Posted: Feb 26, 2017 4:44 pm
realNutjob wrote:Thommo wrote:
You have quite the task to show that mindfulness techniques are so effective as to make all mental and physical suffering irrelevant.
The gap between this and what perhaps is more accurate - that some people claim limited alleviation of certain types of pain can be achieved by a variety of talking therapies and meditative techniques - is far too large for this to underpin the sweeping claims in the OP and the implications they do hold (which, again include none for the existence of free will, nor any for the existence of god(s)).
Instead of being deviated by those questions simply ask yourself these 2:
- Do I desire NOT to suffer? If the answer is yes, ask yourself:
- Am I sure I will always have the free will to make that choice? And by always I mean potential existence after physical death in this reality.
They aren't deviations in my book, if you introduce a particular to support your principle, it seems reasonable to point out the disconnect that exists between the two things.
Anyway, the answers to your questions:-
Do I desire not to suffer? Of course, I don't want to suffer.
Am I sure I will always have the free will to make that choice? I am in fact sure of the opposite - I often suffer without being able to choose not to, whether because a beloved pet dies, because I read about the tragedies going on in the world every day or simply because I stub my toe. In no case can I simply choose not to experience negative psychological states as consequences.
Am I sure I will always have the free will to choose not to suffer in a life after death? Since I can't do it in this life, in the highly implausible circumstance of life after death there's no reason to suppose anything would change, but conversely there's no reason to suppose it would stay the same.
I have no idea how those answers are supposed to be helpful, but I gladly provide them. I hope you'll reciprocate and answer some of the challenges regarding your claims.
