I have this left-right brain battle from time to time...it comes from the reality of having to deal with practical matters in the here and now. The necessity of keeping my "head out of the clouds" so I can work, shop, do banking. I don't particularly find those things are spiritual for the most part, or make me feel connected to God because they're full of practicalities that conflict with my values, but I have to do them.

My first thought watching the video was "Who was this poor person who signed up for the experiment?"...or was it even voluntary?...because, although the speaker was amusing, it's not really funny to "create two people" in one brain and a person in inevitable conflict with themselves like that just for the sake of science and conversation.

I would probably  find an experiment---one with helpful intentions toward the individual-- let's say  with a person suffering from a congenitally severed corpus collosum needing to be "one whole person in one brain" and having restored function through some sort of brain plasticity treatment,  to be more ethical and more theologically compatible.

Click to bone up on split-brain operations.

EDIT:  I don't think I need to write this anymore but please everyone, play nice :3  We're not here to win points; we're here to share in the common human experience.

Hi Innana,

Yes, I learned about these surgeries in psychology class. I'm just wondering why the opposite experiment was done on the person mentioned in the video? Nothing was mentioned about their circumstances.

Sorry correction. I didn't read the article closely. I was thinking of brain plasticity...to create new neural pathways. If the person above had severe and untreatable epilepsy and agreed to a surgery like that as a last resort, okay. I think it would be horrible to live with an artificially manufactured split personality though.

This to me shows in the theological sense that we can be double minded humans . The Bible warns about this and to my way of thinking it is important for us to pick what side we want to entertain because the 2 sides will only bring conflict and confusion and we become unstable in all  in all our ways . This only affects us in this physical world in my view.   

James 1 v 8 KJB ----A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

This guy asks what happens to the brain  when we die ---I believe the actual brain stays where it is-- but the soul ---which is our mind --will and emotions --which makes up our spirit leaves the physical body . It depends what side you entertain the soul in that determines where up end up when you die. Entertain God's side go to Heaven---Entertain Satan's side go to hell --to me there will be no doubled minded side when we die  which would be an in between side --it is either Heaven or Hell.

This is just my view . Peace to all

Not sure if it's a "right brain-left brain" split per se, but I have a bit of a theological "dual personality". There's this rational side that sees the world in fairly materialistic, scientific language. It tends to drive me towards a kind of atheism or maybe secular humanism. Then there's side of me that longs for, and sometimes feels, deep connection to the universe; that feels a "presence" in the elegance and beauty of nature, the Cosmos, and so on. That side tends towards a theistic and even supernatural (for some definitions of supernatural) view, a notion that reality is more than what we can observe and study through the methods of science. These days, I've kind of found a balance but I'm not sure what to call that balance. It's basically a rational, scientific understanding of the universe but with a reverent, religious approach to it; a notion that I am part of something big and wonderful and that religion is a way to celebrate and explore that reverence. Science is about knowing the universe; religion is about relating to the universe. The two inform each other to some extent. Pantheism? Panentheism? Spiritual atheism/agnosticism/humanism?

Mendalla

I can relate to these feelings. My problem is not so much that I lean towards atheism, but that my spiritual point of view clashes with necessary functions in the world. I hate being beholden to banks...but they are a necessary evil if I want to get paid or pay my rent (my former employer had a direct deposit policy, my landlord doesn't accept cash, for example). I don't like buying products made by big companies in third world countries... or places that exploit workers for peanuts, but I can't afford to always do otherwise.Most things that I need to buy are not made in North America or Europe or Australia or New Zealand (like the cheap hairdryer I just bought) because I usually buy what works and is on sale regardless of where it's made, even though I would like to make more ethical choices. I want to buy all organic food and cosmetics, but it's too expensive most of the time. The corporate culture that most workplaces have embraced is in conflict with certain values of mine but have to go along with it in order to be employed. It's impossible to live in the world from a purely spiritual point of view unless you're a monk living in the mountains...but the reality is, I am not. I live in 21st century North America. We all haveto comform to the ways of the world to some degree.

So, unsafe...I have to say I think your analysis is a bit over-simplified. Didn't you say in another thread that you're a nurse? You also know that people have medical conditions that cause mental challenges, right? You know they don't bring it upon themselves, right? Especially something as serious as a severed corpus callosum. The devil didn't make them do it and it's not like they can just ask God to make it go away...and (well they can, but what if it doesn't go away) for them, maybe having severe epilepsy was even worse. Do you think it's possible that God would forgive the person for having a doubting side of their brain that they didn't cause and can't control? Maybe the atheist half would do the good works and the believing side would have all the faith ;)

Hi Kimmio

My view is just my view ---Your view is different from mine and you are entitled to your view and I respect what you believe --We think different is all  What I wrote is my belief on this topic .  To get into a discussion of mental challenges and epilepsy etc is not in my interest . We should focus on the topic not my profession .

Peace and Blessings to you 

You're right, unsafe. I shouldn't have brought that up. It's not about you personally. People's faith informs their work often-times, in every profession: medicine, law, finance, business, government...every profession, so I think it's important to think about and is relevant here. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.I just thought of the patient...I would be upset if I were that patient and found out that people on my medical team thought I was going to hell because of a medical condition that I can't control. I can't buy into that view. I get upset when I hear peoples' legitimate medical concerns literally being blamed on the devil.

 I think "double minded" refers to being hypocritical...saying you believe in God, but not following (which, like I admitted above, I feel sometimes). That's in a person's control. I don't think it's about someone's medical condition (because the brain is an organ in the body) and it's not their fault.

Hi Kimmio

No need to apologize you didn't hurt my feeling at all and  I see what you mean but again we just think different and there is nothing wrong with that --I enjoy reading different views and I have learned from them . We are all on a spiritual journey and we all have our own views and I personally feel whatever view works for the person is the right view for them . What I have written above works for me.

Peace  and thanks for your understanding.

I totally agree with unsafe here. Through our definition of heaven and are likely to differ, it's still a statement of describing cause and effect.

Hi Neo, Are you talking about making our own heaven or hell on earth by our collective decisions? I can conceptualize it that way. I still question what happens in the "after-life". None of us can say with any authority.

Hi Kimmio   Your Quote   I still question what happens in the "after-life". None of us can say with any authority. I know this was addressed to Neo so I hope I'm stepping on toes here by giving my comment on the above.

You are so right --None of us know --All we have to go by is what the Bible says --so if we don't know what the Bible says about Heaven and Hell and how we go to those 2 places --and how to stay out of one place and go to the other then we go through life with our own moral thoughts about these 2 places and maybe for some that is the way they want it --they prefer not to know. At least the Bible gives a description of both places and tells you how you can get to these 2 places --and tells you how to get into one place and avoid the other -we are free to choose . The only person who survived death was Jesus according to the Bible and according to The Bible Jesus sent The Comforter to guide us into Heaven and to warn us and steer us away from the other .   

So we do have some conformation  on these places if we believe The Word Of God. According to the Bible the earth is a copy of heaven --and it does say the earth is the first heaven . Bible says God resides in the third heaven .

Peace 

I think this is divine illusion of placing the devil (thinker) and God (Lover) in a doubled environment to create a stir for the powers above ... de deuce? Oh you can't do that it would be against the monotheistic nature of a singular love! Then such vast emotions tend to be anthropocentric. To the point (of a small mind, purely human) that kind of thinking has to get beyond itself ... as defined by Websterian philosophy of intellect (all that's outside the bode an willies).

Can a mortal learn anything except from the pain of experience? It is somewhat of a phun to see how creation arranged the parts so that half learns and the other half already thinks they know everything ... that small sector being nothing in the infinite reach. Then, in myth, neither power (Romantic of Judah 'n Sphere) believed in nothing nor the infinite ... but the Romans figured they could conquer it, even if they didn't know what they were up against. The Judah 'n perspective was to study the undknown and the Romantic hated that ... believing a thinking man is dangerous thus the eternal battle goan on in confined space of where a lot of sculling goes on ... making new spaces to put the improved mind?

One has to have respect for what amuses the Furies ... dissonant places in the wilderness ... rheum Ai space ... it will bring you down to the dirt as water or gravid material to serve as fecundity for new growth ... of what was previously hard to change ... evolution of the mind requires different perspectives on thinking. An emotional population that we call spiritual is not there yet. In ESS. ends they don't know the full extent of the wilderness of mind that reflects upon itself as reciprocal function ... when one side grows explosively the other side implodes ... some balance is required needing psyche IC activity ... emotionally we're not there yet! Somewhat below the horizon ...? Something lost ... is that aesthetic or ascetic like a place to put your former thoughts for stewing, in a stoop ID rapture ... when you couldn't see it goan (old Hindi expression for aboriginal Jinn). One must know a great deal oof the words to the story before ... ante, or even myth, well-balanced like Mire I'am seeing Ur's elphe piering into the wadis ... Muses with a stick for pheshing Ur out? Mental intercourse ... as hated as maqon god in enlightened mode ... levi Thon ... as a Thor devil with an afterthought ... first the desire then the pain of the responsibility of what strings you've woven together? Some preach separation and isolation ... the realm of maheinaim ... empty space where another devil laid down his head to wrestle with the Shadow ... the Dark Angel ... gamma liel? The making of a crippled man ... knowing what he's missed ... phoqah up in heaven ... a leaving your mind state meant as an instantaneous arresting instant ... sort of like OBI! That's when one really fully reciprocates thought and emotions ...

Einstein's Basis for relativity; the alchemii of the two sectors of sole, one mortal the other infinitely in the Dan's as described by 1= XY that is in old letters (beginning and Y/reason) Ai in old English spin that was outlawed about 1600 so that singularity would be equivalent to Ai ... or even Ain't ... what isn't here. The corruption of primal tongues continues and we don't know what we've lost in outlaw expressions of lower phoqah, that we've kicked down as if we were gods! Authorities wouldn't like to hear this though ... considering we are part and parcel of the whole thing is this self-reflective? Shut up Sam ... yule disturb the whole Shadow that's us ... once known as Eris (old defunct word for dissonance) chaos in the other's pool. Hoo really believes in chaos theory driven by reality ...???

The imaginary 4'sis of the sole giggle ... then hoo'd believe in the imaginary field ... the other side of the mind of Ur? Chi's Ephraim ... to the west young man ... drove Muses to conceive of mortals on which to dump all that was learned but not expose ID ... hiero gamma ... that's depth of darkness eh ... like co shaqah ... co habitation in the same head ... tue are bettern one if you can put eM together in the Shadow ... they could create a spark ... in ether ... that's dan Jerues ... Lem of community ... that's heh-art in ole tongues ... metaphor?

I've never heard it put that way. Interesting.

If earth is a copy of heaven, I hope God's copy machine was broken (joking). Seriously though, there are a lot of beautiful things to appreciate and thank God for about life, love, and nature on earth, but also some pretty nasty and scary stuff going on mostly caused by human greed. So I agree that we make a choice here and now to change that course with the brains and bodies God gave us--to choose what side we're on so to speak--for the greater good of all inhabitants on earth...the alternate ending seems to potentially grim to gamble with in my opinion. I don't believe we should be treating the earth as our disposable home, and people's lives as expendable, in hopes that God will just give us new ones.

 This is also kind of another thread topic, but I might as well say it here. When I really contemplate spiritual matters, I also wonder...if God is the Alpha and the Omega, and Jesus always was and forever shall be, if 1000 years is like a day and a day 1000 years--it kind of throws our whole concept of linear time out the window. That's one of the reasons why I prefer to read the Bible metaphorically. It contains so much wisdom metaphorically that I feel is missed when read literally. Changing the way we view time, could mean even pre-Jesus civilizations, in retrospect, also contemplated the possibility of end times even though they may have had a different expression for them...even if they didn't know about Jesus. They had all the same emotions we have, fears, joys, love, anger, hate, greed, jealousy. Maybe they weren't good stewards of the knowledge they had. They had choices then too. I'm sure, for example when Mesopotamia (a very advanced civilization) was falling apart, they felt a sense of "let's get it together people"...and after Jesus as we historically understand, when the Roman Empire fell, same thing...and when people thought the earth was flat...within their limited knowledge (which even then they thought was advanced), every time a natural disaster struck or wars were waged, I'm sure they thought it meant the end of everything on this earth. Maybe every new age is a new opportunity for humans to get their act together and become more heavenly beings.  Maybe now is no different, except we have the tools and capacity, if God is working through us...to renew the earth and care for each other and God's creatures, so it is new and it is heavenly. Just some ideas I've contemplated. I have quite an imagination.

As for heaven and hell, I know the angels and harps vs. the hell fire and brimstone interpretations. I also know that the Jews pre-Christianity didn't believe in a place called hell, and Jesus was a Jew. Maybe we just become another form of energy, light energy or dark energy perhaps, with a different type of consciousness that we can't fathom now. Maybe we go back in time ( because God's time is eternal) to another point in history,  or to a similar or alternate version of history where certain mistakes were not made and life was better, or other mistakes were made and life was worse...in a new body or as the same person with a new chance to live better (and this kind of gets into the alternate universe theory).  Noone knows for sure. I have faith that loving God and loving my neigbours is the right thing to do because I feel it. The Bible informs me. Jesus exemplifies it in the Bible--I process the bible stories not literally and just skimming the surface...but metaphorically, from sort of a creative perspective. Beyond loving God and neighbour to the best of my ability here and now, what happens after I die, I only imagine.

Actually Kimmio, contrary to what unsafe says above, there have been those beside Jesus who have survived death and have accomplished what it takes to be human. The most recent and in our times is the Tibetan, the master DK. He's says of death: "I speak about Death as one who knows the matter from both the outer world experience and the inner life expression: There is no death. There is, as you know, entrance into fuller life." I let you read the rest from the link.

Re your question of heaven and hell:

Heaven, from how I understand it, is a relative thing. The most highest vision of heaven that we can conceive of is likely the lowest realm for some great archangel. "In my Fathers house there are many mansions", say Jesus. I think it's high time that we drop the old concept that heaven is exactly "12,000 furlongs square" and set apart from us in space somewhere. Or that hell is some subterranean place that we are always in danger of being sent to if, for instance, we fail to be baptised in a Christian ceremony or we fail to accept some brittle theology set forth by the Christian church. These ways of thinking are are inane and childish.

Heaven is state of awareness, as is hell. Astral hells can appear very real, because on the astral plane thoughts and feelings can appear as real things (at least real on the astral plane). On the astral plane you can see angels with wings or devils with pitchforks. But, while you are experiencing these visions, if you could be seen from the outside of your own aura, it would appear as if you were walking around in a fog, and merely projecting those images on the fog surface in front of you, e.g. upon the canvas of the astral plane. This is where your loved ones and those "helpers" in the after-life actually assist you in getting through this vision of pain or phony heavenly pleasure.

The Master DK points out that men and woman often turn their backs to the light and walk in their own shadows. And  then complain that it is dark. This is the source for why Jesus described this condition as an 'outer darkness', where there is "wailing and gnashing of teeth". At the time of an astral vision this darkness can seem very real. But the darkness is only the absence of light and is in fact an illusion. Eventually the fog lifts from around you and you begin see the greater reality, the true radiance and light that we call God. This is where one would begin to move to the higher mental planes, which by our definition, is the truer heaven.

I read once that we all take our own cup to the after-life. Depending on our fears, our anxieties and worries, will depend on how we experience our after-life. If you feel guilty about your life then you will likely experience this wailing and gnashing of teeth. But know that it's all an illusion and that no such place really exists. There is no death, there is only "entrance into fuller life".

Edit, to add:

I think if we ever to try to pin point an actual place where Heaven could be located, it would be, as far as we are concerned, the 5 sub-plane of the Mental Plane. For this is point, says the ancient wisdom, where the formless energy meets energy of form. It's the dividing line where the incarnation into the world of form and matter begins. It is the Seat of the Soul. It is the direct Reflection Point of the true Spirit. It is the point of the Spiritual Sun and the true Light of God.

It is also the 3rd sub-plane of the Mental Plane on the descending arc, that is, counting from 7 downwards. This is significant.

H2O lad:

when are you going to stop foolin' around...and tell us what you think?

Neo: Wow. That really does sound like the Matrix to me. I may be too much of a simpleton to get my head around your explanation, but it is intriguing (I did terribly in physics and math, so discussion of arcs and planes and numbers is difficult for me to process. I did better studying literature and poetry...and finding meaning in that). Plus have had anxiety for much of my life, whether I had things to feel guilty for or not (and I don`t believe it`s my own fault I was born  was this way-- that I have a propensity for anxiety as a result of a congenital condition and faulty wiring if you will, of my central nervous system-- just as I don`t believe the person with a severed corpus callosum can be blamed..so theologically it`s difficult for me to believe people must accept personal responsibility for things they didn`t cause or they won`t be forgiven by God and will have to experiece any kind of eternal or even temporary torment...thinking about it now is torment enough for someone who lives in the here and now with anxiety). I can see beauty and find joy and humour in life too. It's not one or the other. If God created me, God must know this about me...he must know what fears I can handle and what will damage me (or anyone with anxiety).  So what does that mean for the afterlife? Visual imagery and even Biblical imagery, of dark scary of hellish places freaks me out so much...like a kid afraid of the boogeyman, by your estimation, that's the cup I would carry into the afterlife. I just try to be good, live ethically, appreciate what I have...I try to simplify rather than complicate, to mitigate the anxiety...my spiritual ideas and questions are just that...ideas and questions. I think my actions in the here and now, following what my heart tells me is the right thing to do (my lamp or inner light in Biblical terms) are what counts.

I really should start another thread but don`t know what to call it. A couple of questions come to mind about your theory, Neo, that I wonder if you can answer. What then, do you think will become of the people who can`t understand these visions that you speak of (if they take their consciousness that was formed in the here and now with them into the here after) and can`t comprehend what`s happening to them? Don`t get me wrong. I think your ideas are fascinating, but not everyone was `wired` or even culturally oriented or educated to be able to comprehend them. Some just don`t have the IQ for it. Is heaven, or finding heaven, for geniuses only? Lol...believe it or not, I read your theory and am already worried that if that were to happen, I would get to one of these astral planes and say `Huh? I`m confused. I fell asleep during the Matrix twice. God, please explain.` 

We were all created to comprehend different things in different ways. The Bible, I`ve discovered for example can be interpreted as complexly or simply as one is able.

I`m also curious. How did you discover these beliefs for yourself? How does the Bible and reading of the Bible fit into your beliefs...or does it?

Hi Waterbuoy.

I notice a lot of your writing centres around separating emotion from thinking, or bringing them together. What if neither are good or bad, but just are...and are present for a person at different times in different combinations?

I have trouble conceptualizing completely, Neo`s interpretation because I can`t grasp the science fiction symbolosm, and WB`s writing, because it doesn`t  attach the symbolism to personal relatable experiences. It`s impersonal-- (No offense WB, it`s brilliant word association, but I think it`s beyond me at times). Neo`s also, feels impersonal. Maybe this is a male-female thing? Most religious ideology has been written about and taught by men. Choosing heaven or hell, seems to me to be clearly a male ìt`s black or it`s white` idea....no grey area allowed or else. I am both emotion and thought. I am both good moods and bad moods. I am both sins and virtues.  I am both joys and fears. I believe God created me like this...so why the necessity for absolute dichotomy here or in the here after? It`s how I act upon these traits and their impact on others around me that counts. It`s not so much about their impact on me.

Is there sexual bias in some of these ideas and how people are to understand them? I notice that many of the men on here write in abstract symbolism, and the women write about personal experience, about their relationships with others. I do both. I don't know what that means in spiritual terms, but it might be significant...just sayin'. The Bible alludes to there being no male or female in heaven...yet the 'gates' to either heaven or hell seem to be expressed or explained in male terms (or on males' terms).

Kimmio, the cup we take to our after life is also filled with all the good things that we do in our lives. You say that you listen to your heart to help you with your anxiety. This is good, as it's proving that you are being sincere to your true self within. If you believe that God is love then you have nothing to worry about in this life or your after-life.

Neo: Did, you mean to say 'hold no judgment'?

Love others as I would wish to be loved, works better than 'as I would my own family'. I love my family, but we don't see each other often..we are not close. Some of their behaviour I find very cold and judgmental, and it has forced me to back off from them.They are kind of a bad influence on me because some of them don't accept me as I am and want me to be more selfish to "get ahead' materially speaking, but I am not interested. They don't respect that. I would like a better relationship with them, but it is a two way street. I have a few close friends, a whole bunch of acquaintances, and partner who I love dearly(he's my closest friend--we've been through a lot of ups and downs, have forgiven a lot and our love has survived)... and I see the love in others eyes when I meet them, even if we don't have an opportunity to get to know one another. When love shines through brightly, even in strangers...I recognize it, even if we meet in passing. When someone is not particularly kind to me, I seek the good in them. I spot the "wolves" pretty easily too, but even they have good in them somewhere. I believe there is good in everyone, even if sometimes it's deeply hidden beneath their own pain and disappointment. I try to listen and be kind to them. Sometimes if people are manipulative or hurtful to me, I leave them alone.There's only so much I can take. But I forgive them. We all have our problems. Whatever caused them to be that way is not mine to judge. I have had a few bad falling outs with friends that have ended our friendship, and I regret  it(and have learned from it in treating others going forward) but I don't want to force myself back into their lives. I forgive them and I hope they forgive me. If they were to come back into my life, I would accept them. That's kind of how I live, in a nutshell.

One of my biggest challenges is not to be too stubborn, and instead being more flexible with my views...not the same as being judgmental (judging someone as a good human being or a bad one...but I am sometimes critical when I see a good person going down a bad road, or clinging to a view that I can clearly see will have bigger negative consequences, such as with politics.) I am stubborn.

And if you've managed to read this far...I thank you for your patience. In reference to another thread, WC does sometimes feel like online journaling when I really dig deep  :)

havmg undergone "The knife" several times...

(You know, they put the mask on your face and there come a pleasent 'cloud'

and you drift off....

Recently it was a bit different...

"Ill give you some oxygen" Mask on.

"Take a deep breath"

I did and blinked

...and instantly found myself in post op.

Instantly. For about an hour "I" didn't exist. And I come away thinking that this must be what death is like. Nothing. Zero. Nada.

Nothing to fear, nothing to hope for. Nothing.

...and this turns out, for me, a good thing. It makes every day, every single day

significant, more enjoyable, More of a focus on the Zen nowness.

I am old, creaky, and find life more enjoyable than ever. It's 3:30 am; I've just finished an oil painting that I really like. Probably terrible art but I dont paint for an art critic I just paint for me. (I have sold exactly one painting which I say puts me right there with Van Gogh

I play terrible piano. I have composed many piano pieces but I can't write music so the only audience I have is my cat. When I play he always comes and sits near the piano pedals. I am going to assume he is a fan. All I need.

I recall times when I feared dying (In Korea in the '50's . My first major operation.)

Fearing death is like (to me) fearing sleep.

Having one's brain divided wow. It contradicts everything I've been taught concerning the different roles each side takes... I'd have to learn a lot more to accept that .

I ramble. Sorry.

Cheers from the egoistical, off-topic happy... uh...person. (I just looked up 'genius' -  gee, I'm gonna strive for 'average'

Genius in one translation is incarnation of psyche ... or the sole process ... assimilation of all that's out there. If one is to go one should crry a bit of their own fire, a wee ember ... so one can light ID on the darkest dais.

That's the spark that you see in the passing eyes Kimmio ... some are devoid ... given a rest from cognizance and the load which love imposes ... especially for those that wish to have IT all for themselves (de loose ion aL fogs?). There is something said about letting go ... drifting into the realm beyond. Is this the intellect as defined by Webster? Some authorities don't wish common folk to go there ... yet the bible says 366 times that we are to have no fear. What does institutional living teach about any change, evolution? Tell me now about God's progress in learning from the prodigal sent to the other side! Just a word of intercourse, or is that eMma Jinn Eire?

I like to write about feelings but it must be enclosed in fog ... for real men don't wish to know (Exodus 20:19 just after the famous ten maqon 11) ... that's de deuced not superficially literal. One has to get right intuit as a unique person that you are ... like HG with his satisfaction of just how things are ... that's all-there-is-tuit .. like word lets dance ... brutal authority thought the word of Taurus was the devil ... pompus bull under the bridge ... pontif ... there are many copies made we don't know how to cull the gar Din ...

Write confusingly, authorities hate IT and humble people question ID, they know there's a spark there ... and embers heat the pool ... eL-Mos Pyre! Makes a fine myth ... to ponder in t'om ... tome or depth of the bo'quet ... ephemeral genre! Dark floe ring?

Ha, ha, yes of course.

WB--I definately know there's a spark there! I just wish I could understand what you're saying better sometimes. It's me, not you :)

HG--you like to paint, write, etc. at 3:30 in the morning too, huh? I've been known to do that too...I am not a very talented artist, but I enjoy it. You said being afraid to die, for you, is like being afraid to sleep. I went through a brief period when I was actually afraid to sleep. Not anymore, but I do get insomnia from time to time.

Technically there are more than just the Bibles description, and our own ideas.

There are also many, many other theological sources based on the sacred writings of  many, many religions and traditions, which also describe the afterlife in "God's Word".

So a more accurate statement would be...

All we have to go by is what various scriptures of various faith traditions.... or we go through life with our own thoughts about the afterlife... or a combination thereof.

I also noticed in reading over some of my posts (it's like reviewing a diary at times)...that when I am stubbornly attached to a view...I argue it pretty ferociously...I protect my views like a Mamma Bear protecting her cubs! ...I mean no harm, I'm trying to work on that, so sorry to anyone I may have offended. 

Never offended, always interested. A pleasure to read.

Neo: I know what you're saying about unconditional love. I love my family...we have some very polarized values--politically, socio-economicallly--is all. I am quite sure my mother loves me, even though I drive her nuts and vice versa--she can be critical to the point of abusive, but that's because she wants me  be to be safe and secure and not detach, as you say, from material concerns...she believes that material wealth and success will keep me safe. I am quite sure my father loves me and vice versa--and some of his concerns for me are the same as my mother's. I am not so sure about my step family on my father's side, and some of my old friends...I don't feel that they love me...they're indifferent.I don't feel that they would be there if I truly needed them. I do love them. I would never ignore them if they were hurting or in crisis and called me up to ask for my help...but I don't make an effort to be part of their lives anymore because  their behaviour is too hurtful to me--what I have to get over is the chip on my shoulder about it. I say I forgive them, but I can so easily think about it and get upset...which tells me maybe I have more forgiving to do.

That's my take on unconditional love.

...So, the two people in one brain...that would be hell if one was NDP and the other was Conservative...they couldn't get away from each other and take a break. Talk about family conflict...lol

Was just just reading a very interesting page about left-right brain functioning. Professionals have been theorizing about about how I tick for years. I had a cat scan many years ago, but don't remember what the outcome was...just that there was grey matter somewhere which didn't surprise anyone because of my condition. I'm left handed, but don't fit all the traits.  It would be fascinating to have an MRI, while they asked me questions to see what parts of my brain light up--but that's an expensive procedure. I don't have serious enough problems functioning to warrant it. Because of the congenital damage, I would likely be an anomaly in some respects.http://www.singsurf.org/brain/rightbrain.php

As for theological significance...I have no idea. Maybe if both parts of a divided brain are good people, both go to heaven..or maybe the two are still one flesh, and the believing side overpowers the unbelieving side...just proposing for the sake of conversation. I really have no strong views on this. Alternately, the body is just a fleshy casing...so maybe there are two souls?... the opposite of how many twins view themselves to be like one soul in two bodies?

Put it into the context of soul and spirit ... both intangible manna ... untouchable?

This is the bred of psyche that can shiva down the spine ... a thorn in the physical being of emotions ... spiritual bean? Such is the split condition that awaits on the awareness of pain ... do we react or respond to it intelligently and with due care?

In a world that worships the emotions ... God ... is that confrontational in the medium of two spirits. One old language system called this Arians mote. One only learns from pain ... some of us miss it all together ... can't grasp the concept.

In this light (IC, IHS) has anyone read The Chalice  the Blade? It well-presents the concept of the cup as container of intellect ... and the birthing of the soul! But then in an emotional setting (sat-urn) who dah thought? Did you know that jahoodah is an old Hebrew translation of all-that-is ... yah oodah thought as stray, dispersed, manna ... for the emotional side didn't wish to understand.

The left brae'n is spatial if you can separate the fore and aft portions ... a grand place for the abstract ... the imaginary to work ... but where does it draw from? Sets all that's out there to chimera'n ... or is that Shiva down the uprights like dendrons of neurological fibre ... figments? Can the mind, our best friend, speak to us? It is a faint voice ... more like a confused feeling ... that one just knows ... IQ ... the quota of all that's out there ... a shut out in many a Gam ... gam is like gob ... just a ba'aL a mire to those that operate on nothing ... butte emotions ... bottom ends up ... periodic reciprocation as alchemii? That's relative but mos T've eM don't know IT!

The two halves must be constructed in balance ... wired heh with as choqan evidence ... eclectic, negative, like a photon compared to the nonsensical charge ... mire hole in the trans doozer ... inhabitable psyche? Good to keep company with though ... the emotional believers call one who gets it together ... crazy ... odd enigma like Samson's Lyon that skit with a hun in IT ... one needs to learn to tame the hive ... cultivation of the impossible dream? One does drift ... like Sam Clemont Jr. in a wind shadow ... Huckleberry Finn ... Bloob Eire Phun ... raise a grunt ... one working on the inside track aslave ... its a wash ... cools the emotions? That witch is around us ...

Snorts and smoor ...

HappyGenius,

I just want to say thanks for the words you rambled.

They were personal.

They also speak loudly to me. Facing my own death, I was ill and in "weeks to go" (I just never went) changed me profoundly. In fact, I would say I was closer to dead before and more alive after. Each day is a gift and I care for that gift now. I am also not worried about "stuff" and not hung up on "things" and I waste no time on worry and anger and all that life sucking stuff.

I loved the line, "Fearing death is like (to me) fearing sleep." 

An elderly man I sat with in hopsice as he died said it was "the great exhale". He said he inhaled as a baby and every day, taking in life, and said he "was now on the great exhale".

I appreciated your personal words too, HG. Thank you. And you too, SG, and everyone on here. I'm glad you're here.

Isn't it a grand gift of wild spirits?

That's the talent of de loupe of rationale ... very reason ... as tree of logic ...

It must be cultivated for the bits are dis emanated like the mythical Jew ... not the secular sort ... the spirit, or genre of the word that's emotionally intellectual when shared without rage in flames ... result of the Cos ... Mariah ... water carrier sometime mistaken for Aries ... for the myths are so Maas'd up by m'n kynd in chaotic wandering without due Cos ... putting the ends together in genre of peace? Someone is usually stirred in the process ... bewitching in the early hours to observe her breth Urin ... The Shadow of Darkness absorbed by des Une ... one must get the genre of de mudder in proper frame ... that's mo'vein ... Ephrain to the west according to the 4th bo'queue in line Nos. to the grind you'll find the seed of Dan .. devilish thought of knowing the flame when encountered ... the cool ante ...

That's IT eM's mai people ... rare as a bird up ... Russian "d" forming a grail-like cup ... tilde'd vessel ... bucket List or just Rae Kanting of an old myth about no-minas and phe no-minas ... love lost ... the eclectic charge being gone ... leaving space for th'aught ... other side of Theo? Ba salt of the dome ... or basilica of the earth ... St Pedre's old Eire ... dim in there without light ... as IC ID any whey in the Shadow! Be careful of where you leave things if you don't wish turning alief ... that rae-nude beginnings ... mire stroke in a-Rabi-c fabrication ... Þete'n the carpet as the primary bier ... that's a blind carrier of old ta-pestries spilled cede of the greater psyche ... left phi/fey and flighty ... lifted?

Always remember no matter how much you'Ve seen ... Hebre in sense of the infinite is ambiguous  ... there's always another side and such institution of idée bugs authority ... as they see their flaws ... of what they didn't know was gross fullness ... two dozen squared ... a snar'd! Then nard is fat in hebrew thinking of a blown mind ... the full extent of the myth of pyre? Its something turning to nothing but energy ... metaphysical stuff as seen by the soul that's votive ... like flickering candle ... chimera in the dark Ness ... just felt as wadis a pud 'n ... awash 've thought ... Ba Th' Chi Ba ... clearing of the isolated soul ... Crystal Gael look up at night and see what's done toem ... sold Eire at rest? As Salt of the soul ... whoa m'n what sha dun tome?

Only as tory of spirit and soul? Lon Don Dere-Ai Eire (onager) ... the backs Ide of "Oh!" Coolest 'n Isis thing ... dis çi-plæ of thought if you look into ID ... odd thing ... alien to Sam Eire Ðan ... merry devil who get si tall in the end? In emotional environment they never see it coming ... tuit! That's the cycle ... reveled about ... as a bust ... imp-loose'n in reciprocal blast ... but one has to peer into the myth of beyond mortal to see into the imaginary ... abstract's ID? Its just a word ... de ream ing of the tØom Hebre in shady bo'queue ... if yah can grasp IT ... way out there!

Hey Inanna, are you still in on the conversation? Any feedback? I haven't seen you around for awhile.

Still can't quite wrap my whole head, both sides, around the "theology" of a divided brain idea.