The world is like a painting, our existence the penciled outlines and our lives..

I read somewhere: the world is like a painting, our existence the penciled outlines and our lives the coloring. The canvas, the substratum everything is painted upon.

Sitting in any group of people we begin to see ourselves as different, not so much by physical characteristics, but something that appears more fundamental. If we were sitting say with a group of villagers. They may not differentiate so much between us and someone else of similar background. But what is this background, do we see it the same as others see it ?

Whatever it is, the background seems first, a consequence of what our parents were. We carried it forward, gradually making choices ourselves: our occupation, friends, people, surroundings. Ultimately, did we become as we wanted to be? No. Wouldn't you agree ?

For we're free to choose how to act, but we live with the consequences. For every act of ours, something more than our own actions makes the result. We try taking these extraneous factors into account, attempting to control the outcome. Is it only a matter then of time and experience before we gain control of our life?

By the time we learn enough though, our life moves on. We're different players, and the rules of the game are changed for us. In this time, our background has begun to form; a coloring within the outlines in the painting, visible to anyone who cares to look.

How would we want our color to be ? There is no good answer except that since we're in the game, and a part of this painting for reasons we have no idea about. We'd best do what we can to move this game on. Not be the one to attract attention or concern of whatever the larger cause of this whole play is.

Is there lying in the hollow of our minds something predetermined about us. Inevitably making our fates ?
And our free will? Isn't that about a freedom to listen to our own minds, sometimes sound and sometimes just whimsical?

Thank you

very well written indeed :D
raising questions is a powerful way to grasp attention.
looking at the standard of your writing i would appreciate it if you would go through some of my writings as well.

In Strunk and White it says you have the option to capitalize or not capitalize after a colon like this. In this situation, I would capitalize.

I read somewhere: The world is like a painting, our existence the penciled outlines and our lives the coloring.
Obviously, that is totally unimportant!Just something I thought I'd share.

But what is this background, do we see it the same way others see it?---I would like this sentence more if it said, "Do I see it the same way others..."

It is confusing to talk about "we and them"...

question mark:
Is there lying in the hollow of our minds something predetermined about us.

Thanks for sharing this! I think there is free will. It's just like when you are president. You probably have to sell your soul to some extent to become president, and when you are president you have to "play ball" with a bunch of cronies if you want to get anything accomplished, but you do still have SOME free will! Even though a lot of factors affect me, I think I am still a being with the ability to steer this strange vehicle. Well, some people think we have not only free will but also the ability to change reality altogether!

Kevin: I was thinking of your passionate stand in this discussion -
"People of MTV generation have no patience. They want instant satisfaction."

post #25:


Did you know your arguments were very close to vedanta philosophy on creation?

I am struggling with 'background', which may not be the most appropriate word here because conceptually it is expressed as both, who we are, and what we are intended to be. By whose intent ? The same you called consciousness, and I the substratum.

Our immortal existence is penciled as our outlines in the picture, and our personalities, or our background are colored within.

We do accept our personalities manifest through things we do but may be less cognizant of how they guide our actions. That's almost a semantic-like difficulty, because you in the West pride yourself as totally free, and therefore your personality only develops as a consequence of your actions. You 're always free to do the opposite of the expected and thats your free will. That is almost a sense of superiority over the entire race of humans.

But deal with this sense of superiority, and the existence of 'the larger cause' of this play we are unwittingly a part of, has to be accepted -- like QED in logic. Only then begins the search for it.

Oh man! That thread got out of control. Thanks a lot, you just cost me an hour of my life, because I curiously skimmed through that again.

You added some perspective to our crazy bantering, writing... "We seek the light and Satva, also interpreted as truth, is the way. Though it isn't itself consciousness -- that being us."


Yes, everything I say is stuff that comes from the wisdom traditions of India and the various forms they have taken. That's the stuff that rings true with me, and if I had more discipline I would be a better student.


Yep, and that egoism makes it really tough for us to cope with the idea of death.


Well... if we are all the same being, there needs to be no larger cause (i.e. no need for a god-concept). If we are one consciousness that continues to exist (i.e. eternally) then we will experience all possibilities in time. That means you are everybody!

If that is the nature of reality -- one consciousness existing over and over, feeling a sense of connectedness with other life forms (i.e. biophelia) but not knowing why -- it all seems to ring true to me. I have empathy for you, because I am you. And when the mystic says we are "all one consciousness," it may be true in a really simple way. I don't remember my dreams, don't remember past lives, don't remember being you, but... this amnesia keeps everything new.

Anyway, did I miss your point?

An hour well spent, I'd say ! I've spend many hours browsing those threads. Wish I had seen something like this before I came to the US; it would have spared me much pain.

In the writing, I am exploring a concept called 'anandmaya kosh' - an innner realm, in vedanta. I called it 'background' since in India that is what matters most to people, but its more like 'personality' in the West.

It reflects what we have achieved, but also points to what's coming next -- that harks of 'intelligent design' doesn't it ?

I wonder what you mean...


Sounds like the way of thinking favors the importance of nurture over nature for developing whatever seems unique about the individuals. I do, too. If you are referring to personal background, that makes a lot of sense, because someone's background/history is what sculpts them into unique apparitions.


Or the crazy dream of a being alone in the universe, multiple personality disorder.

I really like your ideas! Your ideas are very deep and different from others, which makes your essay stand out. I just have a question... aren't essays supposed to be witten in third person? Also, I wouldn't ask this much questions in an essay, because it makes it seem weird. Instead of just askingquestions, I would put it like "It is a wonder that...." or "makes people wonder..." etc...

I might be wrong...I am only in Gr. 9 so I don't hav much experience.