tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6271448046670800587..comments2024-03-28T20:04:20.286-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: O, Nothing in ParticularGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1960949101307309192015-08-18T07:08:50.462-07:002015-08-18T07:08:50.462-07:00I like that, Joan. Explains why those who puff the...I like that, Joan. Explains why those who puff themselves up tend to be all wet.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38511926778383751022015-08-18T04:16:46.638-07:002015-08-18T04:16:46.638-07:00Ben, perhaps we can coin, "self-steamery.&quo...Ben, perhaps we can coin, "self-steamery." Joan of Argghh!https://www.blogger.com/profile/14729682908266300507noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-26960973568546350212015-08-17T22:53:13.598-07:002015-08-17T22:53:13.598-07:00"No, my self esteem just isn't that high,..."No, my self esteem just isn't that high, and I promise that there's nothing you folks can do about it."<br /><br />Wouldn't have it any other way, Bob. It seems to me that's pretty much a requirement to be a raccoon. Giant ego's are an obstacle to finding truth. Plus, people who can't realize the importance of being humble tend to be braggerts that are mired in a swamp of self esteemery (and are quite proud of it).<br /><br /><br /><br />USS Ben USN (Ret)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07492369604790651538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-40771386812894241272015-08-17T16:42:28.774-07:002015-08-17T16:42:28.774-07:00Kurt's comment reminds me of someone I was tal...Kurt's comment reminds me of someone I was talking to recently. He is a "believer", but he says that when people start talking about having a personal experience with God, he thinks they are delusional, or they are trying to manipulate other people. He has a point in that gnosis has great potential for abuse and error. But there's is plenty to ground us, and judge the fruit. I agree.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-73446968086132040742015-08-17T16:29:29.140-07:002015-08-17T16:29:29.140-07:00Regarding the question of gnosis. I think that eve...Regarding the question of gnosis. I think that every human being can have a unique personal experience of God. First because we are each an absolutely unique creation so our spiritual experiences will also be unique (at least potentially). And, second, because God is Infinite and I believe it is His greatest joy to share all of Himself with all of His children. That means we can dine at the Table of the Lord and never have the same meal twice. Yet every time it is God who meets us there, always Him, only Him. <br /><br />At the same time since all spiritual experience, in terms of grace, flows from Him there has to be a commonality that binds it all together, an underlying unity, logic and most of all, love. <br /><br />Problems with gnosis seem to start when folks try to insist that their personal spiritual experience is some kind of new revelation that is applicable to all mankind. That's when I hit the 'BS' button and move along down the trail.<br /><br />Bottom line, judge a tree by its fruit, and the Tree of Bob has been dropping some very nice peaches into my lap for eight years now. And that's why I stick around...Kurthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01750808052006968358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-88203960640767382662015-08-17T13:58:38.943-07:002015-08-17T13:58:38.943-07:00Topperware?Topperware?Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-52362922104935629292015-08-17T13:51:39.011-07:002015-08-17T13:51:39.011-07:00Yes -- how could the uncontainable be contained by...Yes -- how could the uncontainable be contained by a definition? Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-43471405334409317042015-08-17T13:50:11.207-07:002015-08-17T13:50:11.207-07:00"we're not talking about some vague and v..."we're not talking about some vague and vacuous existentialist nothing in general, but rather, the divine and slacuous nothing in particular."<br /><br />Father Barron has a nice and easy way of explaining what we mean when we refer to the Great Nothing which is the Source of all Everythings. I think he borrowed it from Aquinas. Anyway, it goes some-thing like, "God is not merely a thing among other things..." He is beyond or outside the category of "things." Now that I think of it, He may be indefinable by definition.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13720790978632771716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-30111972897245908992015-08-17T10:49:17.213-07:002015-08-17T10:49:17.213-07:00... rather unnamed than named, unknown than known ...<i> ... rather unnamed than named, unknown than known ...</i><br /><br />It's like space -- the nothing where everything happens.mushroomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07651027035577798096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-11362962437555176662015-08-17T09:43:22.189-07:002015-08-17T09:43:22.189-07:00"First of all, this haiku-ized statement by T..."First of all, this haiku-ized statement by Thomas could be our motto:<br /><br />our task is to hand<br /><br />onto others the things gained<br /><br />in contemplation<br />It goes like this: 1) (↑), 2) (o), 3) (↓), 4) (→). In fact, you could say that your Lavish Praise is (←). And I know and you know that (←) is a meager thing unless it is preceded by your own (↑) and (↓). I am just the middleman. You're welcome."<br /><br />Wo, that's a really good motto. Saintly even. With just a little poetic license, it could be taken a number of upward ways... a true racoon mountaineering map. Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.com