No one has a good answer to this.

[Carl-Richard]

1 hour ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

So you’re not eternal and you’re not God.

You being eternal and God is actual, not potential. It doesn't just have the potential to happen. It is happening right now.

[Spiritual Warfare]

2 minutes ago, James123 said:

Because air has molecules, but nothing has no molecules. 

If nothing has molecules, how can air have molecules?

[James123]

Just now, Spiritual Warfare said:

If nothing has molecules, how can air have molecules?

Nothing has no molecules, therefore it is nothing. But air has molecules there it is something. 

[Spiritual Warfare]

3 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

You being eternal and God is actual, not potential. It doesn't just have the potential to happen. It is happening right now.

God is existence, you are right about that, but I also say that within God there is potential, and that is a dormant existence, not a real existence. But do you see these two as the same? Or how do you view the potential? Do you consider it real existence or a dormant existence? Both are existence, but in my opinion, there is a difference between dormant existence and real existence. However, it might be a mistake to think that way.

 

 

[Spiritual Warfare]

4 minutes ago, James123 said:

Nothing has no molecules, therefore it is nothing. But air has molecules there it is something. 

Now I understand. I thought you were trying to brainwash me into some nonsense.

[James123]

Just now, Spiritual Warfare said:

Now I understand. I thought you were trying to brainwash me into some nonsense.

LoL.

[_Archangel_]

@Spiritual Warfare This confusion stems from the fact that there different right answers, each one belonging to a specific context.
From the Absolute POV, only Pure Being is present. From a mundane POV everything can be said to exist/have existed: the soul, the self, past lives, etc.
 

1 hour ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

Non-existence doesn’t exist, and so people conclude that if non-existence doesn’t exist, then only existence must exist. And in a way, that’s true. But remember that potential isn’t reality, although it can become reality.

Non-existence can only exist as a concept, it can never be actualized (How?).

1 hour ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

I just wish I could know if I am something potential or if I’ve always existed, but it seems more likely that I was once just potential.

This is easy. In a sense, every object is literally infinite and eternal, because it partains carachteristics with its Creator. So Yes, you feel that way because You ARE Infinite and Eternal.
About potential: it can be said to exist or not exist depending on the context, like I explained above.
A seed is at the same time a potential plant, subjected to change, time and space AND just a seed, infinitely and eternally.

[TreyMoney]

31 minutes ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

Quite a good answer, but you forgot that non-existence does not exist. It is not a reality. Nothing is not something. So how can God be something that doesn’t exist? You must not confuse non-existence with potential. Non-existence has no potential. Potential is not pure non-existence.

Non-existence is both no potential and infinite potential. 

[TreyMoney]

Nothing is infinite and the infinite is nothing.

[Yimpa]

14 minutes ago, TreyMoney said:

Nothing is infinite and the infinite is nothing.

That is absolute nonsensical statement 

[TreyMoney]

7 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

That is absolute nonsensical statement 

22 minutes ago, TreyMoney said:

Nothing is infinite and the infinite is nothing.

The beauty of reality being relative is that is only has to make sense to me and no one else.

[Yimpa]

1 minute ago, TreyMoney said:

The beauty of reality being relative is that is only has to make sense to me and no one else.

We are all Relative, with a capital R.

[Carl-Richard]

33 minutes ago, TreyMoney said:

Nothing is infinite and the infinite is nothing.

 

Quote

Where nothing is everything, and everything is nothing

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:10 PM by Carl-Richard

[TreyMoney]

Oh my poor ears...musical enjoyment is also relative lol and my ears can't stand metal.

Props to those who love it though.

[ChrisZoZo]

2 hours ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

This implies that you’re not eternal and that you were born.

But time doesn’t exist you’re just perceiving change in the eternal non-timeless state.

[Carl-Richard]

6 minutes ago, TreyMoney said:

Oh my poor ears...musical enjoyment is also relative lol and my ears can't stand metal.

Props to those who love it though.

You just haven't heard the good production metal yet 😌 Early 90s metal is quite dry sonically. Try something like "Reverie/Harlequin forest" by Opeth. Or if you want to get really eased into it, "Language I: Intuition" by The Contortionist.

[Atb210201]

What do you think Omnipotent means?

 

[Hojo]

5 hours ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

No one can truly know if something is created or not. Almost everyone on this forum believes their source is eternal, and I can’t entirely blame them because it seems that way after all the observations we’ve gone through. But people often forget that potential existence doesn’t mean actual existence. How can you know you weren’t just potential existence? You can’t. Potential existence means that the potential in all things has always been there, but hasn’t necessarily come into reality. This implies that you’re not eternal and that you were born.

Non-existence doesn’t exist, and so people conclude that if non-existence doesn’t exist, then only existence must exist. And in a way, that’s true. But remember that potential isn’t reality, although it can become reality. So you’re not eternal and you’re not God. Even if everything ultimately comes from the same source, distinct things still exist. Potential and existence aren’t the same thing, though they’re closely connected.

I just wish I could know if I am something potential or if I’ve always existed, but it seems more likely that I was once just potential.

The problem is its not answerable there are people who have experienced it but its not something that can be answered its before anything you have ever experienced. We aren't concluding we are witnessing it. The void of nothingness is right in front of you there's just stuff in it right now.

Anything we do will just be logic and this logic is based around this nothing we are talking about. If you see it words mean nothing, if you don't you will be looking for something in the words that's not there.

Edited yesterday at 02:46 AM by Hojo

[Breakingthewall]

13 hours ago, Spiritual Warfare said:

Imagine a painter who has an idea for a painting but has not yet begun to paint. The idea of the painting represents potential existence. It is not yet an actual painting; it is simply a possibility, a vision in the painter’s mind. The potential existence of the painting exists as a thought, but it is only when the painter begins to use their tools, apply paint to the canvas, and actively create that this potential becomes a concrete, actual painting. 

In this hypothesis, you can see that they are different. What makes you think that both belong to pure existence when it is obvious that potential is not finished existence? I know this is a tough subject, and it feels like paradoxes the deeper you go into it, but I hope we can come to a good answer.

Let's say that existence is the fact of existing, being. that is the essence of reality and our ultimate nature. You are a human with some characteristics but you could be anything else, what you really are is the substance of what you are made of, and that substance is existence, which is synonymous with infinite potential.

Existence is not something abstract, mysterious, a wildcard idea to explain things, it is you. The forms are infinite but the substance is always the same, if you manage to completely erase the form for a moment, you will see what you are, what you have always been, without beginning or end or dimension. It is not something mythological, it is something normal, inevitable and absolute

[Spiritual Warfare]

14 hours ago, _Archangel_ said:

@Spiritual Warfare This confusion stems from the fact that there different right answers, each one belonging to a specific context.
From the Absolute POV, only Pure Being is present. From a mundane POV everything can be said to exist/have existed: the soul, the self, past lives, etc.
 

Non-existence can only exist as a concept, it can never be actualized (How?).

This is easy. In a sense, every object is literally infinite and eternal, because it partains carachteristics with its Creator. So Yes, you feel that way because You ARE Infinite and Eternal.
About potential: it can be said to exist or not exist depending on the context, like I explained above.
A seed is at the same time a potential plant, subjected to change, time and space AND just a seed, infinitely and eternally.

I think what you’re saying is that non-existence is something we can think about or conceptualize, but it can’t really be experienced or actualized in any real sense. If nothing exists, then there’s no awareness or way to perceive it, which makes it almost paradoxical. It’s like trying to imagine absolute silence. It’s a concept, but in reality, even in silence, there’s still the awareness of silence itself. So non-existence, as we know it, seems to be more of an idea than something we can truly experience or actualize.

I’ve actually changed my mind about the last part and come closer to your thoughts on this, although I’m still somewhat uncertain.