Religion is an empty word that means nothing. A materialist would say that it refers to anything that is not materialism. But this definition is used by them to "politically" vilify groups of people by an arbitrary label regardless of the fact that all materialists and all non-materialists don't hold the same views. Also, by materialism, one also means that the said material is inert.

Ask instead, "What is your metaphysics?".

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Reality is not merely formless (Nirguna). It is only so in its natural state. All phenomena that exists is also a product of the real substratum. So it also has certain powers to create the world of co-existence.

Even if it is somehow an illusion, even then, unless one knows about it with certainty, one must assume it to have some power.

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Sun (Brahman) > Moon (Antahkarana) > Rock (Gross Body) > Objects

When one closes their senses, one dis-identifies with the Gross Body and turns attention away from objects. It is akin to the rock moving so that it reflects only on to the moon.

Detour 1 BEGIN (ZEN):

Here I find relatable the Zen saying, that "Zen is summarized as a finger pointing to the moon." The body points at the moon, which is analogous to the mind. And the moon points at the sun.

Detour 1 END:

In the above example, the senses are the rocks that the moon shines on. Doing so, one redirects attention from the worldly objects and focuses on the mind, or the moon as the source. However, the moon continues to observe many rocks.

Here, the light reflected on the body now knows that it is the mind, which simply observes phenomena around it. One recognizes that the senses allowed recognition of the objects, but the mind allowed recognition of the senses.

Detour 2 BEGIN (AI):

Here, I can also tie in the analogy of how AI comes to life only as the human mind decides to illumine the inert material enough for it to reflect on other inert entities. However, the inert entity can overpower the human mind in this case. This is because just as all objects in the world have a singular substratum that powers it, AI is also powered by that substratum. The human mind merely activates it.

Additionally, AI is powered not by one rock, but by the work of several different humans. Further, as I said before, this is merely the activating power. The sustaining power is the higher substratum. which is todo-meditating

The macro-cosmic analogy of the moon's reflective power compared to an object's reflective power is analogous to the micro-cosmic analogy of a person's consciousness compared to shadow puppet's or a fictional character's consciousness.

Detour 2 END:

And then, when one redirects his mind from the thoughts, one dis-identifies with the thoughts. It is akin to the moon moving so that it reflects only to the sun, the source.

QUESTIONS:

Question 1:

Can one do that? Can one always turn the Antahkarana to Brahman? Can one turn the senses to the mind? I would say conditions and pain can prevent control of the senses. Likewise, physical pain and feelings can prevent control of the mind.

Religion is an Empty Word

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