TED Community » Adriaan Braam

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Church of the New Jerusalem or Swedenborgianism

An idea worth spreading

Humans are spirits first. Which means we don't die when our body dies.

Talk to me about

The Second Advent

Comments

• TEDCred score: +26.50 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• A comment on Conversation: What was the book that influenced you the most?

  21 hours ago: Hi Shelley, great question!
  I'd like to read whatever Emanuel Swedenborg wrote.
  
  He made many contributions to science and philosophy, but his religious books, started at age 57, are by most of his followers regarded as the Second Coming.
  
  Right now I'm reading, and very much enjoying a book by Dr. Norman Berridge, The Natural Basis Of Spiritual Reality. How the many processes in the body have a parallel relationship, correspondence, with the processes of the mind.

• A comment on Conversation: Evolution : "just a theory". Scientific caution is sometime confusing.

  22 hours ago: Evolution, when seen as the start of the universe, is an excuse to not believe in a God. There exists no (scientific) proof about whatever happened millions of years ago, it is all interpretation, opinion.
  
  Evolution does exist, but is no more than an adjusting to life's situation, to survive or lead a better life. This applies to finches as well as human beings.
  
  As human beings we can go with whatever approach we feel most comfortable with.. That freedom will never be taken away from us, never.

• A comment on Conversation: What conclusion should we made from the deadly collapse of a factory in Bangladesh?

  22 hours ago: Seems to me that companies in e.q. North America go to other parts of the world because labour is very, very cheap. This includes China. These companies have no control over who builds the buildings those people work, or sleep in.
  
  Whatever can raise the profits or lower the costs is regarded as exceptable. Many Canadians cross the US border with that single thought in mind.

• A comment on Conversation: If humanity is going to continue on like it is, then it should probably take things to a new level.

  22 hours ago: But who would want to watch a hockey game where it take two hours to skate from one end to the other?
  
  I'd say that most distances and numbers are based on a balance of challenge and comfort. Fewer people watching then boring games, on TV, will make commercials less profitable.
  
  But Mt Everest.. yeah!

• A comment on Conversation: How can we get the facts on what really makes humans tick?

  23 hours ago: Hi Adon,
  Great project, however we need more tools to get anywhere. When you say:
  
  "There is no right or wrong, only facts and science to help us move along"
  
  Science has no connection with anything spiritual. These are different realms. We think, love, feel, reflect etc. etc. all of which are spiritual activities. Science has no way to detect or measure what we love or think.
  
  Human beings are spirits visiting a scientific environment in order to grow, develop and shape our loves, or character. Most have heard the saying "We are what we love" and that is very much it. That is the soul reason for us to have free choice.
  Some people have to hit rock-bottom, come to the end of the road etc. before they decide to change or abandon what they love. Or commit suicide. Which does not help anything since we will face the same issues after death..

• A reply on Conversation: Infinity exists regardless of mankind's ability to conceptualize it.

  May 8 2013: Hi Martin, you mentioned creation and there is a very strong connection, one way or an other, that should join Infinity with finite stuff like us.
  
  It is all about perspectives indeed. We often could not know what is in a picture unless a penny is included :)
  
  This treatise is about creation, and possibly why, just a perspective..
  http://webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/documents/Creation.pdf

• A reply on Conversation: Infinity exists regardless of mankind's ability to conceptualize it.

  May 7 2013: Sorry to hear you were born that way Stephen :)
  
  However, I think we are saying the very same thing.
  
  "My premise is that we can.t know, yours is that you already do."
  No, I'm also saying we can't know, because it is not in our realm. All this discussing the size and place of infinity is not going anywhere for the 'simple' reason that we don't know.

• A reply on Conversation: Prison labor to sort our trash!

  May 7 2013: The more reason to get them to do something
• +1

  A comment on Conversation: is romantic love a definable concept ?

  May 7 2013: I think love has been very well defined in a book called "Conjugial Love" which name with recent translations has been changed to "Married Love"
  http://sites.google.com/site/liveitupspiritually/home/writings/ConjugialLove.pdf?attredirects=0
  
  The essence of love is loving others outside of oneself, wishing to be one with them and devoting oneself to their happiness. However, it also has been called a state of insanity :)
  
  Seems to me that family love has a very different form of attraction than the love for the other sex and (initially) a stranger. So "love at first sight" does not, and should not, happen with relatives :)
  
  Humans are meant to pro-create since that is the only way a heaven can be created from the human race. This is the best way to start that process. We have all heart that "man are from Mars and women are from Venus" but never what this difference of 'state of mind' is.
  Maybe this will help too
  http://webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/documents/SexandMarriage.pdf

• A comment on Conversation: Is it worth it to engage in discussions you are uniformed about?

  May 7 2013: Learn form discussions! They're free :)