[NightOwlNation]

Originally Posted by tomn8er

....I never believed in God before I gained a basic understanding of such things - and I still don't believe in God in the Christian sense, but rather see God as more of a universal pervasive force.

Yes, I think that our ancestors pretty much did the best they could with the language base they had, to explain things spiritual or mystical. And I think we are still doing this today. How the Unviverse or God is described now, I believe is a combination of this and also (from the objective and conspiritorial perspective) information that was hidden by others with an agenda, whatever it may be. I think its pretty widely known that some church leaders hold knowledge, texts, documents and other writings that are not commonly shared, even to this day. Though there are still others in places around the world who were willing to share, if we made our way to them. Like the Rosicrucians, Tibetan monks and others.And I also believe that within each of us is everything we need to know-even if it takes us time to become aware of it.

....Yeah, I confess that I also find it difficult to totally believe in subjective reality. I also find that meditation helps me to feel that I am a part of something beyond just my physical body. And that is an amazing, pacifying feeling.

Did you mean difficult to believe in objective reality? Not sure what this refers to.

Meditation can be very helpful I think. Sounds like your experiences have been good. I also found myself experiencing expansion. Like my body and awareness was no longer seperate from something larger. This happened for the first time last year. And a few other times since. I'd love for this or something better to occur every time.

....The one area of Steve's explanation that I am still confused about is how he can reasonably doubt that others possess a consciousness.

....I'm not sure how other people fit into subjective reality, but at this point I'd venture that since we are all part of the same consciousness, they too possess their own versions or portions of that greater consciousness, just as I do. However, then I start blurring the boundaries of subjectivity with those of objectivity, and this is where my understanding breaks down.

I know! I still live in both worlds, so to speak. Increasingly more in the subjective but being human, the objective still looms. I find myself moving between the two worlds it seems. I really look forward to the day the scales tip and the subjective reality is what is dominant.

What is your understanding of how other people fit into subjective reality NightOwlNation?

...I'd like to hear a more in-depth explanation of how it makes sense to doubt that other people are conscious, and still regard them as significant human beings as opposed to fake robot-like illusions?

Well, I think that Steve explains it well in these blog postings:

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...ctive-reality/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...relationships/

I can't speak for him, of course, but he and others have written things that cause me to believe there is a lot more going on even beyond what we know so far. One thing that really feels accurate to me is that more than one thing can be true about something. Keeping what we know so far about the Holographic Theory and Subjective Reality in mind, I believe other people do have individualized consciousness within the construct of my Mind, to a degree, in my perception - and they also do not, in my perception.

How? I resolve it this way. I do see them as individual, as differentiated aspects or expressions of God. But at the same time I see them as really being representations of the different aspects of the only One be-ing, in relationship with each other - and also me and the world at large. Like trees, the ocean, dogs and cats, the wind....

I once saw a public service announcement and the narrator said something like:

There is only one sky, one tree, one ocean, one girl and one boy, one bird......and so on. I only saw it a few times but immediately identified with this. It was such a surprise and made total sense.

So I see it like this and then see all of that within the infinite container of Mind. Like Mind taking on or making use of various forms to carry out Its ideas, passions, wonderings, etc. (that's just how I put it these days - not sure exactly the purpose of life in any kind of detail or anything).

There's a doctor who researches the near death experiences of children. He interviewed a very young boy once. And when he asked him what it was like to have these experiences he was sharing the little boy said:

"It was like I was walking around inside my mind."

Now, back then I had heard about the law of attraction in the sort of new age way the notion was being bandied about. But I hadn't learned much more than that. And certainly the Holographic Model and Subjective Reality were nowhere in my awareness then. But when I heard what this little child had said I just knew it was true! And I knew it was a clue to something important.

Another stepping stone pointing to something greater.