Jonathan H. B. Lobl

I'll take your word for it. I don't remember a character with that name. The local fighter that their "lucky" young woman went off with?

Alright. For the rest, settle in and feel welcome.

It's a pure faith statement. There is no evidence.

I read one of the disc world books. In what way was it a spoof? I didn't get that at all.

Welcome. Why do you think the Universe is full of love? Before we try to build on that assumption -- I have strong doubts that this is the case. It does not match my observations.

I'm going with the Agnostic way. No reliable information is available. No useful observations are possible. I don't know.

This is like a lot of arguments about God. We have all been in them. "Prove that God doesn't exist." "Define God." "You worship the Devil and you're going to burn in Hell." "What?" "Pray for understanding." "What?" "Read the Bible." "I did. That's why I don't believe." "You don't have the Holy Spirit. You can't understand without the Spirit." "Are you on medication?"

I have encountered some groups that were not fun experiences. There were the "Skeptic" groups. Talking about Therapeutic Touch sends them into a frenzy. Like they had to defend science at all cost. Well, science isn't all that fragile. Reality prevails. I also had to leave a few Atheist groups. I had the nerve to say "Agnostic". To me, Atheism is simple non-belief. Not even disbelief. Non-belief. To these groups -- wow. It was like I had walked into their church and pissed on the altar. No perspective at all. It would start off as a normal conversation. Someone would ask -- "If you had to join a religion, which one would it be?" I said, "Agnostic". Just like that, it was on. You probably had similar experiences. Holy warriors disguised as rationalists..... Atheists that can't live with Agnostics. What are things coming too?

My primary Tai Chi instructor doesn't talk about Chi at all. My Tai Chi for Arthritis instructor mentioned Chi along the way but focused on correct breathing. What you get depends on where you go. It is helping my Arthritis. I'm more interested in results than theory.

I'm curious. Please let me know if you like it. We can compare experiences.

An addendum: I went to Youtube and looked up Shaolin Qi Gong. What I got was Ba Duan Jin. Ba Duan Jin is like Tai Chi. It is easily recognizable, but there are countless variations. My Tai Chi instructor teaches a form of Ba Duan Jin. It is similar to the Shaolin form, but there are differences. I don't know what your local school is teaching. You might want to spend some time on Youtube before you visit. I don't know how much help I can be. If you want to discuss it, I'm here for you.

The Qi in Qi Gong is one of those things where -- the more I learn, the less sure I am of what I understand. I am not acquainted with Shaolin Qi Gong. If it is like other things I have looked into -- the focus is on correct deep breathing coordinated with movement. The movement functions as physical therapy. The breathing has it's own benefits. As to the energy, I'm of several different minds. I'm sure you can find examples of it on Youtube. Everything ends up on Youtube.

In a thread about humor? Well played.

Yes. I have a background. Meditation: Basic breath work, LeShan Healing Meditation Energy Healing: Reiki Master, Therapeutic Touch practitioner, a few other things that I investigated and dropped. Currently taking classes in Qi Gong, Tai Chi and Yoga. I also had the beginners course in "Tai Chi for Arthritis". I have osteo-arthritis. Other: PanGu ShenGong (Moving Form, Internal Form, Healing method) I had a few sour giggles when Whats-his-name tried to impress me with his deep understand of the aura -- which he called the "Holy Spirit" and "orbs". Shallow opinionated twit. He said I was a materialist and not spiritual. Anyway, what did you have in mind?

Of course. Over the years, I have lived with quite a few cats. I don't know that my cats had souls. I don't know that my cats did not have souls. The same as my own condition. But -- if I have a soul -- my cats had just as much soul as I did. If my cats lacked soul -- they were no more lacking than me. What I refuse to consider is that I have a soul and cats don't. Like wise -- horses, wolves, birds, etc. Either we all have souls, or none of us have souls. We are all part of Nature. There is no dividing line between Humanity and other natural life forms. Beyond that, I can state that cats think. Cat mind is different from Human mind, but just as real. Yes, there are differences. I don't know how similar or dissimilar souls might be. This, I have not observed.

Yes, of course. Critical thinking. I agree.

When I saw the topic was about "ribs" -- I thought it was about Adam and Eve.

Returning to the actual topic: I still do not care to take a position on the presence or absence of my own soul. I don't know. Still, the topic here specifies the Human Soul. Why, I wonder? If Humans have souls -- Big if -- then surely all the other species also have souls. All of them -- or none.

Alright. On reflection, it's a bias I picked up along the way. I encountered a few "Skeptic" groups, where "Skeptic" was shorthand for -- You're full of crap and we're going to prove it. The memories are bad. Odd really. It's been years. I learned a few harsh lessons about extremist thinking. Perhaps, not well enough. It can be a problem word. It depends on who's using it -- and why -- and how.

Your point is valid. I'm going to have to think about this.

"Energy" may be the most mistranslated word of all time. Well, one of them.

Skeptic is a problem word. One of the worst. If your goal is to avoid offending people, I would find something different.

Have I really become THE bad example for the board? Alright. I'm letting it go.

Atheism is only non-belief regarding God or gods. Not even disbelief. Non-belief on a specific point. It has nothing to do with souls. Speaking strictly as an Agnostic: I don't know that I have a soul. I don't know that I don't have a soul. Neither do I expect to find out. I leave the question unanswered because I don't think there is an answer. Other people think that they know. That is not a problem for me.

To my understanding -- that's all it is. My understanding -- there is no objective evidence one way or another. That brings us to the question of post death existence. There are two possibilities. Either there is post death existence, or there is not. If there is post death existence, we will know soon enough. Life is short. That is, we will know only if sentience survives. Otherwise, we won't find out at all. If there is nothing at death, we won't find out at all. Not an attractive prospect, but wanting or not wanting does not change the facts. Either way, the only life we can be sure of is this one. Best to enjoy it while we can. Best to live until we die.