/lit/ - Literature

The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Tolstoy

HOLY SHIT this.

>>4610913
did you do all the exercises that involve more than just thinking about stuff? because some of them I honestly can't really be fucked, and I looked for a quarter in Manhattan for three fucking days and couldn't find one, which honestly seems weirder than if I had found one quickly

>>4610936
in the book he frames in the way of "selective attention" (that is, people occupy different "tunnels" of reality in which a part of everything can be found in the whole)...so if you're bound to "prove what the prover proves" by shifting your focus to a world revolving around quarters. Or that you caused the quarter to appear simply by action of thought, but your own mental pattern can interfere with this greatly...a snowballing effect of doubt--"jeez its been 20 minutes and still no quarter, i guess this is bullshit? its completely bullshit--oh god im wasting my time. i'm never going to find one." and so on

>>4610895
>Is there a book that drastically changed your worldview?
I have recently changed my worldview, as I have become a Christian.

I did not come to this change because of any specific book.
I would say the Holy Bible has played its role, but is not the specific cause for the change.

I suppose this thread was made to find the most effective books.
Ones that have convinced the reader to agree with the writer.
In that sense I find one of the most compelling arguments to be information within DNA
The book Without Excuse by Werner Gitt is based on this notion.
If you would be interested in this subject, but not prepared to buy a new book. You can read the article.
http://creation.com/laws-of-information-1

Another possibility is a book that is so absurd. It might convince the reader that the writer is assuredly wrong.
I would present A Grand Design by Stephen Hawking, as such a book.
"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist."
These statements lead me to believe the writer has lost all touch with reality.

>>4610916
I would ask your opinion on something.
Do you think violence, or at least the threat of it, can be beneficial?
God punishes the wicked, and is justified, but he is "all knowing". I am not.

Suppose I have a pistol, and I am walking down the street. I happen upon a woman who is about to be raped.
Should I use my pistol to prevent the crime?
What if my intervention ends in the death of the assailant?

Let me put this another way.
Suppose I lived in Germany during the holocaust, and I have hid Jews in my basement.
A German officer knocks on the door, and asks "Are there any Jews in your house?"
Should I lie in this situation?

My previous examples were meant to be obvious. The trouble is not all situations are this obvious.
I suppose even in my "obvious" examples it is debatable as to what is truly the "right" thing to do.
Hence I ask your opinion.

Is violating God's law ever justifiable?
Is there always an alternative to violence?

In my opinion we do not live in a perfect world. Therefore we cannot be, and are not expected to be perfect.
If everyone followed the rules, no one would be forced to break them.

>>4610895

<----- This sexy beast right here.

>>4613879
That sexy beast you failed to comprehend?

>>4613895

I'd estimate my comprehension of it to be around 85%

Which isn't be surprising - I encountered its ideas a posteriori, so I wouldn't expect to know them universally.

>>4612467
>God punishes the wicked

Well, not so much. Did you know the hell that people think of, you know the fiery place, is not even biblical?

Ecclesiastes 9:5:

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

We aren't conscious of anything when we die, so how could the wicked be punished?

>>4613897
>Which isn't be surprising - I encountered its ideas a posteriori, so I wouldn't expect to know them universally.

>>4613897
>I encountered its ideas a posteriori
confirmed for idiot

>>4613925

Remove the word "be" - a typo - and it should be clear. For more on why universality is a property of the a priori rather than the a posteriori, check out >>4613879

>>4613927

Right - because only idiots don't have a priori knowledge of Kan'ts philosophical system, and instead need to have the experience of reading it.

>>4613953
I don't think you have grasped the meaning of a priori.

>>4613983

a priori - that which is independent of experience, characterized by necessity and universality, as in the forms of intuition and logical modes of judgment, along with the categories and principles that correspond to the latter.

>>4613904
>For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.
Is this statement implying that the only joy in life comes from people thinking about you?

>>4614031
So can you explain it in your own words?

I won't say it changed my worldview, but Suttree by Cormac McCarthy definitely helped to solidify it. The last sentence so succinctly phrases everything the book has been laboring towards. I put it down that night and couldn't get to sleep because my mind was racing with all the ways I'd failed to live up to the standard of Mr. Suttree's way of life.

Granted, neither Suttree nor McCarthy's ( the book is loosely autobiographical, I hear ) are all that enviable, but the sentiment remained.

>>4614051

> not my own words

>>4614051

Ideas that come up to your mind, before even studying a given theme, and that repeated and independent experience validate in all the cases.

An example of this kind of ideas, would be: "Op is a faggot".

>>4614085
Here, this one >>4614081 is a faggot too

>>4614090

Strong counter argument! I especially liked the part where you showed where and how I was wrong.

>>4614125

Shuddup, Kant is dead, all that matters now is memes, I supported my assumption in a meme, therefore I win you loose. God is a delusion, we're all robots.

>>4614144

Gay Muslim robots.

Get your facts in order.

>>4614157
And negroes, don't forget about negroes.

>>4613904
>Ecclesiastes 9:5:
When I read that verse in context. What I get from it is.

Good or bad everyone will eventually die.

As indicated by the previous verse.
Ecclesiastes 9:2
"All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath."

>All things come alike to all
>There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked

As for God punishing the wicked.
Isaiah 13:11
"And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."

Isaiah 26:21
"For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."

Jeremiah 21:14
"But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it."

As for the existence of hell.
Matthew 5:22
"But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

Matthew 10:28
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

2 Peter 2:4
"For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;"

Clearly you are trying to get something from the text that is not there.
You might want to read some more

might be because i was tripping on 2 tabs of acid while i read it, but the middle section changed my life

>>4614176
The swastika in the middle section of the chair?

>>4614215

The book is one infused by Eastern spirituality, and the swastika was a symbol associated with eastern religions long before it was adopted by the Nazi Party.

>>4614215
>>4614720

Also, if you're talking about what appears to be a swastika in the seat of the chair, I'm not sure it was intentionally drawn to look like one.

>>4610895
The Truth Machine

not even ashamed

>>4614752
mah nigga
was just thinking about TPT last night