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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 03 2005 : 11:50:19 AM
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Many scientists very seriously believe we may be able to develop the technology to live forever --
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4003063.stm
Any thoughts on this matter? Is slowing down the aging process bad?
Many of us have an intuition that it is bad, but there doesn't seem to be any clear dividing line between correcting health and reversing aging. So as we start to extend our health, we will also extend our lives. And where will it stop?
Any thoughts? Pro/Con for working directly on increasing our lifespan? Or any ideas on how this all plays in with spiritual practice.
Regarding replies, I promise to be good. 
-David
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Edited by - AYPforum on Feb 08 2007 01:38:16 AM |
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2005 : 5:30:35 PM
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Dear David,
The process of gaining moksha gives full body healing as a side effect from the purification of the body/energy system.We don't need to look for longer life , we will get it simply by following the path and not having expectations.
L&L
dave
'the mind can see further than the eyes' |
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lucidinterval1
USA
193 Posts |
Posted - Oct 03 2005 : 10:54:14 PM
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Hello David and Dave,
Pretty interesting topic....
It is inevitable that through science and medical breakthroughs that we live longer and longer. (I wonder if ingesting preservatives has anything to do with it?) This brings a plethora of obstacles for humanity such as population control, social security, medical benefits...
I,for one, have no desire to live to be 100 or older. I view this life as a proving ground. Sow our seeds carefully for the harvest in the afterlife. This is the world of Maya. We can work through it consciously and enjoy it or we can become thoroughly attached to it and cling to it in desparation.
This would make a great Sci-Fi movie though. The rich elite roaming the earth with bionic limbs and organs. Organizing a caste system or armies based on the ability to become a super human through technological breakthroughs.
Am I missing the point?
With PEACE,
Paul |
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Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - Oct 04 2005 : 12:56:07 AM
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| I welcome being able to extend life and youth but a requirement to take this treatment should be to make a commitment not to reproduce afterwards, perhaps a greeing to vasectomy/tubal ligation as a prerequisite. On a personal level it would be a wonderful thing to live longer but it could lead to planetary disaster if we live much longer and keep breeding. Otherwise it would be a lie not to say that it would be a wonderful thing! |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Oct 04 2005 : 4:45:20 PM
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Well, it's definitely going to be interesting to see how it all unfolds. Maybe we won't live long enough to see it unfolding, but I think it will eventually.
>> This would make a great Sci-Fi movie though. The rich elite roaming the earth with bionic limbs and organs.
It would. :)
The situation, if and when it happens, could present itself in unexpected ways. The scenario that the rich would be the only ones who live longer is possible. It depends on the economics of just how expensive it would be to take aging-reduction treatment. If it gets sufficiently accessible, things almost reverse -- only the rich would be able to afford to grow old and die.
Did that sound crazy? Imagine a medical insurance company, for example, telling you that you must take aging-reduction treatment or refusing to insure you otherwise. Or giving you a great reduction on medical insurance if you do take age-reduction treatment, so that you can hardly afford not to take it.
It may become prohibitively expensive to grow old and die in the old way. There's no doubt about it at all, the young and healthy are cheaper to insure medically.
I can't find the right smiley for this.
[insert Ironic-sinister smiley]
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Oct 04 2005 4:48:48 PM |
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Manipura
USA
870 Posts |
Posted - Oct 04 2005 : 9:07:37 PM
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Hi all. Living longer, smarter, better is possible NOW, without further r&d, if people are willing to take the responsibility for their own health. The benefits of meditation are awesome, but let's face it - it's pretty sedate. Physical exercise (beyond yoga - I'm talking serious cardio, weight lifting, etc.) is the way to go. There are no guarantees that it'll add years to your life, but your odds increase to live longer and healthier, and whatever age you're at, you feel fantastic. We've all met 80-yr-olds who are incredibly limber, sharp and active, and it's not b'c of some product they ingested.
I say, go for it - live for as long as you care to - but know that there's nothing that's going to work as well as staying fit and eating well (and less).
m |
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riptiz
United Kingdom
741 Posts |
Posted - Oct 05 2005 : 1:02:40 PM
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Surely it's not about living longer but living a better quality of life with less pain, illness etc?
L&L
dave
'the mind can see further than the eyes' |
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Shanti
USA
4854 Posts |
Posted - Oct 06 2005 : 12:24:52 PM
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I thought the soul did live for ever... we just change our body.. like the Geeta says.. dying is like get rid of your old clothes(your old, tired body) and get into new clothes(a new youthful body).
I will agree with Paul and Melissa on this one...
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mystiq
India
62 Posts |
Posted - Feb 06 2006 : 11:27:33 AM
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The soul is not an object it is you yourself. You are unborn and undying. it is the various bodies that are born in you. Time is your imagination of imaginary experiences like being born having parents growing up getting old dying being in the gap between lives, being born again ad infinitum. Please comment
mystiq |
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Sparkle
Ireland
1457 Posts |
Posted - Feb 07 2006 : 04:28:09 AM
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riptiz said:
Surely it's not about living longer but living a better quality of life with less pain, illness etc?
Agreed on this, and also, if we knew we were going to die tonight while sleeping, how would we live out the rest of the day?
Is this not were we should be at?. Is not reaching for longevity just another attachment?
Sparkle
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Yoda
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - Feb 07 2006 : 4:15:08 PM
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I think there are positive aspects to both short and long lifespans.
The Tibetans say that the longer you live the more you can practice the better off you are in your next life, etc. I think there is something to that. Yogani has mentioned that he had yogic experiences from a very young age which gave him a headstart trying to navigate the thicket of conflicting advise out there. Possibly that headstart was from building up a good head of steam in his previous life?
I believe that I have been more of a short lifespan specialist for the last several thousand years. The downside is that it's impossible to be a megayogi on a diet of short lifespans, but the upside is that life tends to be easier and more pleasurable if you recycle yourself more often.
It's my intention to live longer in this life this time around to get into better practice territory.
But either way, there's lots of opportunity to be had.
I think that the scientists are seeing that it might could be possible to turn off all the little errors that compound in the human body that is the process of 'aging' and many speculate that they could do this within 50 years at the accelerating rate of our scientific understanding. So there's sort of an edge of excitement about the whole thing. The only problem with their approach is that it comes from an underlying revulsion to a very intentional, natural, and fundamentally joyful transition experience that will come at some point anywho. It's weird to be scared of dessert!
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Feb 07 2006 : 9:22:50 PM
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I'm dead serious. Why on earth would one want to live forever, via whatever means?
The main pleasure to be had in this life is to transcend this world. Death is the ultimate transcendence, the perfect culimination. Are there people out there having SUCH a blast in the maya that they just don't want to see it ever stop?
sorry if this sounds dark and depressive. I'm just being realistic, I think. |
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weaver
832 Posts |
Posted - Feb 07 2006 : 10:49:11 PM
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I can understand that those who think that the physical death is extinction will see this physical experience as the only and ultimate reality, and therefore would like to prolong it as long as possible. Even if not always pleasant, they may see it as better than no existence at all.
For myself, I would like to prolong this physical existence for as long as it takes to clean off all impurities, then I think the next existence could be very interesting but then this one would be too, but otherwise I think that we basically carry the impurities with us to the afterlife. |
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david_obsidian
USA
2602 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2006 : 09:30:08 AM
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We won't ever actually live forever. (The title isn't meant to be taken literally.) It's more a matter of slowing down or almost halting the aging process. I believe if this becomes freely available, almost everyone will avail of it.
Aging might then come to be seen as a debilitating and ultimately fatal disease that you can avoid. People would still die, though from other things.
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Edited by - david_obsidian on Feb 08 2006 10:40:19 AM |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2006 : 1:35:28 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by david_obsidian
We won't ever actually live forever. (The title isn't meant to be taken literally.)
Whatever! ;)
Denny Crane |
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AYPforum
351 Posts |
Posted - Feb 08 2007 : 01:38:16 AM
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| Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement |
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live forever through science??
