Jung, Free Will, Synchronicity, Religion, & Paths to Transcendence - Dr Bernardo Kastrup, PhD

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Dr Bernardo Kastrup is a philosopher, author and the Director of the Essentia Foundation. He is the author of several books, including “Jung’s Metaphysics”, “Why Materialism is Baloney”, and “More Than Allegory”.
In this conversation, we explore:
- Bernardo’s thoughts on free will
- The major differences between the eastern mind and the western mind.
- Why engaging with the religious tradition of our upbringing can be the most direct path to transcendent meaning
- How psychedelics have impacted Bernardo
- Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity and what this reveals about the nature of our world.
And more.
You can learn more about his work by going to www.bernardokastrup.com or www.essentiafoundation.org. You can also check out their latest videos by going to the Essentia Foundation KZbin channel.
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Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of Essentia Foundation. His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the ‘Casimir Effect’ of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on Scientific American, the Institute of Art and Ideas, the Blog of the American Philosophical Association and Big Think, among others. Bernardo’s most recent book is Science Ideated: The fall of matter and the contours of the next mainstream scientific worldview. For more information, freely downloadable papers, videos, etc., please visit www.bernardokastrup.com.
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:42 - Eastern and Western Philosophical Outlooks
08:13 - Impact of Christianity
12:27 - Deep Connection to Cultural Icons
19:09 - Unity of Will and Necessity
28:44 - Determination and Human Choices
38:03 - Unseen Harmony of Synchronicity
48:31 - Century-Old Synchronistic Dance
58:08 - Psychedelics and Active Imagination
01:07:27 - Mind, Reality, and Journey Within
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Interview Links:
- Dr Kastrup’s website: www.bernardokastrup.com
- Dr Kastrup’s books: amzn.to/3fQ4yKv

[@kkandthegirls6363]

Bernardo is not Jung. He is a visionary of our time; immeasurably important to the transformation of the human race; a philosophical pioneer, and much needed. Embrace it, Bernardo. There's no shame or ego in accepting your role. It's understandable that you don't want to be seen as a self-appointed guru figure, but I hope in your heart you know how important you are.

[@craigbowers4016]

He is so important. It's been about 14 months since I started studying him and it's been life changing. Thank you BK!

[@matswessling6600]

he is lost in his own fantasies.

[@user-rj8pp1qq2n]

I am so grateful for the opportunity to listen to this kind of interviews! I am fascinated with Bernardos's work but I also want to highlight the amazing work that the interviewer does! Thank you to the both of you! Much love ❤

[@AustinOllar]

It’s interesting because life is more deterministic than we realize. If you study personality psychology enough, you realize that the direction of a persons life is predetermined since birth. The exact scenarios that play out may not be deterministic, but the context of those scenarios are. The best way to think of this is a seed you plant in the ground. The seed is predetermined to become a tree, but the scenarios that play out may cause the outcome to look a bit different than its initial conditioning.

[@SimoneMancini1]

I would like to thank and congratulates the channel for the wonderful interview! Bernardo Kastrup is an incredible speaker and great scientist. I am a psychiatrist and junguian analyst and follow with pleasure all his interviews. Congratulations again from Brasil🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@gameaudioshaman]

Bernardo Kastrup must be honing his skills for something big. Every day a new podcast. Chapeau BK

[@thefutureisnow209]

My first psychadelic experience consisted of the face of Jesus forming in geometrical patterns on my patio. He smiled at me when I yelled oh it’s Jesus and quickly transformed into Krishna. To which I responded with “why is Krishna here”? I was raised Roman catholic and it felt like I had pulled the word Krishna out of thin air. I don’t think psychedelics should be dismissed like they are by some scientists as hallucinatory agents. I should add that I’ve only ever used magic mushrooms. Thank you for you Dr Kastrup!

[@gofai274]

I wonder how one can LOVE, if you see even 1 time that people burned others alive like Nazis some village, how can you ever be same, something broken within me and i was never same... Or that we all have capacity to do same as Hitler did - Jung...

[@theseedoflife3057]

"Why is Krishna here?" 🤣🤣🤣

[@kevinhall9226]

Same happened to me. I wonder what these archetypal experiences mean about the truth of spiritual reality.

[@user-gj6rl7po9q]

During trips I’ll have these moments where I find the most divine meaning in me and the universe. Just to forget it a moment later. I’ve been reading the Bible and other books the past 2-3 months, and I’m just , is this what I was forgetting??

[@danielschmidinger8543]

​@@kevinhall9226it's about christ consciousness. The spirit of christ. Krishna and Jesus both were christ and buddha. Christ and buddha are the same. Jeshuha (Jesus) of nazzaret was a buddha

[@youtubecanal]

About "western and eastern thinking" it’s better to have have an Integral thinking and Spiral dynamics. This two tools give us better epistemology and understanding of human behaviour and conceptual systems. Better understanding of human problems. Better epistemaic tools for new radical solutions.

[@SoyOtroTu]

Thank you! BK Is THE GOAT! No doubt about It.

[@jenmdawg]

Bernardo - the phases in Vedic 6:05 philosophy for householders: student, worker, warrior, elder. Applying this concept to my own life created a profound shift. The warrior phase is not about conflict but about precision - an absence of wasting time or resources on needless pursuits. The elder phase is about appropriate withdrawal from engagements.

[@branandubh]

Warrior? Who added that one?

[@jenmdawg]

@@branandubh the Vedas. Warrior in this context does not mean fighter. It means having a keen sense of how to utilize energy and resources. Precision. Effectiveness. The analogy I recall is a king has a hang nail that is disrupting his ability to focus. A warrior takes his sword out and precisely cuts the hang nail he(she:) leaves no injury and leaves the king better off with no need for praise.

[@Connaissances3]

I could listen to Bernardo for hours on end Thank you gentlemen 😂

[@luzelmartinez9016]

Meaningfulness resides in our nature of being human.

[@susannaemmerich1166]

Great, Bernardo is star!!!! Thank you.🙃🙏🎶🎶

[@Justineyedia]

The self is a complex and dynamic construct influenced by personal experiences, cultural background, and beliefs about oneself and others. Our interactions with others can affect our sense of self, and there is a tension between the desire for coherence and the desire for freedom in our self-perception. The concept of self is not static, but rather constantly evolving through social interactions and the ongoing construction of our identity. Our self is a construction of relationships and interactions, constrained and yet in search of the feeling of freedom. Jung said that he didn't create himself but rather he happened to himself. We unconsciously adapt to our environments.

[@HighCountryStudio]

I’ve listened to many interviews with Bernardo, and this one is my favorite so far. Thank you so much.

[@nlm0172]

I agree - this interview is amazing. Here’s a link to another interview with Bernardo Kastrup I found transformative: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onKlY2R8dr12eqcsi=uZBpPKI7RP6mh-Da

[@HighCountryStudio]

Thank you! I haven’t seen that one. @@nlm0172

[@HighCountryStudio]

Thanks for linking me to that 5 hour interview ! Terrific stuff! @@nlm0172

[@pp-jb7yf]

Beautifully said. Thank you

[@innerlight617]

30.02: BK.".one should not construe that ,one shouldn't be engaged with life and make responsible moral choices..." One must act as if one is the doer,one has daily living to deal with.If at some point understanding comes ,we are not separate entities, then one realizes:i am not living my life,but rather life is being lived through me.

[@kkandthegirls6363]

Excellent interview! Thank you.

[@hugothales4902]

Great talk. Thank you!

[@rachelari1271]

Brilliant❤️

[@kaauer4743]

Its amazing, I experienced two times with psychodelics with a support guy and with específic intentions, and both were super experiencies... They open Doors that I didnt even imagine, and also to experience that Void at a certain moment was a revelation❤ Thanks for sharing your experienced.

[@ArjunLSen]

There isn't any commentator about the nature of reality today as rigorous and clear as Dr Kastrup. I wish his writings and dialogues were more widely acknowledged.

[@riteofpassage896]

You can 100% adopt symbolism from other cultures and have deep relevance realisation as a result. As a tattooist, my job is to help people express that in a meaningful way and I find it amazing that an indigenous Maori native to NewZealand in his 30s could find that meaning in a tattoo of Shiva dancing the nataraja, proving that these images transcend the cultural containers they originate in. Overlaying every cultural archetype on a psyche helps to integrate all human experience into our being. Ultimately leading to total unification with all human experience.

[@siriosstar4789]

There is no "breaking through " necessary to arrive Here .

[@LJG29]

Thanks for interviewing Bernardo. I feel free to acknowledge that Christianity is an assemblage of ancient truths and wisdom from the East, created under Roman authority, and that management and control seems to me to be at the heart of it.

[@bryanutility9609]

It’s Jewish trickery

[@waynekington4426]

Bernardo, the only person who I 100% agree with.

[@KassJuanebe]

If you keep listening, that will change.

[@yoooyoyooo]

He is trying to say things in a way that everyone agrees that's why. I for one don't agree with his take on free will. The question if we are free to choose is important and should not be relativised the way he is doing it. Nature is determined we are the part of it so we are determined too and that's all there is to it. He is annoying in not taking any stance but trying to merge everything unsuccessfully.

[@waynekington4426]

Nah he's great. But it takes quite a bit of deep embodied contemplating to understand it. Not for everyone.

[@yoooyoyooo]

@@waynekington4426 what he is saying is not very deep at all. He is just saying 2 contradictory things at once.

[@yoooyoyooo]

@@waynekington4426 my sense is that he is because he was taking psyhodelics attracting that crowd. And all people on psyhodelics think they saw something profound. They also say it can't be put in to words, yet they babble all the time about it.

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤ WILL vs NECESSITY Bernard speaks of will and of necessity. But of whom or of what kind of necessity: a necessity of body or vital energy, an emotional necessity, a mental or intellectual necessity, a necessity of the soul? His way of thinking on this subject is so simplistic that it fails to really touch the essence of this question.

[@robertamcknight3175]

Thoughts on perspectives of Bohm and Pylkkänen?

[@yngvesognen1092]

I too have a busy mind that I can only quiet for moments, and my experiences with psychedelics are like those BK had.

[@hyperduality2838]

Synchronicity = simultaneity. Simultaneity is dual to relativity -- Einstein. Same is dual to different. Time dilation is dual to length contraction -- Einstein, special relativity. Space is dual to time -- Einstein. Absolute time (Galileo) is dual to relative time (Einstein) -- time duality. "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Simultaneous events are observer dependent or relative to the observer. The observed is dual to the observer -- David Bohm. Duality creates reality. Enantiodromia is the unconscious opposite or opposame (duality) -- Carl Jung.

[@missh1774]

Buurnaadō 🤌🏼 Muy bonita. Feliz año nuevo tardía 💛 37:50 I agree. Determination makes no sense (psst does it count if a person is asking such a question on a mountain?)... and Nial ty for the quick follow up of such a metamodern Quest of things.

[@TriggerIreland]

Such an interesting dynamic between questioner and answerer in these BK talks with open, direct and clear riffing. BK describing memories of simple, experienced realisation of one's relationship with what is. In this context, realisation and Analytic Idealism seem synonymous. Or maybe, realisation is what Analytic Idealism feels like.

[@evv6724]

burger king

[@alkintugsal7563]

What I see after listening to all this is that everything about the universe and us extremely entangled and extremely complicated possibilities on possibilities on possibilities just so difficult to grasp.

[@NataliaMariaAnastazja]

I wanted to listen to this podcast on google podcasts but it doesn't work and doesn't want to play I don't know why.

[@Matt-tg8oc]

Niall, make no mistake, the Bible DEFINITELY asks its readers to take its words literally, not as metaphor. Unquestionably.

[@taonow369]

Can the universe predict events ? Is the universe matter ? Or a type of energy, a prediction promotes energy into matter sort of like the observation experiment in physics maybe? Given time is only relevant when matter appears and when an observer appears ?

[@imperfekt7905]

This was another good conversation with Bernardo. The interviewer was skillful. However, the sound was unbalanced, with the interviewer being much louder than Bernardo. There were commercial interruptions ever 6-7 minutes, loud and jarring, which was irritating. Is the barrage of commercials a funding choice for The Weekend University? If so, I'll have to avoid this content provider. When the commercials are at the beginning of a program, I will sometimes pay attention to them a little, but when they interrupt frequently and annoyingly, I will make an effort to avoid the products and services if I hear enough to know who or what is causing the disruption. Good show. Bad business.

[@jamesadams7929]

If Bernardo trusts in his own experince more and more. And listens to his intuition, but not takes his thoughts serious at all(some distance to them/these illusions) when really relaxed and silent, then he can slip easier into experiencing his own nature. You have to feel really comfortable, be alone(because of the silence and non interference(of others frequencies)) and let yourself/allow yourself(let go of anything your hanging on to) to experience your own nature, invite the feelings of weirdness, unfamiliarity, being out of it a little and homecoming, let yourself fall. (all this but withoit expecting, or forcing or demanding any experience either, which might be hard when you actually are in nature and took the time to try to experiment and try to find an unknown/new state, but you can easily forget in a few moments, oh look there some mushrooms and relax...)

[@kennyhaughan9605]

The dashboards in aeroplanes are representations of the prevailing conditions outside the plane and indicate only relevant data required for planes safe flight. Similarly, the physical world is our dashboard to the noumena which enables our survival on the planet. Is it likely that all of noumena is represented in our physical world? If not, how will we ever be able to map the physical world to noumena? Seems unlikely .

[@user-dt3pw2kt4v]

What makes Bernardo say that this reality is a dream materialised by the collective unconsciousness, what is the tought process of this assumption ? Thanks ❤

[@kkrenken895]

Is Bernardo a reader of Heidegger?

[@user-pt4qd8fs8k]

Electrical engineer/physicist Dan Winter (available on KZbin) explains what 'gravity' is (i.e. why 'objects' fall to 'the ground') being an effect of 'Non-destructive implosive charge-compression' - which is the bioelectrical definition of; Negentropy, Life, Self-awareness, perception (inc colour) metabolism (why a seed germinates; 'charge-implosion') subjective fractality AND gravity. And, if 'Infinite Non-destructive implosive charge-compression' is properly understood then you'll know why the instructions of sages the likes of Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj were intuitively correct (essentially to abstract a sense-felt point of focus in your Awareness, as a feeling (verb') as distinct from the lifeless word or non-existent 'noun'/'pronoun') - a perfected demonstration of fractal negentropy and metabolism ('embodiment' thereof) of intelligence and love in action. - essentially, a bioelectrical interpretation and reason as to why we should dare to ask; ''what am I?'' - to assume fractality, get centripetal, and teach our children how to 'independently' access bliss and know that we are implicitly imbedded in the larger array..

[@taonow369]

I agree that eastern theory expresses a need to realize this is a error or illusion ( Maya , Samsara) I think Sadhguru has developed and talks about more of a system of a recognition of this fact but to continue in humanity but realizing we are THAT as Nissargatta would say - we are so very lucky to have beings like Bernardo and Sadhguru on this earth - that would be a great duel interview

[@gofai274]

Will suffering ever end??? I am plagued by eternal torture, even if it was once like i had to already die 80000000 painful deaths and tortures, it is UNFATHOMABLE what ppl did to each other still do!

[@victorygarden556]

Sadhguru masquerades as sophisticated. Real charlatan.

[@thefutureisnow209]

Q : Does free will exist? A : what is the sound of one hand clapping?

[@KassJuanebe]

Is 5 married? Free will is a construct, not an object. Statements about it are either useful or not. It's meaningless to say constructs are tru or false.

[@mn9120]

Yeah for years they say you are limitless, and now they say you are limited. Of course, none is true and right. We are both. Don't believe in BS some people talk.

[@NeilMariondelaCruz]

1:44

[@VenusLover17]

❤❤❤❤

[@alkintugsal7563]

I want to enjoy the goodness that beautiful sights like the sea and beautiful forests gross matter that this world has to offer,also want to enjoy the monies and cars and all the material things at our disposal not forgetting the good food but these are little toys to enjoy our time here it isn’t everything not all we have and when that time comes for me to go to the other realm if it exists I have no fear I wouldn’t want go before I can achieve my goals but after achieving my goals and enjoying everything this world has to offer in the time being.I will freely open my arms to the unknown.😁

[@juanjuarez9581]

According to Max Leyf there is a confusion between liberty and freedom. But anyway, seems to me that there is no difference after all between Sam Harris and BK on this topic. You know, guys, universal mind doesn’t know where it goes but you will find meaning in your life because you’re part of this (!).

[@BcClarity]

BK, please keep that middle finger up at the greed in intellectual property monopolies. Libraries ARE PEOPLE

[@djimiwreybigsby5263]

Are we god embodied and shed of divinity? and here to become a fulfilled conscious wish on earth?

[@Matt-tg8oc]

Bernardo - how can the mind of "God Himself" not know where the universe is going? Is he bound by the constraints of time? Is he not outside of time? Romans says, "What he foreknew he also predestined..."

[@megannharris1032]

A tree is known by its fruits.

[@megannharris1032]

Do people want to be evil?

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤DETERMINISM vs FREE WILL Bernard's idea that the determinism of nature is inevitably imposed upon us is fallacious, for we are not only a physical, mental and intellectual being, but also a spiritual being. The spirit always remains beyond the influences of nature, including the body, mind and intellect, and has the power to influence nature, i.e., the body, mind, intellect and world................... Therefore, the exercise of free will is not equal for all human beings, because they are not in the same state of Consciousness and equally liberated from the lower powers of nature. More precisely, exercising more or less our free will depends on how much or how little we identify ourselves with the body, mind and intellect and how clearly, deeply and firmly we are connected with our divine essence. SO WE CANNOT SPEAK OF FREE WILL IN GENERAL FOR ALL, SINCE WE ARE NOT ALL IN THE SAME STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS

[@user-cq4jk4lp1l]

I witness

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤ NATURE DETERMINES ACTIONS Are actions determined by nature? Yes, indeed, if I have to go to the bathroom. But what do we mean by nature? Just the body, or the physical mind and intellect? Are we just body, mind and intellect? So all we have to do is satisfy their needs?

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤🌺 LIFE NOT A MISTAKE Sri Aurobindo (Hindu Philosopher and Enlightened being) does not agree with other Hindu Spiritual teachers that life is a mistake! LIFE definitely is not a mistake or error, perhaps it is only on Planet Earth 😂😂

[@alija-sirbeg]

You are very wrong according to the WILL. I think we would be much more unhappy if we could choose our OUR will. Any fulfillment of our own will would lead us to always bigger and bigger unhappiness. On any new path/journey according to our own will we would be somehow happy expecting something, BUT each time after having reached the goal, we would be totally empty. That is the software built in, beacuse we are not created to be leaders, to enjoy the life just for the sake of enjoyment, NO, we are made to be SERVANTS. We can be happy when we serve and when we understand the greatest pleasure is to serve.

[@billbodge3879]

I gotta meet one of these Easterners. The most Eastern people in know are Westerners

[@kirstinstrand6292]

In some ways, many were brain washed into authoritarian Christianity, if these were the parents they had. This leads to confusion, anxiety, a difficult life, and personal unhappiness. Bernardo never broke free; he still is immersed in his childhood mythology in some respects.

[@Jagombe1]

😂😂😂 Though he understands that Christianity used symbolism and myths, he ignores the fact that these were understood to be literal; and this understanding permeates the bulk of the Christian followers. Practising Christianity literally is akin to paganism; following the traditions of the Jews and the Romans as if time stagnated.

[@mitsuracer87]

What part of authoritarian Christianity, did he not break free from? He made no mention of paying tithing, shaming, feeling guilt, regularly attending religious meetings, etc.

[@rickpandolfi7860]

After many years of following Bernardo and agreeing with him; I’m stunned by his misunderstanding of Christian proliferation; which was spread through conquest and terror; not resonance or truth. His error is a huge “wow!”

[@breadcrumbtv]

Get what you are saying, but he was just covering one aspect of the proliferation - I’m sure the motivation to avoid burning in hell for all eternity was a pretty good at driving adoption, so push and pull perhaps ?

[@mitsuracer87]

You mean the proliferation of a bastardized religion masquerading as christianity?

[@newpilgrim]

I appreciate and challenge you. I find you're over-simplifying Buddhism. Interesting stuff!

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤THE FREE WILL Before we talk about whether or not Free Will exists, we must first clarify what Free Will is, but also what a human being is and what element within us possesses this power called Will or Free Will. If we do not do this, we will not really be able to think effectively and ultimately to understand and realize whether Free Will really exists or not. Furthermore, only a very advanced person or even better, a fully developed spiritual person, could really explore this question, as they are well aware of the workings of the mind at all levels, have transcended the mind and are aware of its divine nature.

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤ SMOKING A CIGARETTE Smoking the next cigarette is not an act of willpower, but quite the opposite. It is an unconscious mechanical force that covers our mind and our intellect and forces them to act as it wants, that is, according to its limited and distorted expression of will associated with this psychological tendency in the form of lustful desire.

[@matthewkopp2391]

He is using Schopenhauer’s definition of the will which is the one who is craving the cigarette, or the one who craves sex, or power etc. The will is a blind, unconscious force that is present in all of nature. His idea was a precursor to Freud and Especially Jung’s unconscious. When people think of will they think the opposite of what Schopenhauer meant.

[@deborahdonner6640]

You have considered and been influenced by religions and not mention Judaism. A rich and intelligent approach to thought and life. An invisible unknowable force… Madeline C Brooks

[@Jagombe1]

I am impressed by the experience BK had, after a psychedelics trip, that tallies with that of Federico Faggin (who had his as a flash of intuition). Both experiences uncannily tally with the Advaita version of the Upanishads of the Hindu. Is this the way of knowing Reality, but not through psychedelics? Is this the reason for existence in human form? I am, however, disappointed by BK's failure to bring out the paganism in the practice of Christianity and its myths and symbolism. The two have been taken literally by most of practitioners of Christianity, who think that the goal of life is to worship Jesus/God and convert others to the paganism in the practice of Jewish and Roman traditions.

[@atmannityananda-autognosia]

❤❤ CHRISTIANITY INFLUENCE In my case an orthodox Christian kid from Greece After many years of practice mostly related to traditional Hinduidm teachers and teachings and of course after awakening and dissolution of most of the egoic tendencies and disidentification from the mind; I can say that the influence of Christianity (as my mind conceived it where I lived) has vanished, not only in the conscious mind but especially in the subconscious mind. There may be something left, but I don't see any major influence on the way my mind, intellect and psyche function and express themselves.

[@showponyexpressify]

Nonsense... No one is saying we have 100% freewill.... Bernardo has come to the exact same conclusion as the materialists. You are a fully determined (pointless) machine... how ironic.

[@juanjuarez9581]

Yes. I think we need an idealist philosophy to contrarest materialism. I thought BK would be a good representative but I was wrong.

[@matthewkopp2391]

I think you are confusing what he is saying because you have not read Schopenhauer and Jung. But even in Buddhism, the Buddha stays motionless when tempted by Mawa, the temptations are lust, fear, and social conformity. The will Schopenhauer describes is Mawa. The unconscious drives the human. But we can gain consciousness of the drives and if we gain great awareness of the drive we can stay still and not react to it. "Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills." - Arthur Schopenhauer But the German word Wille (Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung) a better translation for English clarity is: Man can do what he wants, but man can’t want what he wants. Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung = The World as Craving-wanting and how they appear as our experiences.

[@evacuate_earth]

You start out by asserting there is no free will because we would all just will to be happy, and that doesn't occur. You are trying to redefine free will into some sort of magical thought process where we can just manifest our thoughts into reality. This fault in your logic, and erodes your entire talk. From the Oxford Dictionary: Free will is defined as "the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion". By your faulty definition of free will, you dis-empower the human mind and soul and its true ability to manifest.

[@christopherjordan9707]

Doesn't the fact that you can't make yourself feel happy when you are depressed, show an inability to act at one's own discretion?

[@evacuate_earth]

@@christopherjordan9707 You know it took me a long time to figure it out, but I learned that I can make myself feel happy when I'm depressed. How? By realizing that I can commit suicide anytime I desire, the ultimate act of free will. Once you compare your present depressed state, to the state of nothingness, depression isn't so bad. I don't remember who first said this, I believe it was Einstein who said: Depression is the wellspring of Inspiration. Doesn't it make you happy that your depressed state will lead you to inspiration?

[@matthewkopp2391]

The issue is the German word Wille is different than the English definition of will. Yes, it is unfortunate that he does not make this clear for an English audience who has never read Schopenhauer. But what he is describing as will is unconscious drives, basically. Or the will of the body-life. A person can become conscious of the unconscious to some degree and then mitigate the drives to a certain extent. But the life force in us wants what it wants and happens. Our heart beat beats automatically we do not will the heart beat it wills itself.

[@gofai274]

I honestly dont like this position everything is nature, because that also means everything is one endless desert, there is no hope for anything higher... Love is self-masturbatory: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qHmak2djaJqEo7s It is not special if you help someone and don't expect anything in return, that is not even possible in the first place :( Life is so ugly and dark... Even selfish-altruism is kinda find, it is still ugly... Not because it is selfish action, you are more than you and other ppl are you. It is lonely i am only one here: i am lonely and it doesn't mean anything... And i am also all those evil ppl, so my love isn't special...

[@maurylee5239]

It's not about being special. It's about playing a part in the whole.

[@missh1774]

Yo.... Ugly is my game. Love it because it is different but more importantly it will ask you to see for yourself. The trick though is about how will you know how to see it? This ultimately asks you to step outside of yourself and ponder the question any parent would know. The ultimate test is to recognise the cognitive quality of following that position.

[@gofai274]

I wonder how would you feel about this after: googling unit 731, brazen bull, insect boat, 83 days death by radiation? Still want to play part in whole 2.6M years, time is illusion possibly means eternal suffering by all painful deaths and tortures forever! No one knows! FUCK THIS!!!!!!@@maurylee5239

[@kkandthegirls6363]

Or, maybe you are depressed. BK isn't saying we should all be happy, but your take sounds like that of a depressed mind. That's not trivial. It's extremely important to pay attention to. Please take it seriously and consider seeking help. With a more balanced mind, I think you will see BKs message differently.

[@hoykoya3382]

1:44