Can people be "smarter" than their ancestors, or at least more advanced than their predecessors?

[Aupmanyav]

You didn't say how big the cupboard is

Regardless, there may be one in mine

Normal, three feet. Generally the elephant is in one's head rather than in the cupboard.

 

[Thomas]

That is precisely the reason that I reject "Ishwara". For me, Nirguna only.

And Nirguna is pure, as in absolute, consciousness?

 

[Aupmanyav]

And Nirguna is pure, as in absolute, consciousness?

If I drop my spoon, the waves reach the farthest distance in the universe, however long they may take or however weak they may be.
The consciousness of Brahman is very different from that in living beings in the world.
Pure, impure, with what should I compare it? In non-duality (Advaita), it is only the thing that exists.

 

[Thomas]

For me, the contiguity of the non-dual in its totality is necessarily in the nature of the real, in that the Infinite and Absolute must encompass the finite, the relative and the contingent, else we posit two realities.

If you drop your spoon, and it lands on your toe, you feel it, even as the waves reach out to the farthest distance in the universe.

I regard the distinction between Nirguna and Saguna as a matter of perception, like the apophatic and cataphatic, the paths converge in the apex.

For me there is only Brahman, and because Brahman is, there is existence.

Brahman is, and is Brahman alone; Ishvara is, and is Brahman alone; Lila is, and is Brahman alone.

Brahman : Ishvara : Lila ... Father : Son : Holy Spirit

All is One.

 

[Aupmanyav]

and because Brahman (1) is, there is existence (2).

For me, Brahman is existence, perhaps non-existence too.
What do we know about Brahman?
"athāto brahma-jijñāsā" (Now, therefore, the Inquiry into Brahman)

 

[TheLightWithin]

.if you are referring to my posts, I suppose I really mean "wiser"

ok... but if so... (remembering that sometimes when people say that it's because they are aghast at modern challenges to tradition, which can include the long overdue challenges to class, race, and gender hierarchies)

no, it's not possible to get wiser as the lineages father and elders

No? but if not.... why not?

Decay and degeneration is natural

Oh? Always?

Yes, but they often choose not to be.

Sure

They dont have a choice...evolution happens....in general those that dont progress...die off

Good observation

Each age has its problems and its solutions, but progressively we are transitioning from tribe, to nation to world citizens, one may add, we are heading for a universal unity of the human species.

I hope so

Thus in summary, as humanity evolves, we do gain wisdom, yet as each age unfolds we still have to face the lessons face by all
In the past, will we make the same mistakes?

Yes and no, sadly all to often, but do we not learn from the mistakes of the past?

I am not electing to be the harbinger of doom here, but too much bright eyed enthusiasm is a dangerous illusion.

Sure

As a checks-and-balances hat on, I'd notice those doors, prised open with great sacrifice, are slamming shut all round us these days ...

Sadly

What do we know about Brahman?

One thing I think we do know, or can see, that in the last century or so, however many events have appalled and terrified us, we see people learn from the ghastly moral errors of our predecessors, and the modern era has many far more concerned with human rights, human freedom, abolishing slavery, trying to eradicate diseases, trying to eradicate poverty, and working to reframe the way we look at people, as equals who deserve freedom. Racial equality, gender equality, religious freedom, and trying to abolish or diminish caste and class systems that make some people "less than" I think that spirit alone is worth proposing that we or the most thoughtful among us may indeed be wiser than many of our predecessors... explicitly BECAUSE we have learned something from the horrible moral errors of our predecessors.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Each age has its problems and its solutions, but progressively we are transitioning from tribe, to nation to world citizens, one may add, we are heading for a universal unity of the human species.

Also the scriptures tell us that God makes all things new and gives us a new heaven and earth with every Revelation, so the wisdom gained from the past dispensation, should make us wiser in the latter dispensation. Yet we do again make the same mistakes, we cling to the old and do not embrace the new.

God/Gods/Goddesses and messengers/manifestations/messages have no evidence.
These are creations of people for their own benefit or importance (narcissism in some people. It is psychiatric problem).

 

[TheLightWithin]

God/Gods/Goddesses and messengers/manifestations/messages have no evidence.
These are creations of people for their own benefit or importance (narcissism in some people. It is psychiatric problem).

Well, sort of?
People can have narcissistic traits without meeting the full clinical criteria for a psychiatric disorder.

 

[Bloodshot]

God/Gods/Goddesses and messengers/manifestations/messages have no evidence.
These are creations of people for their own benefit or importance (narcissism in some people. It is psychiatric problem)

No objective evidence, plenty of subjective, which is why we all have to make up our own minds.

I don't think it's reasonable to dismiss every religious experience as a psychiatric disorder, or a wilful self serving act.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I don't think it's reasonable to dismiss every religious experience as a psychiatric disorder, or a wilful self serving act.

Well, I do not accept a belief without evidence. Yeah, apart from psychotic disorders, there can be other reasons. Common one's are power over other people, sex, money.