From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!tekmdp!bronze!randals
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Title: Re: The Soul of the Matter
Article-I.D.: bronze.472
Posted: Thu Feb 10 13:02:10 1983
Received: Sun Feb 13 06:39:36 1983

	From tekmdp!tektronix!ucbcad!ucbvax:decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!crose Tue Feb  8 16:30:52 1983
	Subject: The Soul of the Matter
	Newsgroups: net.philosophy

	 I was wondering ( isn't that how it all starts?), what
	if man doesn't have a soul. What if when he dies, that's
	it, no reincarnation. Then that also brings up the
	question, if man does have an eternal soul, then why
	try so hard to prove he does?

My question to you is, what is your real question?  Let's go both ways...

A) assume man does not have a soul:
	Each day that you live is simply a day that you live.  You go
	through life, having experiences of one flavor or another, and
	then you die.  That simple.  So, what's the opportunity?
	You can either: 1) live life as a jerk, messing up everyone
	else's opportunities, or 2) live life as if life mattered, and
	assist *everyone* at whatever you choose, or 3) a little of both
	as you see fit.  Remember, assuming that you are without a soul
	also puts everyone else in the same boat; that is, they can
	do (1), (2), or (3) above.

B) assume man *does* have a soul:
	Now what?  If you follow a religious model, you are told that
	when you do "the right thing", you get to go to "heaven", or
	something like that.  What are those "right things" usually
	like?  Love your neighbor, live in peace, be one with the
	nature of reality, etc. etc.  So you get guidelines about
	how to live, and you do them (or don't do them) because
	of how you want to spend eternity.  So what?  Doesn't
	eternity start *right now*?  What forces us to think that
	the rewards for behaviour patterns don't happen until
	death, or the next round-about (reincarnation stuff), or
	the final judgement day?

The real point is, does it matter whether you are going to live
for 20 or 200,000 more years?  All you have is *right now*!  There's no
other moment of time that you can directly experience!

This is it.  You've lived your whole life to get to this point.
Now, just be here.  Ask yourself... "how good am I willing to have it
be RIGHT NOW?", and "What's my opportunity, RIGHT NOW?"
And notice what your answer is, and more importantly, "who" is talking
when you give the answers?  You, or your past?

Food for thought, in a finally appropriate newsgroup...

Randal L. Schwartz
(former) Tektronix Microcomputer Development Products
(now) Tektronix Engineering Computing Systems (the UNIX people)
Wilsonville, Oregon, USA

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