This world and satisfaction

[armyboyjay]

okay, here's another similiar thought/question related to my previous post (I've avoided right/wrong and good/evil comments to the best of my ability for some relativities of morality).

This is what I am struggling with (please, somebody help me out here). It has to do with satisfaction.

From an athiest perspective (from my understanding), I am simply matter and energy. Fair enough. I can see this. But how come I am not satisfied with this? How come I feel I'm meant for more than this? And I cannot describe it any more than this. It's simply a gut feeling that I'm meant for more than this world. Why do I have this?

In my previous post I used the example of time, and how sometimes I feel out of place in it, almost perplexed by it. If I am meant to be in time, why are all my thoughts on time pointing to just the opposite ("You're wasting time, Jay." "Look how time flys." "There's only so much time on this earth."), like I'm not meant to be in time (Is this making any sense to anyone?)? If I'm meant to be in time, how come I'm not satisfied by being in it?

I was wondering if any religion or thinking addressed these issues.

Again, any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!!!

armyboyjay

 

[Adam]

Atheist does not mean one has no spiritual beliefs or ideas. It only means one does not believe in the answers tossed out by religions. That's all. An atheist is quite capable of believing in souls, ghosts, Atlantis, or any other such thing. I suspect there is more to us all that matter and demonstrated energy types, but I don't know or accept it yet. I suspect that for many atheists, there is a bit of Nihilism involevd in their beliefs as well: rather than accept what people try to tell them about the universe, they (including me) prefer to learn and discover using their wits. That does not preclude the possibility of the spiritual and such.

It's simply a gut feeling that I'm meant for more than this world. Why do I have this?

A general dissatisfaction with your life so far? Maybe you simply thought you could do more, be more? Many people have this feeling. However, most I think refuse to do anything about it. We have free will. Within certain physical limits, we have the ability to make our lives whatever we want. All it takes is the decision to make it so. If you are not satisfied with your life, simply have the balls to get up off your arse and change it. Most people would prefer the comfort of wallowing in their dissatisfaction though. But it need not be so. If you want it, go and get it.

 

[Congrats]

The problem or paradox in atheism is that we cannot see the value in our made-up fantasies. The world is far more than day-to-day routines and actualities- it encompasses many things that could not possibly fit into their container. it's just that the side doesn't exist. It isn't really there, and when you think the way an atheist is supposed to think, that makes it false.

In my own experience with being an atheist, I have grown to know the one most important thing an athesit can value is his or her propensity for discovering what spirituality is. That means, at first, believing in nothing. When you have seen the boundary between reality and non-reality, you stop trying to accomodate the non-real into your own life- the boundaries of a materislaistic existence. By seeing the total worthlessness in a life lived within any boundary, you appreciate the human mind's ability to transcend itself.

So what that attempts to say is that nothing is as good as less, and we can only have true value when we use all of our energy to grasp at what is not there. That may seem to contradict everything in your life- but you have almost freed your life to your self. Know that you can never have true value by fooling yourself into thinking that value comes from accomodating certain sets of values in a set limit of value.

In the words of Rush Limbaugh, "Life is not a zero-sum agreement. It grows." Life has no cage, no definer, no restrainer, no tray with given dimensions 5x8. People who you view as on the other side of the spectrum are seperated by only one factor- whether or not their life is zero sum or free. Freedom comes from knowing limits, not ignoring them or accomodtaing them. Know that God is not real, that there is really nothing but what we can observe, (not what we do observe) and know that all of that existence gives no meaning to you.

Real meaning comes from what does not exist- meaning is a set of situations that, as you become into position with them, define how you view reality. Most importantly, though: nothing really has any meaning. So don't feel hopeless if you feel meaningless. Simply jump into the meaningless and appreciate it. You will stop equating reality with meaning. Equate reality with reality, and find your meaning elsewhere.