Metaphysics and SL - Our place in the Metaverse

So now you are claiming to be the world's tallest dwarf?

Pep (There *is* a point; you just don't understand it)

Well, let's see...

There's a Shinto shrine to the Japanese deities Inari and Ameratsu on my front lawn, right next to my castle, that gets the appropriate respect from the residents of my parcel.

My avatar's background is Wiccan; she's been worshipped _herself_ as a minor Goddess (as a deity of dreams, nightmare, and vengence); but of late she's been rather devoted to Inari. Something to do with the fact that Irari, a Japanese Kami (nearest thing to a Goddess in Japanese metaphysics) has made her presence quite manifest in Ceera's life, by turning Ceera into a Kitsune.

One frequent visitor to my home parcel is a practicing Shaman.

Several of my friends in SL are Wiccan.

And for the vast majority of the people that I encounter in SL... I haven't a clue what they Believe, nor do I care, as long as they respect the rights of others to their beliefs.

As far as I am concerned, there's plenty of room for religious beliefs in SL, and those deities that watch over our actions in the Real World certainly see what we do in cyberspace just as easly. After all, it's manifested there in SL by what we Humans do in the real world.

Whether the religion of a particular avatar reflects their Player's beliefs, or not, is up to them. For all I care, they can worship Torley. *grins*

Some even combine the two.

Naked sushi as an appetizer?

@Ceera- hmm- interesting concept- that the religion of an avi be different then the person at the kb- that wd mean rp'ing religion - i would have assumed that those following spiritual paths- whether western religions, eastern religions or pagan or whatever else I have not encountered- wd be doing it out of faith. I mean following- I don't mean playing dress up occasionally (I was some sort of pagan priestess for a dawn rite for the Ladies of the Undying Thread- that was rp for me- actually not even rp- more like a kodak moment).

creator(s) or not, we're still here, so I guess the point would be, "we're here, explore the options" if nothing else

me I've always thought the idea that any being of that level (creative deity) would actually be concerned about us, to be amazingly self centered on our part.

if I drop a crumb from my sandwich, while walking down the street, am I apt to pick it up, take it home, examineit under a microscope, and define allowable behavior for the microbes that inhabit it? promise them anything?

too many assume active participation in our creation, and all that goes with that

oddly I'm still religious... call it (false)hope, wishful thinking, whatever

PS True, pagans do tend to have better clothes, or at least more interesting ones than poor little boys running around my kneck of the woods on bicycles, wearing white shirts, ties, and suit pants... but then who'd expect someone my age could appreciate EGL/EGA fashion =)

I believe in the concept of goddess and god as symbolic of the female and male principles of nature. So really 'none of the above' altho I did choose #1 for lack of a 'none of the above' button. I do not believe in deity as some kind of being upstairs (or down). And I don't believe deity watches over us unless they are in the mood for a joke. But I do believe that when we ask, we receive, if we 'ask' in the right way. What some might call coincidence, I call magic

I don't believe in satan, or heaven or hell.

Pagan and proud!

Some kinda aside but, in my real world, I was workshopping with some women younger than me. I knew one woman - "Jessy" - well her mum had recently died. Not "passed" but died. Died. Nothing to do with her mum but we have a REAL job we are doing and its costly so we are hard at it combining ideas and creating what we hope will express our emotions and be something beautiful. Anyway, she just started to cry and I said "Hey Jess, why yo cryin' girl?" and she said "What if my mum isn't even able to see me do this? What if she's all alone out there?" Jess is not a child; she is a woman, artist, musical, outspoken etc etc. Even punk, if you get my drift. So I said, "She has to be Jess, coz if she isnt what's the point of all this? We're doing this and its so complex there must be some kind of plan even if its chaos theory" And I said teh usual stuff, about her Mum never leaving her, and the Egyptian tomb carving "To speak of the dead is to make them live again." And I sai dhow I'd really seen ghosts so there had to be something.

You know what I mean? We can be smug and self-assured until we have to comfort a friend or a co-worker or a companion. Then we have to assure them. And ourselves. I'm not so sure there's room for a belief system in our sl world but we ar epeople so we bring all that with us.

So many of us seem to not have faith. No sure why we dont. We mustnt mix faith in a creator with faith in temporal value systems. Its completely different. I'm rambling. I'm going.

Ah, but I think we *can* imagine it. We have all been non-existing before. Think back to the time before you were born or conceived. What was it like?





Not so scary really.

By the longest estimate I was dead for almost 14 billion years. It didn't seem that long at all to me.

But, I'm in no hurry to find out what it's like the second time around.

My SL profile:

"I believe in nothing; everything is sacred.
I believe in everything; nothing is sacred."

-Tom Robbins
"Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (excellent book, crappy movie)

I've found religions get in the way of my spirituality.

Why not put off ending it for a while to see what happens? Although I wouldn't force any one to.



Insightful rambling. It seems to me that the biggest challenge we all face is finding the courage to face the uncertainties of life and death. We need to do all we can to help each other keep our spirits up.

I'm hoping for the Big Meteor Strike myself.

I'm sorry Jig- never ask me to comfort someone who has lost a loved one- I could not possibly stand there and say I believed they were in a better place etc- I wd hold their hand and say how sorry I was for their loss and it wd be crystal truth-
but if they want platitudes they wd need to go elsewhere.

My kid- who is 11- worries about people dying. I cannot tell him peple go to heaven- I can pretend santa- cause it's 'suspend disbelief stuff but I cannot lie like that - to me it wd be a lie. My mother, she is a believer- she is a Jehova's Witness- being a kid of that u can see why i was cured of wishful thinking.

I was not- then I was - then I won't be-

what could be simpler?

Agreed. I've lost my capacity for platitudes as well. I will offer sympathy for your pain, and do anything I can to ease it, but I can't speak words I just don't believe. "it was their time, they are in a better place. etc etc." They are hollow and empty for me.

It's hard- people look at you like u r broken or something- like - what's wrong with u, why dont u believe?? But it seems to be so much saner, to just accept we are finite.

From it all comes too the responsibility thing I am always harping on about and self-reliance. Can't rely on mythical what-ifs - don't need no "benign dictator" - not n religion and certainly not in government- I do what I do and I am solely responsible - eyes wide open and accountable to me. don't need to think about I am watched- I watch my self and so far the mirror hasn't flinched. Not saying I am beyond reproach mind you- just that I'll pay my way when the bill comes due.

Yes that would be cool.

Unless you are standing under it.

No, they were'nt platitudes. We don't go in for those. In fact I had explained that before she started crying. To explain without saying to much; she and I, we are Northerners, far North. And our cultures dont have a Christian heaven. It's a question of teh spirit unshackled from teh body - it's hard to explain - its just a sense of loneliness and fear the spirit has gone "away". I didnt hold her hand - it wouldnt have been appropriate. I think she needed a certainty and I tried my best with uncertainty. We cant even say it is a better place they go to. It's a sharing o fthe human experience - to comfort each other in teh darkness of teh long night. Not christian, not buddhist etc; just knowing and recognizing death and we are human. It has to be a "better place" because of her mother's painful death. My Dad died too in September and I know teh place he went to had to be better than the suffering of his dementia. I think that is what she wanted to know. Where we live we are never far from death and the harsh natural world; we draw strength from each other's proof of living.

That's just it. there is no bill. It's pay as you go, you deal with the consequences of your actions as they arise.

I was raised a fundamentalist christian then became a Neo-pagan in my mid 20's. Now I find my belief (lack of belief?) system moving toward atheism. Normally you see people (at least in the south) becoming more religious as they age. perhaps I'm just broken. Then again...one day...we may find that the loa DO exist in the net.

Me too! Actually it was my dad. I officially declared my freedom from that specific religion on January 1st. 1976, though I was ready long before that. You probably know why that specific date. I have retained my aversion to Christmas and birthdays and national anthems however -- when it suits me.

I don't know if Quantum Physics or Metaphysics is based on
anything true or not but this film here is pretty good the whole film is here;
http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/what_the_bleep_do_we_know/

That's what I meant- the bill comes due constantly- I do not mean in some shadowy other-life. I mean tomorrow this after noon- five minutes from now- consequences.

Yup - sure do - don't recall the date though, I think I was 17 or so.

I however, embraced Christmas and birthdays and Halloween!!! with a passion- not too long ago Christmas became 'a crap, time for that again!', but that's just laziness on my part- the lights go up they must come down

And so is the payoff. I don't buy into the idea of a life of suffering and denial, for some "Final Reward". Our lives are what we make them in the now, and that's it. Good and bad.