StevePavlina.com Podcast #023 - Life, the Universe, and Everything (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

StevePavlina.com Podcast #023 - Life, the Universe, and Everything

[Bradshaw]

Thank you.

[Ajit Odedra]

excellentai! Downloading now, will share thoughts later tonight Thanks Steve!

[dwixi]

I don't have a computer at the moment so I have to listen to it tomorrow in college, but Reading what it was about was great! It is exactly what I have been waiting for as a podcast, it's strange how you always create the right thing at the right time for me. It's just what I have been looking for recently. Thanks so much! It's great that you keep giving high quality content to us for free!

[skinnyninja]

Just listened to the whole thing, I thought it was pretty good and I'm definitely going to kick this idea around in my head for a while, I think this is basically what I got out of it:

We should live as if nothing is permanent and our consciousness might survive death...even if it does not, the greatest rewards in life are achieved through our conscious growth....through our push for conscious growth (I would add in there holistic growth, so that we are trying to grow in different areas of our lives).

The greatest shortcut to conscious growth is to look at your fears and then face them head-on.

Those are the ideas that I'm taking away from it anyway.....great podcast and definitely worth a listen.

[AGBourne]

Thanks Steve.

Burned it and ready to listen to it on the way to school tomorrow morning.

[Matt Willard]

You sound pretty organized even off the cuff. I gotta respect that. Now, I can understand what you mean by facing unimportant fears, but what about those fears that threaten to end your life, end your physical existence and the experiences you're having on this plane?

[cylon]

Steve you remind me of Alan Watts in that recording, just no english accent and probably no pipe.

I like the conversational style, and I have been re-reading your writings on SR lately so it's nice to hear you go further into detail on what I guess you are still calling SR.

I plan to listen to it again soon, that was quite a lot to take in.

[supertom]

“The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.”
swami vivekananda

Similar ideas and approach by both, vivekananda also did photoreading

[Chris_1977]

For me the idea that we are here to grow is more convincing in itself than the explanation that the development of our consciousness is the only thing we could take with us after death. Why does the idea of growth have to be motivated anyway? To me it is obvious that life without growth is just totally beside the point.

[Rudolf]

Xmas is here! I was really hungry for another podcast. I can not wait to get some food for the brain.

[Plays With Life]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

Now, I can understand what you mean by facing unimportant fears, but what about those fears that threaten to end your life, end your physical existence and the experiences you're having on this plane?

I wasn't sure what you were saying here. Are you saying that fear can end your life? That fear is a threat to your physical existence?

[munish]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

You sound pretty organized even off the cuff. I gotta respect that. Now, I can understand what you mean by facing unimportant fears, but what about those fears that threaten to end your life, end your physical existence and the experiences you're having on this plane?

I think he is talking about fears like starting a new relationship, giving a speech.

He is not addressing the question you asked.

For example if you see a bus coming towards you, you will step out of it.There is no courage required, only common sense.

[munish]

I also liked when he says,the reason why we are here is not to see thru the illusion of reality, to transcend it .(And check out of it.). As suggested by Buddhism and other religions.

That is not the reason we are here.

The reason why we are here is to consciously choose our thoughts , and allign with love and truth.

(That is subjective reality and i think what he meant by that is to constantly change the perspective and see from all the perspectives.Like polyamory,Public speaking,Religion...)

Originally Posted by skinnyninja

Just listened to the whole thing, I thought it was pretty good and I'm definitely going to kick this idea around in my head for a while, I think this is basically what I got out of it:

We should live as if nothing is permanent and our consciousness might survive death...even if it does not, the greatest rewards in life are achieved through our conscious growth....through our push for conscious growth (I would add in there holistic growth, so that we are trying to grow in different areas of our lives).

The greatest shortcut to conscious growth is to look at your fears and then face them head-on.

Those are the ideas that I'm taking away from it anyway.....great podcast and definitely worth a listen.

[supertom]

But i think thats part of the illusion of reality, cause it seems like there is a reason it exists but there isnt, it isnt even real in the first place. But even than growth is still the most exciting thing you can do here

[Andrew Brunelle]

This podcast reminded me of the True Nature of Reality podcast. Really long, really interesting, and it also encompassed the TLP from the book. Since I've been reading your blog for 3 years and also have read your book, this wasn't exactly anything new, but more of a summation of some of the things you've worked on currently and some things from the Subjective Reality paradigm.

I thought it was good, but not your best podcast. I liked the True Nature of Reality the best of all your podcasts. I also really enjoyed Beyoind Religion. I guess my perspective has shifted a bit since I've realized what the universe really wants from us.

I have one question for you, Steve: What is our true potential? Is it becoming stwards of the Earth again and not letting our population get out of control or it is living in this civilization and keeping on destroying the Earth?

[sirkinm]

I thought the podcast was great.

I really liked when he asked the rhetorical question, "Would you be afraid to do it in a dream?" That really hits home because I feel the truth of the reality-as-a-dream paradigm, but sometimes have trouble acting in alignment with it.

I'm inspired to make a (all-too-modest) donation, because this has real value for me (well beyond the couple bucks I give)

[wimrijnders]

Hey Steve,

Listening to that podcast was a creepy experience. You are addressing a lot of issues which are on my mind currently, and it's as if you're talking to me personally. Off the cuff, my foot! You had me in mind

Kind Regards,

Wim.

[seeker5]

I listened to the first 20 minutes today, and I'm really digging the really introspective, deep style of this podcast! I love this deep way of pondering things. Listening to the podcast talk about the subjective nature of consciousness while walking between classes and seeing all of these people around me is quite eerie and interesting .

[Slapsuplex]

Steve why do you neglect the idea that every body has it's own consciousness so easily ? I didn't even heard any arguments against it, you just flushed it away. And the whole subject reality theory is based on this idea being false. Care to give me reasons why you do not believe in it ?

P.S. It's impressive that you spoke for over hour, without pauses and "ummms". You must really believe in this and be immersed in it.

[seeker5]

Hah, that's funny what you said about nobody wanting to be accountants because they love it. I have talked to at least one person who is completely turned on about being an accountant, who loves just looking at numbers and all of that. Most people would probably just do it for the money, but I'm sure some accountants absolutely love it. I also remember hearing an accountant give a speech to a small group about taxes, and she was so interested in what she was saying.

[bunnyman]

Originally Posted by Slapsuplex

Steve why do you neglect the idea that every body has it's own consciousness so easily ?

I think it's because each person can only "access" their own consciousness. I can see through my eyes, but not yours. I can feel my feelings, but not yours. I know what I am thinking, but not what you are thinking. I can choose to believe you have a separate consciousness, like mine. But how do I know for sure?

What if I was having a dream with other dream characters? Those characters came from my imagination, right? They do not have their own thoughts. Maybe regular reality is the same.

Whether other people have consciousness or not, I have no way to know. All I know is that I have consciousness. I can choose to believe whatever I want to believe about you. Maybe I will believe you have a separate consciousness. Maybe I will believe we share the same one. Or maybe I have consciousness and you do not.

Originally Posted by Slapsuplex

P.S. It's impressive that you spoke for over hour, without pauses and "ummms". You must really believe in this and be immersed in it.

Actually, Toastmasters trains you to speak this way.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Slapsuplex

P.S. It's impressive that you spoke for over hour, without pauses and "ummms". You must really believe in this and be immersed in it.

Lol. It's called the magic of editing. The original recording was 136 minutes long. I made a lot of cuts to get it down to 73 minutes.

[Matt Willard]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Lol. It's called the magic of editing. The original recording was 136 minutes long. I made a lot of cuts to get it down to 73 minutes.

And here I thought I was listening to a flawless god.

[Savage]

Believing that we all have separate individual consciousnesses is like believing in the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Sure you can take that leap of faith if you so choose, but since there's no evidence for it, it's more reasonable not to make stuff up just because you hope it's true. Use Occam's Razor to keep it simple. In this case, one consciousness is simpler than many.

I also find it more practical to drop the belief in separate consciousnesses. If you assume we share the same consciousness, it's easier to socialize and connect with people.

[Savage]

Originally Posted by Matt Willard

And here I thought I was listening to a flawless god.

God of Audacity maybe.

[seeker5]

That's an interesting statement that "Any fears you have when you die, you reincarnate with". Does this mean the opposite is true? That any fears you overcome in this lifetime, you do not incarnate with again? If so, then does this mean that all the fears I was born with and grew up with were fears from my previous life? Because I grew up with a helluva lot of fears, I'd hate to think they were carry over from previous lifetimes...! I must have been a major bum in my previous lives not to have taken care of those fears then.

[supertom]

Originally Posted by seeker5

That's an interesting statement that "Any fears you have when you die, you reincarnate with". Does this mean the opposite is true? That any fears you overcome in this lifetime, you do not incarnate with again? If so, then does this mean that all the fears I was born with and grew up with were fears from my previous life? Because I grew up with a helluva lot of fears, I'd hate to think they were carry over from previous lifetimes...! I must have been a major bum in my previous lives not to have taken care of those fears then.

Thats like the best and scariest part, im not sure wat he fully meant be it as maybe i'll have to live that experience

[Hyperchiller]

Originally Posted by seeker5

That's an interesting statement that "Any fears you have when you die, you reincarnate with". Does this mean the opposite is true? That any fears you overcome in this lifetime, you do not incarnate with again? If so, then does this mean that all the fears I was born with and grew up with were fears from my previous life? Because I grew up with a helluva lot of fears, I'd hate to think they were carry over from previous lifetimes...! I must have been a major bum in my previous lives not to have taken care of those fears then.

Only if you are able to keep your astral and mental bodies together after death are you able to remain conscious of the whole death process. If you can do that you won't need to relearn what you did in a past life. I believe astral projection is similar to the death process since both your astral and mental bodies are together when you leave your physical body. However trying astral projection is dangerous (well scarier than lucid dreaming) if you have no skill whatsoever.

If you were able to remember all your past lives with ease then you can be sure that you won't need to re-learn everything again from stratch. Although that is an indictator and not the be all and end all of development. It is just an indication that you have reached a certain level of spiritual development. Otherwise, you're going to have to re-learn some things again lol

[staceyterry]

Much obliged for the truth, love, and power towel deployment.