"Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous—indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose."
Richard Dawkins
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (1995)
Reminds me of the question: "what is the opposite of love?"
Most people say "hate"
But actually it's indifference.
The curse of knowledge is the metaphorical expulsion from Eden. It's about becoming an adult. The serpent symbolizes wisdom in all ancient cultures.
To know that one day we will die is to become human. This was the realization that turned the tyrannical Gilgamesh into a compassionate king.
"there is nothing good or evil, but thinking makes it so" -William Shakespeare
The opposite of life is not death. The opposite of death is birth. Therefore, the opposite of life is living a meaningless existence.
If we are truly made in the image of God and God is the creator of everything, then we ourselves are creators, and our ultimate responsibility is to create meaning out of nothingness.
Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature response to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream, and the world will not grind you. It will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers, the ones who really counted, the ones who touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall, this is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a featherbed. -McKenna
"Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous—indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose."
Richard Dawkins
River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life (1995)
Reminds me of the question: "what is the opposite of love?"
Most people say "hate"
But actually it's indifference.
The curse of knowledge is the metaphorical expulsion from Eden. It's about becoming an adult. The serpent symbolizes wisdom in all ancient cultures.
To know that one day we will die is to become human. This was the realization that turned the tyrannical Gilgamesh into a compassionate king.
"there is nothing good or evil, but thinking makes it so" -William Shakespeare
The opposite of life is not death. The opposite of death is birth. Therefore, the opposite of life is living a meaningless existence.
If we are truly made in the image of God and God is the creator of everything, then we ourselves are creators, and our ultimate responsibility is to create meaning out of nothingness.
Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature response to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream, and the world will not grind you. It will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers, the ones who really counted, the ones who touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall, this is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a featherbed. -McKenna