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Aurelius said that all you have is the present moment so when you die the only thing you can lose is the present moment. That one really stuck with me.

spraak 9y ago
But you don't lose the moment... you go into a new body. (Anticipating down votes for this, though)
- gboudrias 9y ago
  You anticipated correctly yet you don't seem to realize why. Where can we possibly take this conversation now except into a religious flame war? If you had approached it from a philosophical perspective, we could actually have a fruitful (or at least interesting) exchange of words. As it stands you dove straight into belief territory, which obviously cannot be debated productively. (I don't mean to be a jerk but I do mean to criticize your apparent lack of self-awareness.)
  - spraak 9y ago
    Yeah, that makes sense. But I don't understand what you mean about lack of self awareness? (Perhaps validating your point)
    - gboudrias 9y ago
      I'm a (sort-of) Buddhist myself but I don't presume to know anything for certain, especially not how it should affect the way we see our lives. It just seems arrogant to me to present such things as facts, without so much as an argument. Sorry, shoulda been clearer in my initial reply.
- miles 9y ago
  The downvotes may be more from the baiting ("Anticipating down votes for this...") than the opinion expressed. Even Wikipedia (normally not a bastion of support for the "unexplained") offers a fairly balanced take on Stevenson's Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Cases_Suggestive_of_Reincarnation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Cases_Suggestive_of_Rei...
- gerbilly 9y ago
  Your comment reminds me of this Zen story: The Emperor asked Master Gudo, "What happens to a man of enlightenment after death?" "How should I know?" replied Gudo. "Because you are a master," answered the Emperor. "Yes sir," said Gudo, "but not a dead one."
  - spraak 9y ago
    Except there are people who remember their past lives.
    - bigbluedots 9y ago
      There have so far been none who can do that verifiably, though...
      - EGreg 9y ago
        How are you so sure? Have you read them all? I have heard some crazy stories, which if true would be very hard to explain rationally. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWMEWubrk0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWMEWubrk0
coldtea 9y ago
He was wrong. When you are alive you have not just "the present moment but also all your future moments to look forward to -- and you have thoughts about what to do in those moments. It's only for the last 'present moment' that what he said holds.
- alexashka 9y ago
  You look to future moments, in the present moment. There is only the present moment. This isn't a philosophical stance - it's actually a subtle point that isn't obvious until pointed out, everything you experience, you experience right now, and never any other time, always now.
  - codersbrew 9y ago
    Reminds me of the space balls movie.
  - asimovfan 9y ago
    The simple truth to be realized, the inherent buddhahood that is present in everyone.
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >You look to future moments, in the present moment. There is only the present moment. Only as an accounting trick. People alive have a long series of present moments to go through. And they are conscious of that, and can make plans, and look forward to those. Dead people don't have anything. >This isn't a philosophical stance - it's actually a subtle point that isn't obvious until pointed out, everything you experience, you experience right now, and never any other time, always now. Animals do that (and not sure even for them). Humans always include the past and the future in their experience of "right now". If there's "only the present moment", then knowing you have 2 weeks to live because of some sudden severe illness (with no other symptoms except death), would be just as well to anybody. I doubt that this is the case. Of course a stoic can argue otherwise (I don't care what will happen in 2 weeks), but that's a bona fide philosophical stance. Not a subtle point about the human experience.
amelius 9y ago
That's interesting, because you can ask: what is the present moment? In physics there is no such thing as simultaneity. And different parts of your brain can communicate at most by the speed of light.

spraak 9y ago

But you don't lose the moment... you go into a new body. (Anticipating down votes for this, though)

gboudrias 9y ago
You anticipated correctly yet you don't seem to realize why. Where can we possibly take this conversation now except into a religious flame war? If you had approached it from a philosophical perspective, we could actually have a fruitful (or at least interesting) exchange of words. As it stands you dove straight into belief territory, which obviously cannot be debated productively. (I don't mean to be a jerk but I do mean to criticize your apparent lack of self-awareness.)
- spraak 9y ago
  Yeah, that makes sense. But I don't understand what you mean about lack of self awareness? (Perhaps validating your point)
  - gboudrias 9y ago
    I'm a (sort-of) Buddhist myself but I don't presume to know anything for certain, especially not how it should affect the way we see our lives. It just seems arrogant to me to present such things as facts, without so much as an argument. Sorry, shoulda been clearer in my initial reply.
miles 9y ago
The downvotes may be more from the baiting ("Anticipating down votes for this...") than the opinion expressed. Even Wikipedia (normally not a bastion of support for the "unexplained") offers a fairly balanced take on Stevenson's Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Cases_Suggestive_of_Reincarnation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty_Cases_Suggestive_of_Rei...
gerbilly 9y ago
Your comment reminds me of this Zen story: The Emperor asked Master Gudo, "What happens to a man of enlightenment after death?" "How should I know?" replied Gudo. "Because you are a master," answered the Emperor. "Yes sir," said Gudo, "but not a dead one."
- spraak 9y ago
  Except there are people who remember their past lives.
  - bigbluedots 9y ago
    There have so far been none who can do that verifiably, though...
    - EGreg 9y ago
      How are you so sure? Have you read them all? I have heard some crazy stories, which if true would be very hard to explain rationally. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWMEWubrk0 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PbWMEWubrk0

coldtea 9y ago

He was wrong. When you are alive you have not just "the present moment but also all your future moments to look forward to -- and you have thoughts about what to do in those moments. It's only for the last 'present moment' that what he said holds.

alexashka 9y ago
You look to future moments, in the present moment. There is only the present moment. This isn't a philosophical stance - it's actually a subtle point that isn't obvious until pointed out, everything you experience, you experience right now, and never any other time, always now.
- codersbrew 9y ago
  Reminds me of the space balls movie.
- asimovfan 9y ago
  The simple truth to be realized, the inherent buddhahood that is present in everyone.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >You look to future moments, in the present moment. There is only the present moment. Only as an accounting trick. People alive have a long series of present moments to go through. And they are conscious of that, and can make plans, and look forward to those. Dead people don't have anything. >This isn't a philosophical stance - it's actually a subtle point that isn't obvious until pointed out, everything you experience, you experience right now, and never any other time, always now. Animals do that (and not sure even for them). Humans always include the past and the future in their experience of "right now". If there's "only the present moment", then knowing you have 2 weeks to live because of some sudden severe illness (with no other symptoms except death), would be just as well to anybody. I doubt that this is the case. Of course a stoic can argue otherwise (I don't care what will happen in 2 weeks), but that's a bona fide philosophical stance. Not a subtle point about the human experience.

amelius 9y ago

That's interesting, because you can ask: what is the present moment? In physics there is no such thing as simultaneity. And different parts of your brain can communicate at most by the speed of light.