#physiomonistic

[independentthought]

Musing notes of 2012 as recovered from my phone.

Dec. 8, 2011 8:51 PM

And then I felt the dark warm tendrils of depression firmly embracing my soul once more.

Jan. 16, 2012 9:20 PM

I was raised Catholic and have since done a lot of research. I've done much reading many times over, and gone through multiple religions in my younger life.

I'm a Pantheist. The easiest was to explain it (though not everyone really gets it at first) is that the words "Universe" and "God" are fundamentally interchangeable. If I worship anything, it'd be 'everything'. I guess it's up to your interpretation of the word as to whether I 'worship' 'everything' or not. I certainly 'revere' existence, and I know as well as feel that I'm a part of it as I try to identify with it. Personally though, I'd feel like 'worship' might be a strong word. More specifically I am a 'Physiomonistic' Pantheist- meaning I don't think of the Universe as a whole as being sentient. We as individuals are sentient and a part of it; our bodies made from the very carbon of stars- but we are manifestations- extensions of an infinite universe looking at the rest of itself with very little understanding of what or why it's seeing- and rarely any idea that it's seeing itself.

Feb. ??, 2012 11:20 PM

I'm on the cusp of life.

More transient than ever before.

My footsteps glide

as I walk on water for the first time.

The night air is sharp and clear,

and in it I can see trees all around

waiting just as I am.

Waiting for a new dawn.

A new season.

Frozen snow cracks in a billion tiny places beneath my feet.

It gives way to my trudging advancement with bitter irreverence.

Miles later, a train crosses my path.

It's so close…

I want to reach out and touch it.

To grab it and let it carry me at breakneck speeds to the next new world.

Closer now.

Red lights shining through my eyes,

the massive train hurtles and howls shoving wind into my face.

It cries out,

warning me back desperately,

but I will not listen.

I inch ever closer...

And then it's gone. It's sad to watch it go.

I continue forward with relative stoic and far less speed.

I have no tracks to guide me-

In the frozen snow I only leave them.

Apr. 22, 2012 7:01 PM

Sometimes I feel like I'm in the clouds/ nobody needs me now/ I'm flying… / I'm flying… / I'm flying…

Apr. 24 2012 8:53 PM

Worms ate my garbage. Holy crap.

BASF Chemical

William Elliot Whitmore- Old Devils (Show to Ward)

The Fall could be construed as a destruction of Meritocracy- probably a core aspect of much tribalism. The assimilating culture didn't just think it's way was the only 'right way'- it stood to profit from it. Could plutocracy be what truly destroyed cultural diversity?

May 6, 2012 10:26 AM

I closed my eyes, just before the sun could rise. What a surprise. In eyes... those loving eyes…

If I ever die early, I hope someone takes all my notebooks and collects a bunch of my writings and drawings into one kick ass hardcover book.

  Jun. 8, 2012 9:22 PM

EEDGGDEEDGGD…

Jun. 10, 2012 4:47 PM

Do this. Don't worry what people think of you- that is only the ego, and it's desire to be accepted. The action is more important.

The Tribe can raise money for itself and every day vote on the community's ideas for what to do with it. Then group-approved project's priority can be voted on at any time. One Tribe's digital currency is separate from any localized tribe's unless otherwise specified by the group prior to a transaction. Localized Tribes are any established physical community of One Tribe members.

Support internet anonymity, but Digital Tribesmen will not be anonymous in One Tribe affairs.

One tribe: the rules. They apply to all aspects of life. There is no judge for these rules. There is no police or prosecutors. If someone breaks these rules they are simply no longer honored as members of the tribe. For the persons Digital Ambassador (online profile/digital tribesmen) there is an honor meter on a scale from -100 to 100 for any person to vote on. A persons vote can be changed at any time. Anyone has the option to auto-hide posts by individuals below -10 (though markers are placed to show the locations of all hidden posts). -50 makes you automatically marked & hidden unless otherwise manually unhidden per individual. 

Every profile has a public journal they can update regularly that also logs their on-site activity. Include a PM system.

By joining One Tribe, you are hereby renouncing your citizenship of your nation and adopting yourself into the Tribe. You may unoin at any time, marking yourself as either an 'inactive' or 'renounced' account (the effort is appreciated). Otherwise after two months, a person may mark you as inactive, and you will remain so until you post again. The tribe has no boundaries based on physical location, income, sexuality, gender, age, culture, spirituality. The boundaries come in the form of bigotry, violence, and overly dissonant behavior. The Tribe has no need for politics. If you speak in the interests of a nation's political party you are not acting as a member of the Tribe and you will be chastised.

1) Instigating an act of violence against one who has not done so to you gets you red flagged from the group, no exceptions. Each red flag is explained with evidence, and voteable by all members Appeals may be requested after a certain amount of time determinable by the tribe.

2) acting as a privileged ruler over any people gets you ousted.

2.5) You may not live by enforcing the State's laws of your land.

3) Betrayal by any verbal or written deceit gets you ousted by the tribe.

4) Stealing from the tribe will get you prosecuted under the State's laws of the land. Theft of any sort gets you ousted from the Tribe.

Jul. 1, 2012 11:15 PM

Workawayinfo website

Frenchculture.org

Wwoof.org

Aug 12, 2012 3:36 PM

Smokestacks dead in the mist. / Moonlight dancing fancifully between them. / Stars. / So many stars...

Wandering these train tracks / with curious dogs at the heels. / Feeding them to free the rowdy roustabouts.

Dinged acoustic guitars / and rusty harmonicas / making smooth tunes all night. / Freeing us from our foils. / Making sure they know we're coming- / There's work for us tonight!

A legion of crumbling hiking boots / trampling old spent bullet casings/ and broken pocket knives. / Here where the ants get drunk off the dirt water / and the wolves howl along with the tune.

We'll all take a break. / While in the middle of trees. / Get all fucked up / and talk about the times we used to pray.(1)

-------------

It comes and goes all fleeting; / (Butterflies in the stomach.) / Another beautiful face. / Another beautiful life with a pretty name. / Each one is different / But any outcome the same. / A different face. / A different name. /Butterflies in my stomach.

Make a silent dare while talking. / "Take notice"- said with notions. / "Relax"- / Coaxed, and looking sideways. / Not much to give, but damned if we won't give it all. / But know us, the experience of being human- / all too well! / And some of us share it with others/ but have it alone.

For now...

Floating, bobbing experiences. / Hovering with graceful shakes in a slippery sack / half full of deconstructing liquid. / Veins and throbbing fibers sewing together forming walls. / Gliding on your own wind / There's always more than one way out.

Take notice.

Relax.

I've got butterflies in my stomach.

But maybe

You'll be different...

Maybe...

If one can take an extra step

After catching butterflies

And putting them in my stomach.(2)

---------------

Tantamount. / Flying like a wet dog. / Chasing planes in neon lights. / What, with ravens barking orders / and crying out disgrace.

Woe to me / joy to you./ Street lamps born from woods. / But here I am still reveling in that rarest romance ever loved.

Have we ever left? / Sad songs to stories / and melancholic groans. / Content with rustling raving wit; / With cats and rats and fiddles / and roaches in the shit.

Riding white flamed flying stars / colliding with our eyes. / And when you tug the silly strings/ Know the 'never' of the prize:

A flower.

Blooming forever.

Blossoming in all directions.

Standing on a stem that's far beyond the clouds.(3)

Aug. 31, 2012 9:52 AM

Vibrating between my head and my chest/ squirming in my gut./ Something is happening./ Something is going to happen./ The suspense is killing me-/ Staring at me through hollow black eyes from just above me all directions./ Somewhere here./ Somewhere here stuck beneath time and space. /I didn't do enough ten years ago; /I didn't do enough with my past./ And out the wide, wide open window / there's no future to be seen./ Somewhere out:/ over a horizon of sunsets and beautiful summer breeze / and cold air from the mountains / bristling through the trees…

So confined...

This is not even my life./ This is everything!/ Everything working together to make our moments./ For better or for wiser/ For worse or for the miser./ You can't just stop everything./ Even if you close your eyes.

Even still, this is not my life./ But I make it ours./ Yours and mine./ By sharing this with you, dear reader:/ Something is going to happen./ Something is happening...

And I'm dreaming in a cold sweat.

And something is coming…(4)

Nov. 1 2012 2:30 AM

The Quotes

"You know, he's a stand-up guys- he's just got no backbone."

-I said this about a friend once. Honestly it no longer applies.

"Every cute girl wants to be my brother."

-Jeremie

"Because, really, Batman is like Jesus…"

-Chris West

"What the hell is even in this picture? It looks like Mt. Rushmore."

-Josh Bowen

"I don't care! You want some olives? Fuck you!"

-Alex Heneisen

"If I wrote a book about my life, it would be banned and I would be in jail."

-Albert Strickland

"This is an A and B conversation, and we need to C our way out of it."

-???

"Savannah is so much bigger than Georgia"

-Cassie Mears

All selfless actions are inherently good? For sentient beings, we can imply that all actions by the ego that go against the subconscious are capable of negative consequences through intended action (?)…

Nov. 15, 2012 1:13 AM

I need to go work out of town…

Dec. 11 2012 11:40PM

I'm on Tybee Island now and my face is shaved and I'm ready for action. I've combed my long hair and I straighten my back whenever I think about it these days. The city of Savannah; my city, just west of where I'm standing and living in the wind has only a faint glimmer of a daydream of my existence. Slowly, surely, I shall expand to be gargantuan- figuratively of course. One can only hope…

Dec. 30, 2012 2:13 PM

I believe that in this day and age, people have the ability to sustain themselves in an efficient, healthy lifestyle that only passively affects the environment. In this stage of human social development, the internet enables us to do this even without a form of government. All it takes is individuals with the will and the action to turn this ideal concept into an idealistic reality. There is room for all cultures- even the global capitalists. But I think given the chance to grow on the scale of it's own potential (of which most people are currently unaware) the culture of co-operative sustainable lifestyle would grow over decades and centuries to encompass a vast population of the world. I think this because we are biologically inclined to live with those qualities- we are social animals. And as our cognitive abilities increased, so too has our capacity to cooperate with mutually beneficial results.

That is to say, it seems apparent that natural selection for humanity has begun to favor cooperation over competition. This is not a threat to competitive style organization- merely it defines a new superficial form of competition over grand cooperation, rather than the other way around.

Jan. 31, 2013 8:11 PM

When you look at a star /a line across immense time and space is formed; / The path of the photon finally rests in the long awaited millennial conclusion of your eyes. / As it's gift: / Awareness travels up the line. / For one moment, / Neurons fire to express it's source, / And for one moment/ In place beneath that line/ staring up in wander: / You are the star. / And in your mind, / you shine and blaze with equal brilliance.

Feb. 6, 2013 1:12 AM

It can be hard in some ways. It can be tiring. But we as individuals owe it to ourselves and the rest of the world around us to be aware constantly of ourselves; our presence, and our impact on that which surrounds us and beyond.

1 http://allpoetry.com/poem/9887409-Train_Kids-by-PhoenixGodwin

2 http://allpoetry.com/poem/9883835-Butterflies_In_The_Stomach-by-PhoenixGodwin

3 http://allpoetry.com/poem/9884385-Tantamount._-by-PhoenixGodwin

4 http://allpoetry.com/poem/9936881-The_Spiraling_Crashing_Dream-by-PhoenixGodwin

[independentthought]

Physiomonistic Pantheism: Understanding Awareness

I do not believe in "God" as a sentient, omnipotent, or omniscient being- in fact I don't believe in 'God' as a 'being' at all. I believe that the Universe (Existence) is infinitely vast and intricate. Through studying the patterns in nature, I am fairly certain that Existence operates on what some call "organized chaos"; the universe is constantly changing and 'growing' in chaotic ways, but it follows patterns and systems that allow it to sustain itself. I personally am constantly aware of everything being a part of overall Existence, especially myself as I am the thing that I know best. I am amazed by it and find myself in constant wonder, inquisition, and awe. I think that what most people think of as "God" is just Existence as a whole. In that respect, we are all part of that "God". It makes sense, really: you exist, so you are part of existence. My personal speculation? Sentient thought in living organisms may be a very early part of the process by which the Universe is slowly becoming self-aware. Or rather, the development of organisms with sentient thought like ours may be the beginning of a process in which the Universe develops 'nodes' of perception within itself. I'd feel silly stating that our level of awareness is the highest that's been reached in the Universe. Maybe there are already other species who live in a state of constant Enlightenment, somewhere out there in the vastness of space. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. It's important to fully understand sentience, and what "Awareness" is and how there are varying degrees of it. 

'Awareness' is something with multiple levels of obtainability.  For example, my pet turtle has all of the perceptual senses that we do (and even a bit more), yet he doesn't recognize his own reflection, nor the limits of his own existence. He is constantly swimming against the glass in a vain attempt to get past it (The idea comes to mind that maybe in his perception he has achieved further movement and is not just swimming in place. It's hard to imagine how a turtle perceives such things). He knows when he is hungry, when his cold-blooded circulatory system needs a temperature change, and when a possible threat is presenting itself. Beyond that, his simple reptilian brain isn't capable of very much. Most likely, the idea that it has lucid thoughts (particularly of an existential nature) is probably merely a projection of our own ideas and concepts overlaid onto a function that we can't sympathize with nor do we fully understand.

Dogs obviously have a heightened sense of awareness. They have all the same vital mental functions that the turtle has (although this one is warm blooded), and they still do not recognize themselves in a mirror (sometimes particularly smart ones seem to, but I'm generalizing here). But dogs do display emotions. They get attached to the presence of particular individuals (usually caretakers, but either way they recognize that it's easier to fare better with others as opposed to in solitude) and they can recognize other species as beings even without familiar pheremonal or predator/prey interaction.  It's been said that most dogs have the intelligence of a five-year-old. I'd say that's a generally fare assessment and it contributes to the idea that their sense of awareness is inferior to ours. They might have more lucid thoughts than that of a turtle, but it's highly unlikely that they experience existentialism. 

Finally, to really round off my explanation of Awareness is Humans. First off, all humans do not share a unanimous level of Awareness. Awareness is the consideration of everything around you and your relation to it. To many people, their lives only relate to the small little bubble that their lives take place in. They get hung up on trivial or petty things that on the big picture really just don't matter. A huge and crippling example of this is prejudice. In the big picture the things that cause prejudice are petty and small, but to those who hold it it's based on important dogmas that are inherent to their lives and the things they have been told- it's incredibly self-centered and detrimental to the quality and fulfillment of life. As sentient beings, we have the ability to increase our level of awareness- that's what sentience is- and it is the key thing that separates us from the turtles and the dogs and such. We are all sentient thoughts that have formed in this vast 'mess' that we call Reality. I think it's important to compel one's self to grow and increase their awareness beyond that of which their environment naturally endows. The peak of this is called "Enlightenment", which I believe is a moment where your sentience (or 'individuality'- more on that in the next paragraph) completely disassociates from your own life (ego), and instead associates with everything else. Not necessarily understanding everything in or about Existence, but having a clear and concise feeling of being a part of everything as opposed to just being the person you are who has lived the life that you have.  

I think that what most people think of as the "Soul" is in actuality just our Individuality. If you think about it, everything about you is simply a single sentient thought that has been growing and learning and bouncing around off of all the things you have perceived throughout your lifetime. It originates and lives within the brain, and it is responsible for people's will, drive, dedication, and pretty much any other thing that people would attribute to the soul.  Individuality is as unique as DNA, and it builds and grows as it experiences and perceives different things throughout life. I think it's a very real possibility that it dies with the body it originated in- but who knows? The Universe is incredibly complex, and so is Individuality. I'm not sure that anyone living is actually capable of saying for certain what happens to that Individuality after death. It might just be destroyed (as hard as that is for many to accept), or maybe something else happens that is scientifically feasible in a way that we do not yet understand. Most of the cultures that look inward in response to their existentialism tend to believe pretty strongly in reincarnation. These are the same cultures that hold a great deal of significance in "Enlightenment", so maybe there's something to it. 

Again: Who knows? But there is a lot of fun to be had in trying to find out. We know that prayer is functionally ineffective anyway because for every person that gets what they pray for, there are a good few who don't. The only thing that will actually bring about your desired results are actions, and sometimes even then the situation may just be beyond your control (see "Butterfly Effect"- the concept, not the movie. Though you can watch the movie if you like- I strongly recommend the Director's Cut over the theatrical version). So take action in your own life. Maybe you don't care much for 'Enlightenment',  but you can still try to spread your sense of Awareness as much as possible. Be good to others and be good to nature, taking only what you need from it. Remember that it's all part of the same Existence, and your life can be much more fulfilling.  

I leave you with two quotes from the venerable Albert Einstein. Though he himself came to doubt some of the directions from which he approched certain scientific principles, his genius and wisdom are incontrovertible: 

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."

An alternate version of this quote states:

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of piece of mind"

                             --From a letter that has been dated February 12th, 1950. 

"A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move toward higher levels." 

                            --May 25th, 1946

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     Phoenix Godwin

     5-18-2011

Be sure to "like" the Facebook Page for Physiomonistic Pantheism if you're interested in the idea.

And if you really want to get wild, come check out my Physiomonistic Pantheism thread on the Newgrounds forum. Here you can passively read, or even partake in the crazy debate/argument/discussion that'd been happening in response to it. If you don't already have a Newgrounds account I'd recommend you get one. That website is an incredibly underrated art hub with a wide, varied, and involved community.