Re: the secret of the Pineal Gland

On Feb 8, 8:34 pm, "DharmaTroll" <dharmatr...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Feb 7, 10:20 am, "Justin" <soupisgoodf...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:



On Jan 2, 7:49 am, "chazwin" <chazwy...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hey Wolf,
This bizarre picture of the pineal gland is taken from an archaic
Cartesian viewpoint, made without a single item of supporting evidence.
In more recent times studies HAVE been made of this endocrine gland and
it has resulted in a more reliable and less fanciful picture.
It has revealed that this gland has not the slightest similarity to the
eyes, though it does contain evolutionarily vestigial photoreceptors
(pineal glands are near the surface of the brian in birds). It has no
function in perception. It is not the location of the soul as thought
by Descartes. This was nothing more than a flight of fancy as it was
based on no evidence of any kind.
A child could find out what the pineal gland does. It is not
mysterious, it is not mystical, it has nothing to provide us with a
sense of the "RealSelf" whatever that is.
It is not many things: I shall not name them all, how could I?
But I can show you what it does. It's functions, though mundane, are
far more interesting than Wolfgang's ideas. The wiki is a good enough
place to start..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineal_gland

Chazwin

wolfgang wrote:
The pineal gland is located in the center of the brain, with features
similar to the eyes.
We are not able to see ourselves through our eyes; but this is not true with
the pineal gland.
Through the pineal gland, we will be able to see "ourselves", as well as the
others.

But this "SELF" you would see through the pineal gland will not be like YOU
at all, I mean in appearance and in essence. This is the RealSelf. The one
in physical body you know of yourself is not the RealSelf. The one you know
of yourself is only some material "stuff".

Our material body is like a piece of clothes that the RealSelf puts on. He
plays different character everytime he puts on different clothes. If the
RealSelf is not awakened to his origianl Consciousness, he will continue to
role-play by reincarnating.

How to awaken the RealSelf to his original consiousness?
Through the use of the pineal gland - the 3rd eye.

Using the pineal gland to visualize our RealSelf is the only way to awaken
it.
When the RealSelf is awakened, "WE" will discard the material body.
Without the material body to be taken care of, we will naturally rid of the
Three Poisons:
1. Greed or wrong desire
2. Hatred or anger
3. Illusion or stupidity or ignorance
which are the source of all the passions and delusions.

How to develop the pineal gland? Through meditation.
Roughly speaking, through "continual" focus on a point infront of the
glabella (between the eyebrow).

When the RealSelf manifests itself, you will look at HIM like facing a
"stranger".

Yes, I've read "A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes
Imagination", and it mentions this false idea of the pineal gland
being the center of consciousness.
It's a very good book, BTW. It goes into a deep, methodical look about
how consciousness "arises" from the brain. The science behind it makes
a lot of sense, but like many scientists, he's pretty damn sure that
matter creates consciousness, and isn't open to the idea that what he
is seeing is consciousness interacting with matter.

DT> Good for him! The word 'consciousness' as a separate thing which
'interacts' with matter is an archaic idea that no serious philosopher
has held for hundreds of years, even though it was championed by
Descartes. The biggest problem is that the idea of something non-
physical 'interacting' with matter can't even get off the ground, as
if it interacts with matter, that makes it material and measurable.

Why? Electromagnetism didn't arise from matter, did it? It's a
phenomenon that has always been there, just like matter.

The problem comes from taking a verb or adjective like 'conscious' and
making a false noun out of it, 'consciousness'. It's got the same
ontology as 'heat'. There is no such thing as heat which interacts
with matter, though we talk about heat in the same way. Rather, heat
has to do with what the matter is doing, the motion of the molecules,
in particular. Just so, conscious has to do with what a brain is
doing, not with something separate that 'interacts' with it. Being
conscious is how brains act, not interact.

Thank the gods that "A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes
Imagination" isn't open to quackery and spookery that has been rightly
abandoned for centuries -- that makes it sound all the more
promising. I'll check it out. Thanks for the reference, as I love
books like that. I recommended "Zen and the Brain" to George Cherry a
few years ago, one of the most level-headed sane posters in these
parts. I wonder if he ever read it. Have you? It is also excellent
and well written.

I'm reading it right now, but I don't see any evidence to support your
notion.

--Dharmakaya Trollpa

"To believe that consciousness can survive the wreck of the brain is
like believing that 70 mph can survive the wreck of the car"
-Frank Zindler quotes


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