi? Even the question mark to a dubious lingual entity which does not really 'exist' has to have being, even if it is in the form of a being which we call 'non-existence'.

 
(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Life and Death: The Problem of Being

No religion in this world preaches violence; yet down the ages horrible killings have taken place in the name of religion. Why? There is no simple answer to this question. Perception definitely has a role in this.
 
The fault somehow always seems to lie with the other religion. Could it be that we perceive other ideologies with bias or ignorance? Perhaps this explanation would have made sense in the dark ages when distance made communication very difficult. Today, it's different - there is free flow of information. There is a great deal of intermingling and intercourse between individuals and communities across the world. Outwardly there appears to be no reason for any acrimony to exist on the basis of one's faith, yet not only does irascibility exist, it is getting to be more pronounced.

 
(See also: Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Love and Happiness: To Love, Get Down To The Basics

Technologically we live in a borderless world. In reality, however, we exist in compartments, separated by walls of caste, religion and geography. We acknowledge the information explosion as being a great achievement and take pride in describing ourselves as a knowledge-based society. Snowed under as we are with mounds of information, we are facing a paradox - we find that ignorance levels are growing as well. The rate at which we are accumulating information is not commensurate with the rate at which our awareness is growing.

 
(See also: Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Peace on Earth: Peace or Violence, Make Your Choice

The one principle that should be at the core of any religious belief is ahimsa or non-violence - not to hurt any life, human or otherwise.
 
Killing is not right. Killing animals to eat them is not a civilised thing to do, but carnivores exist in nature and in many places, humans have to subsist on non-vegetarian food for reasons beyond their control. But wherever possible, vegetarianism must be practised.

 
(See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul )

Read more here: » Life and Death: An Agnostic's View Of Life and Death