What is the deepest question about reality you can ask?

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cyber tuff guy!
Is it Theological?

or

Philosophical?

What is it?

Mindship
The deepest question one can ask is, simply, "Why?" I think this, more than anything else, opens up both the heart and the mind.

DigiMark007
What's that smell?

confused






Also: see Mindship's answer.

Darkhalen
Why do we live
Why do we exist

cyber tuff guy!
Originally posted by DigiMark007
What's that smell?

confused


Why is usually just a preface, didn't you wash?

debbiejo
Originally posted by Mindship
The deepest question one can ask is, simply, "Why?" I think this, more than anything else, opens up both the heart and the mind. I was going to say that too! big grin




Ooo That Smell, Can'tcha Smell That Smell!!

leonheartmm
why are there concepts/anything{paradox/self negation and non existance and trancendance included}?
why does a "WHY" exist? or why do things exist in a way as to even bring up a guery/word "why"?
do i exist?
am i who i think i am?
does a world exist or is it just my own imagination?
why am i ONE thing and not another{i.e. why do EXISTANCE etc define me}?
how many OTHER things are there?{i.e. beyond existance/non existance}
why are there things i can not comprehend?
what are the things i can not comprehend?
do i have free will?
what is true love?
does subjective qualia exist?
if it does than how do other people expirience the world?
etc etc etc etc

debbiejo
If we didn't ask "why", we would never create. It's in our nature.

WrathfulDwarf
How can I help others?

Sado22
the deepest question on reality is whether or not there IS a reality.
how do you justify reality?
what makes it "real"?

above all though the question i always ponder is this:
is there a reality that can unify all human beings?

~Sado

inimalist
I think people confuse "depth" with the ability to word things in such a way that they cannot be answered...

SelphieT
Originally posted by inimalist
I think people confuse "depth" with the ability to word things in such a way that they cannot be answered...

How bout you list a question, so I can understand your point completely?

Impediment
Originally posted by SelphieT
How bout you list a question, so I can understand your point completely?

What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?

Dreampanther
When do I level-up? Where are the saving points in this game? What kind of combos do I get?

or

When is my real family gonna come and pick me up and take me back to our home planet?

apoc001
Why do people try to destroy truth?

inimalist
Originally posted by SelphieT
How bout you list a question, so I can understand your point completely?

Why are we here
why does the universe exist
what is the point of life...

ect.

none of them are "real" questions, meaning they aren't answerable because they presume unknowable motivation. Its not "deep" to question your own existence, it is in fact a tautologically redundant exercise.

EDIT: a valid question may be "how", but imho that is a matter of complexity and not "depth"

EDIT again: In response to the question in general, the "deepest" questions about reality one can ask would relate to the moral way for people to interact with one another

Mairuzu
"Who will do better than heath as the joker" sad

King of Blades
I think I'd have to go with "what if?"

lord xyz
Originally posted by debbiejo
I was going to say that too! big grin I think we all were.

Symmetric Chaos
The deepest question one can ask is to give an answer.

Mindship
See thread title.
Originally posted by WrathfulDwarf
How can I help others? This is the noblest question.

King of Blades
Originally posted by Mindship
See thread title.
This is the noblest question.

Where although I agree that it is a noble question, and perhaps on the surface does not address depth, I would have to disagree that it isn't a "deep" question.

When asking "how can I help others?" I think you are opening a door to world where the mind must go beyond physical conventional means of simply "doing what's right" but tackling issues like "what is help?" and "how do I perform it?" Not to mention that there are certain degrees of help, where some are better then others. Like Kreia once said, "sometimes we do more help with a clenched fist then an open palm."

Mindship
Originally posted by King of Blades
Where although I agree that it is a noble question, and perhaps on the surface does not address depth, I would have to disagree that it isn't a "deep" question. No disagreement here. I think a bodhisattva would be a good example of depth and nobility, but with emphasis on the latter.

King Kandy
Originally posted by leonheartmm
why am i ONE thing and not another{i.e. why do EXISTANCE etc define me}?
This is something i've been thinking alot about lately.

Deja~vu
Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
The deepest question one can ask is to give an answer.

and why.

eating my papaya cant be the answer. more two life than being happyness all the time.

Cornlady
I really cannot think of a deep question to ask.

Cap'n Happy
Originally posted by Cornlady
I really cannot think of a deep question to ask.

This is the most honest answer that has yet been given here... and that alone makes it deep and profound. I never thought I would say this Cornlady, but thank you.

FistOfThe North
Originally posted by cyber tuff guy!
Is it Theological?

or

Philosophical?

What is it?

Morpheus in the matrix said it best when he's asked ,

"What is "real"? How do you define, "real"? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Your mind makes it real."

So if real is what your mind interpreters as real, then outside of your minds' realm/interpretation, what can, or do, you call our existing dimension we're in, as humans, if not real?

And the answer is whatever the opposite of the metaphysical is, i suppose.

=Tired Hiker=
"Why not?"

chillmeistergen
Originally posted by FistOfThe North
Morpheus in the matrix said it best when he's asked ,

"What is "real"? How do you define, "real"? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Your mind makes it real."

So if real is what your mind interpreters as real, then outside of your minds' realm/interpretation, what can, or do, you call our existing dimension we're in, as humans, if not real?

And the answer is whatever the opposite of the metaphysical is, i suppose.

Hahaha, nah, I think Descartes put it a lot better.

As for my response to the thread starter's question:- you can't quantify a deep question, it's something that's unique to the person you are. Some people can pose a deep question with a shrug of the shoulders, or a few words. To pose a deep question is nothing special, it's been done time and time again, but it is special to the individual, that's what should matter, how important it is to you; not how important it would be on a scale.

Robtard
"What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

Symmetric Chaos
Originally posted by Robtard
"What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

African or European? erm

Mindship
An African swallow, not a European swallow, that's my point.

(I guess this moves "What is your favorite color?" to Second Deepest Question...)

Quark_666
Originally posted by FistOfThe North
Morpheus in the matrix said it best when he's asked ,

"What is "real"? How do you define, "real"? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain. Your mind makes it real."

The true question is, does your mind make the world real or does the world make your mind real? stick out tongue

Gouki
Why why?

Deja~vu
Africans don't swallow, do they?? blink

ragesRemorse
What is consciousness....,what is real?

Quark_666
Originally posted by ragesRemorse
What is consciousness....,what is real?

What is consciousness is a pretty obvious one.

Blax_Hydralisk
Originally posted by Deja~vu
Africans don't swallow, do they?? blink

If you block air from coming in through there nose they do.

FoxMeister
Why we are here i would think.

leonheartmm
is? why? there you go.

Tptmanno1
Originally posted by chillmeistergen
Hahaha, nah, I think Descartes put it a lot better.


I agree, although his purpose for asking, and the way he goes about answering it, have very serious issues, but I suppose that is the problem with that type of philosophy, it is very dated, and it shows.

Also its not really a question when he asks it, unless you characterize it as "what is the pure essence of our being? What are we purely?"
And his answer of course is Simply a thinking thing that is completely reliant on god.

But thats incredibly over-simplified.

lord xyz
I thought of a new question, "Am I right?/Is this true?" or any other derivative. It questions our very existance and what we perceive. Without asking this question, scientific development would have never happened.

Quark_666
I'll bet anything most scientists would feel a lot better if they were asking "am I wrong" lol.

svetlu
Look around you. Are there any sights or sounds or flavors that you've never encountered in all your days? Perhaps other worlds and creatures exist within the space that you perceive and sence in a limited way - worlds that are transparent and unrecognizable from our point of view?
This is what Kabbalah about. Kabbalah as a way of illuminating that reality so it is plain to see. Once that happens and we take it all in, our perceptions of reality are changed.
All metaphors aside, neither science nor phylosophy may be able to help us see the deeper reality. But if we arm ourselves with the wisdom of Kabbalah, we can more fully understand our limitations and begin to test the boudaries of conventional reality and how we can transcend them.

Quark_666
Originally posted by svetlu
All metaphors aside, neither science nor phylosophy may be able to help us see the deeper reality. But if we arm ourselves with the wisdom of Kabbalah, we can more fully understand our limitations and begin to test the boudaries of conventional reality and how we can transcend them. That is a pretty radical statement. I'm not seeing how Kabbalah does any better than philosophy, honestly. No I've never read it, but if you could explain what you mean that would be great.

svetlu

Quark_666
That's all possible without the Kabbalah. I could make me believe it if I wanted to and still reject the Kabbalah to the core. I have recieved no evidence that gaining that mindset makes me any wiser though.

Darth Exodus
How deep is it.

Deja~vu
Another question is "Why".....why do people do the things they do. Also, why don't they think they can be honest?

Atlantis001
It is "Why do I care about the deepest question about reality I can ask?".

Mindship
Originally posted by Quark_666
That's all possible without the Kabbalah. I could make me believe it if I wanted to and still reject the Kabbalah to the core. I have recieved no evidence that gaining that mindset makes me any wiser though. Because it's not a matter of mindset. Any system which can be expressed in words, images or thought is ultimately only a map, not the territory.

Kabbalah is the mystical facet of Judaism, and like any mystical system it ultimately depends on a direct experience of transcendent reality. Anything else (if you'll pardon another metaphor) is the menu, not the meal. But as with every mystical system, there is instruction on how to reach for this experience. Typically, the Western mystical systems call it prayer, but I think this tends to confuse Westerners. The Eastern mystical systems call it meditation, which is clearer, but even this word has distracting connotations. I've always found the following a wonderful way to express what action is required...

A merchant came to a Zen master and said, "Master, I know you are busy, so please write on this scroll some maxims of the highest wisdom for me to study." And the master wrote, "Attention." The merchant was puzzled, and said, "I don't understand." And the master wrote "Attention. Attention."

"But all you're doing is writing 'attention'. Isn't there anything else?"

And the master wrote it three times running: "Attention. Attention. Attention."

Exasperated, the merchant demanded, "What do you mean by 'attention', anyway?!"

"Attention means attention," the master replied.

So much for the proper tool/technique. The next logical question would be, "How do you know if what you are experiencing during meditation is transcendent reality?"

That's the $64,000 question. Theoretically, transcendent experience is open to careful observation, prediction (especially as it may translate to the empirical world) and intersubjective consensus. But more immediately, the answer is, you don't know. At the very least, if meditative insights help to improve the quality of your life, then minimally it has that merit.

Deja~vu
WHY

It's also a word that drives you crazy when someone keeps asking you it. Yep.

lord xyz
Originally posted by Atlantis001
It is "Why do I care about the deepest question about reality I can ask?". "Why do we ask why?"

dadudemon
Originally posted by lord xyz
"Why do we ask why?"

Its

"Why ask why? Try Bud Dry."

Even so, amen.

svetlu
Mindship: Kabbalah is the mystical facet of Judaism, and like any mystical system it ultimately depends on a direct experience of transcendent reality. Anything else (if you'll pardon another metaphor) is the menu, not the meal. But as with every mystical system, there is instruction on how to reach for this experience. Typically, the Western mystical systems call it prayer, but I think this tends to confuse Westerners. The Eastern mystical systems call it meditation, which is clearer, but even this word has distracting connotations. I've always found the following a wonderful way to express what action is required...(quote)

There are no meditations in Kabbalah. There are intents and precise forces of thought that lead the world (actual leading and affecting of the world is possible only through thought).
Tibetian stidies lower a person to vegetative, or even a still level. Those who study these methods feel comfortable because the most comfortable situation is that of stone, which is still. After all, what else could man want but to rest? These studies are built entirely on the destruction of the ego. But egoism(our desire for pleasure) must not be destroyed because it is our very nature. From this we can understand how destructive such studies are to one's egoism.
By this way, man will never attain the purpose of creation. If we are to live like a plant or a rock, we might as well not be born at all.
Kabbalah maintains that we should take all our egoism, all our nature, and begin to deal with it correctly. Then we will reach the highest situation, not the lowest.

Mindship
Originally posted by svetlu
There are no meditations in Kabbalah. On the contrary. It may not be called "meditation," per se, but there is (eg) contemplation of the sephirot, or of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Whatever the focus, the idea is the same, to clear the mind of its on-going daily ruminations so that the light of the divine may begin to shine through. Heck, what do you think the motions of davening are for, or the prayer shawl which covers and separates the Jew from his immediate environment.

Tibetian stidies lower a person to vegetative, or even a still level. Incorrect. The idea, again, is to still the mind. Its inner dialogue is like the sun which blocks the light of the stars. Quiet the mind, and the more distant light of God's emanations become "visible." Put another way, the same developmental sequence which enables one to grow from infancy to adulthood is "re-ignited," so that the sequence may carry us from the ego to higher states.

These studies are built entirely on the destruction of the ego. Again, not correct. "Ego death" is the common (and erroneous) Westerner's perception of what meditation does. The ego is regarded as a necessary step in the development of human consciousness, to be superceded, not destroyed, no more than the child within us is destroyed by the adult. It merely takes its place.

Kabbalah maintains that we should take all our egoism, all our nature, and begin to deal with it correctly. Then we will reach the highest situation, not the lowest. This I would agree with.

svetlu
quote: (post)by Mindship:
On the contrary. It may not be called "meditation," per se, but there is (eg) contemplation of the sephirot, or of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Whatever the focus, the idea is the same, to clear the mind of its on-going daily ruminations so that the light of the divine may begin to shine through. Heck, what do you think the motions of davening are for, or the prayer shawl which covers and separates the Jew from his immediate environment. (quote)

In athentic Kabbalah there is noting to do with any material thing like Hibrew letters or shawl or tefilin, etc. There is only person's job with his thoughts and aims. There are no ceremonies in the study of Kabbalah.

Wålshy
Originally posted by cyber tuff guy!
Is it Theological?

or

Philosophical?

What is it? spit or swallow?

Mindship
Originally posted by svetlu
In athentic Kabbalah there is noting to do with any material thing like Hibrew letters or shawl or tefilin, etc. There is only person's job with his thoughts and aims. There are no ceremonies in the study of Kabbalah. Authentic. It's been a while since I read the history of Kabbalah. I remember Kabbalah having a few different versions (eg, Lurianic). Same core concepts, but slightly different shades of interpretation, particularly how the Ein Sof begins Its manifestations.

Also how does authentic Kabbalah see Akiva in relation to Moses?

pgdarth95
is there a way to reach the ends of the universe and if you do is there more? are we all just things....play things even of god if he is the only way to hevan why cant he make this DAMN WORLD GREAT!!!! I MEAN WHY DOES HE KEEP US ALL IN MYSTERY (sniffle) why....why.........

ragesRemorse
whats the point?

Deja~vu
Death bed utterances.

We state what we think we may say.....

But in reality, we don't really know what we'll say.

We are in some state of leaving this body and cannot really know what would blurt out of mouths..........

Devil King
Originally posted by inimalist
I think people confuse "depth" with the ability to word things in such a way that they cannot be answered...

A very good point.

"What time is it?"

inimalist
Originally posted by Devil King

"What time is it?"

thats the sound of my brain cracking

chithappens
And that's why I almost always completely skip this topic

Bicnarok

En Sabah Nur X
Originally posted by ragesRemorse
whats the point?

Well for me the point is finding out what its made of. I mean little girls and cakes are made of the same exact thing rearranged a bit, I find that amazing, after all the cakes don't move, except through your intestines, and the girls do(outside, and that's the key thing). If I knew what it is actually made of, besides atoms, virtual particles, etc... I could turn a cake into agirl or a girl into a cake with a simple machine.

-why can´t I win the lottery?-Bicnarok

Bad luck, you could play forever and never win, or play 1001 times and win them in a row. Need to find someone with luck and borrow it, steal it, or take them with you and have them buy the ticket and share it with you.


Devil King -"What time is it?"-

I hate that question, it is always the present time, duh. But they say math says the present is an illusion(blocktime, the universe is a solid block of spacetime cake, and some say it is shaped like a donut.) and doesn't exist like a spoon... hmmm, seemed pretty real to me like movement.

inimalist:
I think people confuse "depth" with the ability to word things in such a way that they cannot be answered...

M.E.: TRUE that is.

En Sabah Nur X
Originally posted by pgdarth95
is there a way to reach the ends of the universe and if you do is there more? are we all just things....play things even of god if he is the only way to hevan why cant he make this DAMN WORLD GREAT!!!! I MEAN WHY DOES HE KEEP US ALL IN MYSTERY (sniffle) why....why.........

He doesn't mind living in mysery, and thinks every single thing is imaginary... aka, not real! but reality is just one bit.

Juk3n
Originally posted by cyber tuff guy!
Is it Theological?

or

Philosophical?

What is it?

whaaasssss uuuuuuppp!!??

carnage52
why am i asking questions

carnage52
why am i typing

carnage52
why dont i be more confident around girls

carnage52
why cant i be arsed doing anything

carnage52
why do i not listen to people

carnage52
why do i have some sort of certainty that something bad wil happen if i do anything?

carnage52
why didnt i put all my questions in one post?

svetlu
Originally posted by carnage52
why didnt i put all my questions in one post?
Why have children been asking questions?
__________________________________________
All the changes are only in the perceivers. B.Ashlag
____________________________________________
www.kabbalah.info

occultdestroyer
What is real, and what is not?

Deja~vu
It seems that the question will always be "why." But that can be because we are conditioned to think in that manner. Instead we could say, "Nice and interesting ride." Then we could ask, "I wonder what's next...Oooo, can't wait." lol

People, imo, take this life too seriously......It's only a "play," ya know.

Mindship
"When can this thread by closed?"

Deja~vu
That wasn't very deep.. roll eyes (sarcastic)

Mindship
I'm fresh outta deep for now.

Deja~vu
Better take a "renue" it pill nowl..........I know you and you are definataly deep............you are on drugs tonight? LOL yet that may make it soooooooooo way deep Hahahahaha

Mindship
Originally posted by Deja~vu
Better take a "renue" it pill nowl..........I know you and you are definataly deep............you are on drugs tonight? LOL yet that may make it soooooooooo way deep Hahahahaha Quite.

moonstars

Deja~vu
Now, that's much, much to my delight..............*stares*....

Feeling deeply pulled into some philosophical reasoning.,...Deeeeeeeeeeeply....lol

Deja~vu
Oh, oh, I know one.

I wonder if. yeah, it is for me...deep question. lol

Grand_Moff_Gav
Originally posted by Mindship
I'm fresh outta deep for now.

Does that come out of voluntary or involuntary celibacy?

(I will explain that joke if I have too stick out tongue)

Mindship
Originally posted by Grand_Moff_Gav
Does that come out of voluntary or involuntary celibacy? laughing out loud

(I will explain that joke if I have too stick out tongue) S'ok. I'm back in the saddle again (oh, I can already hear the retorts to this).

Jack Daniels
Originally posted by debbiejo
If we didn't ask "why", we would never create. It's in our nature.

I know this quote goes way back but it just caught my attention its also in our nature to destroy...(LHC Large Hadron Collider) google it! just promoting that issue in another thread I'm done..lol..
now to be on topic I agree with the why question

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