Quote (SwamiVivekananda @ Dec 21 2023 05:55pm)
I don't expect a white collar pseudo intellectual atheist like you to know a thing about getting your hands dirty.
So me getting "turned down" from U of I was the causal catalyst to me being independently wealthy until this very day.
Have you traveled to all the places on Earth you always dreamed of visiting?
Have you been able to dedicate years of your life to a philosophical/philanthropic organization that gives you "peace of mind"?
Intelligence won't make you happy it will only further foster your ego. I know plenty of successful doctors, engineers, and independent business owners who come to the Vivekananda Vedanta Society when life has already passed them by and they tell me how foolish they were to think that "money" was "success". To think that "titles" earned you true "respect". That "degrees" give you "wisdom".
Eventually the Atheist must admit he too is a fool to think one could "know" the "unknown". All math. All language. All sciences are tools humans use to try and grasp an infinite ever changing existence. God.
God is the goal of all beings. Including the atheist. So if "God" / "Realization"/ "Existence" are all part of the same whole the only "fool" is the person who says, "Surely that cannot be the path". All truly religious people realize God in this life. Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Sikh, Daoist, Buddhist but only the Atheist sits at the base of the mountain telling all people of faith that there is "No God". Unwilling to walk the treacherous journey and experience "God" you will "pout and pout". It is of no use to you my friend.
Read Swami Vivekananda's comments on Atheism it will probably expand the very definition of that ideolog for you. I'm not belittling you I'm trying to help you find God through the path you have chosen, "Atheism". It's important to see how other "self proclaimed atheist" come full circle and see "God" in that way. Hope this helps.
Some of your comments are just straight ridiculous.
Addressing this point first:
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Intelligence won't make you happy it will only further foster your ego. I know plenty of successful doctors, engineers, and independent business owners who come to the Vivekananda Vedanta Society when life has already passed them by and they tell me how foolish they were to think that "money" was "success".
You might know plenty of doctors, engineers, or business owners that are unhappy but I have seen the complete opposite to be true. Actually, a majority of these established individuals derive happiness from their work. Do you really think doctors don't gain happiness or have a sense of pride when they are helping people on a day to day basis? The only common attribute that I mainly see among these professions is that they tend to be very ambitious. The money is a byproduct of their hard work and ambition. I am definitely not seeing a trend where successful individuals are flocking to a spiritual organization to tell the members there that they were "foolish" to think that money = success. Re-read that last sentence because just reading it twice might help to see how most people are viewing some of the statements you are making.
Also, being highly intelligent doesn't result in unhappiness. It also does not correlate to a person having an ego. Actually, from the people I interacted with - it seems like highly intelligent people tend to have less of an ego and actually have a pretty grounded view of their self-worth. I am assuming this is a byproduct of them actually being intelligent. They tend to quickly acknowledge their gaps and have a tendency to listen more than speak to absorb information.
Addressing the second point:
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Eventually the Atheist must admit he too is a fool to think one could "know" the "unknown". All math. All language. All sciences are tools humans use to try and grasp an infinite ever changing existence. God.
This is completely ridiculous as well. What you have described is the exact opposite of what an atheist is:
https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/about-atheism/Most atheists aren't saying that there is definitive proof that there is no God. It is very simple actually, there is no solid evidence towards the existence of a God and therefore they do not believe in the existence of a God. What you have described in the quote above is religion (explaining and pushing a narrative with zero evidence).
I have read through most your comments but I just wanted to address 1-2 of your points. You have a tendency to ramble through and push a large amount of speculative assumptions based on your own personal experiences (which is fine) but it isn't feasible to address every single point in the last X amount of comments you have made. Last thought is that I think you are at a stage where your perspective is too ingrained in your character to change who you are. This is fine as well because I think most people are like this at some point of time (including myself).