Epistemological Nihilism gets you closer to enlightenment

[Someone here]

There was an ancient  philosopher called Gorgias..he is little known ..but this quote of him is well known in philosophical circles  which basically summarises what "Epistemological Nihilism " is .. which can be summarized as “Nothing exists ..and 
even if something exists..nothing can be known about it.. and even if something 
can be known about it .. the knowledge of it cannot be communicated to others..
Even if it can be communicated..it cannot be understood” . And I want to share some thoughts on this quote. 

We are born with literally ZERO knowledge. We don't know anything .but then as we grow up ..we get bombarded with knowledge from our: parents..society..school..religion etc ..

But actually we enter life and leave life the same as we started..knowing nothing.  Everything we "knew " was just empty theory that doesn't tackle the profound unbelievable mystery that existence is . And so we learn mathematics and physical world and socializing with others etc..but we are brainwashed with these . We never actually derive actual direct knowledge that comes from direct consciousness. And that's something totally different than learning knowledge.  

Notice that you literally do not know what anything is . I mean sure you know how to tie your shoes or how to make a cheese sandwich..but you got not the first clue what the fuck is a shoe or a cheese sandwich .and even more so...you don't know how you're doing it 😆..The body just moves . There is no ego .but who or what is making the body make a cheese sandwich?  No idea. 

And this applies to absolutely everything so I won't give other examples. 

My point is ..adopting this Epistemological Nihilism or what Peter Ralston calls  "Genuine Not-Knowing " is actually getting you closer to enlightenment than claiming you know this and that .

You don't know Jack shit . Humble yourself. 

[strangelooper]

You can know the story of a book

[Someone here]

@strangelooper @Squeekytoy what are you guys talking about? 

[Someone here]

@Squeekytoy oh great

[Ishanga]

@Someone here Absolutely Correct! We know how to survive another day, our parents or society teaches us this, and now that technology has made today more comfortable and convenient than ever, we don't have to reinvent how to create fire, or build shelter or gather food, our intellects go for other things to accumulate, status, wealth, recognition, earthly book knowledge, success, on and on it goes, but anything that you accumulate is not you, it is yours to have or disregard, but what is you is nothing that You accumulate. So as You said we know really nothing, all we can do is have either Profound Experience of our inner nature or massive suffering or feel numb and indifferent..

[Someone here]

13 minutes ago, Ishanga said:

@Someone here Absolutely Correct! We know how to survive another day, our parents or society teaches us this, and now that technology has made today more comfortable and convenient than ever, we don't have to reinvent how to create fire, or build shelter or gather food, our intellects go for other things to accumulate, status, wealth, recognition, earthly book knowledge, success, on and on it goes, but anything that you accumulate is not you, it is yours to have or disregard, but what is you is nothing that You accumulate. So as You said we know really nothing, all we can do is have either Profound Experience of our inner nature or massive suffering or feel numb and indifferent..

Spot on 👌

And welcome to the forum. 

[Hojo]

I dont know if you have to be a nihilist but from my experience being nihilist is the last step before enlightenment. You are emptying your cup so you can fill it. Emptying your cup creates a black hole in the mind so your third eye can blow open.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Hojo

[Someone here]

1 hour ago, Hojo said:

I dont know if you have to be a nihilist but from my experience being nihilist is the last step before enlightenment. You are emptying your cup so you can fill it. Emptying your cup creates a black hole in the mind so your third eye can blow open.

It's helpful to explain what version of Nihilism are you talking about .

I'm not talking about ontological or moral Nihilism where you say nothing matters and you can go snort Cocaine and rape children etc

I'm talking about Epistemological Nihilism..which asserts that knowledge of the true nature of reality or what the fuck existence is ..is an impossibility 

[Hojo]

@Someone hereI think Im talking about existential nihilism. Knowing  I was going to die led me to the conclusion that my life is already over, meaning to me that anything I did dosent matter at all. There is no reason to do anything because I'm already dead. If I have 100 percent chance of dying I may as well not exist right now because Im already dead, my death is 100 percent certain. I feel like life was like the cows in this video.

God lets you out of the prison to see light and dance for a short time then you must go back. I was left with the question, why would you even show me this? Why am I here to just be put back into nothing. So I would look out and see the cows playing and I would be on the side knowing something they dont know. That they are going to be put back into the barn in 10 minutes for eternity and they cannot escape it. This must be existential nihilism. Finding God was like realizing its the reverse. Im am, is the cage and Im putting myself in it.

Edited December 18, 2023 by Hojo

[VeganAwake]

Yep it's a real debacle.

If you believe "I am god", then there's no one else to validate any claims about apparent reality.

And if you don't believe in god, there's still no one else to validate anything 🙄 

It just becomes blatantly obvious that there just isn't an understandable or logical answer to the age old question of HOW & WHY?

Just sit back, enjoy the show and let reality take charge. That's already what's happening anyways!!! 😂 

❤️ 

[Breakingthewall]

22 hours ago, Someone here said:

But actually we enter life and leave life the same as we started..knowing nothing. 

We know a lot, you just have to access that knowledge. There is deep non-conceptual understanding, that is what spirituality is about.

When you are a 2-year-old child you understand a lot, it's just that it is not a structured understanding in the mind, learned, but rather it is a real understanding of reality, that is what we have to access.

Let's see, right now you are being this experience, in all its complexity, there are layers and layers until you reach the bottom, where everything is revealed. The level of superficiality at which you operate is variable. The idea is to go as deep as possible, and this is for a reason, as I see it: This life is a mission, there is a path to follow, and there is probably a cycle of many lives. You don't want to get bogged down in shit, because the consequences are huge shit. There could be hellish turns, worse than we could imagine. I have seen this many times not conceptually in deep states, yesterday for example, I saw all the lines of my life, its depth and deliberation, how necessary it was to take certain paths. I saw the craziness of stagnation, complacency and stupidity. None of this is learned ideas, it is clear vision, without filter.

 

[SeaMonster]

Epistemological Nihilism is self-refuting, because it's a knowledge claim which denies knowledge is possible.  Same as post-modernism, really.

You're much better off looking at philosophical Buddhism and its idea of emptiness.  

 

[SeaMonster]

3 hours ago, Squeekytoy said:

you do realize that emptiness is itself empty, right? So it suffers from the same problem as nihilism. 

Of course, that's literally in the book.

The philosophy is not an absolutist claim, they distinguish between conventional and ultimate reality.