Not quite. We have the appearance of (what we call) individuals within one single consciousness. It appears to reflect upon itself from what we take to be individual vantage points (people). That is an imperfect characterization though, try as I might. I'm pointing to consciousness before any thoughts - before you think there's a you, separate from anyone or anything. Pure experience, before thinking ABOUT it.
You're actually right on the money. Reincarnation based on certain systems is exactly that, when look at it from it's proper philosophical framework. But you can just pull it out from it's framework, cram it to a completely different framework (like one that believes in individual souls) and then claim it doesn't work.
From the perspective of nonduality, everyone is a reincarnation of everyone, always. It's internally coherent. Also a great reason to practice compassion. Of course people don't super love the idea of being the reincarnation on people they don't like, dead or alive. But that's one of the many reasons nonduality isn't for the faint of heart.
Ritual suicide is very much a thing in certain systems that believe in reincarnation. At some points it seen as a perfectly rational and pragmatic choice, but yes, you need to do it with specific practices and intentions. Not just "well, life sucks, I'll just reroll".
Not saying if you should or should not be jaded but I would ask you: please, please don't give into the jadedness.
I do understand the impulse and I used to be that way myself. But it's something that eats at you more than it helps you. Online you can always step away from the strife and in the offline world you can find truly good and caring people who do listen to reason. I realize it might be easy for me to say but I really don't want to see any more people turn to hopelessness and cynicism. It only helps people who would add more misery to the world.
I'm not the best person to say this and it'll sound weird on this platform but I do mean it with all my heart. I hope you can find enough good in your life to protect it without despair.
There's a world of difference between disagreeing with someone and mocking them. Especially if the mockery is based on a complete misrepresentation of what is being said.
Hehe, the funny thing is that on me, your assumption would actually more correct than the fundie Christian assumption.
Very specific yoga philosophy, and "healing" crystals in the sense that I'm fine with people saying that looking at pretty rocks makes them feel better. Wouldn't generalize that into a cancer cure though.
Thanks for proving my point I guess.
Discussion about anything spiritual. Mention the word and people automatically assume that you're an extreme right-wing fundamentalist Christian ready to host a sermon about how much God hates homosexuals.
What's mainly depressing is that so many people think that every religion is exactly like Christianity, but with a different object of worship and a slightly different flavor of supernatural belief. They don't know anything about philosophy, they haven't examined their own beliefs, they just parrot whatever pop science they've heard last and think that somehow gives answers to metaphysical questions.
Read some philosophy, people. Examine your own beliefs a bit. I've just recently seen a bunch of Lemmings who I'm sure consider themselves very rational and scientific freak out at the idea of not having free will, and by extension, there not being absolute good and evil. They can't even argue about it, they just immediately fall into ad hominem attacks and strawmanning. Bring in the fact that whatever virtue one thinks they have is just the result of genetic lottery, and suddenly the idea of some kind of an untarnished soul becomes awfully tempting. Dare to suggest that nobody is inherently evil and boy do people get mad because their favorite pasttime of judging others has been called into question. Yet these same people often consider themselves above religious folk because they actually think that their worldview is purely science based and not at all colored by what they just want to be true.
Oh, not to even mention questioning if matter is the fundamental aspect of reality (as opposed to consciousness). Many people with 0 understanding of philosophy will start arguing about this and then get mad because they can't prove that there's matter outside consciousness. They'll do the science equivalent of saying "God is real because the Bible says so, and the Bible is the word of God so it must be true". Matter is fundamental because my scientific framework that is built on the idea that matter is fundamental says so (it actually doesn't, because again, so embarrassingly many people don't even realize that science has never answered a single metaphysical question).
Unless you have spent several years with philosophy and actually scrutinized your own beliefs honestly, you are likely living in just as much fantasy as most religious people. In some cases, more so.
And because I've hit my quota for entertaining poor arguments for now: if you want to argue, unless you can provide scientific proof for the existence of free will, absolute good and evil or matter being fundamental, I may not reply.
Not at all to imply that this is your case, but there's a difference between having an intellectual understanding of idealism and actually having the lived experience of it.
And most people need to do some kind of practices to get there, which are typically found in spiritual contexts (meditation etc.). But there definitely are people who just kinda drop into it.
Though... yes. It's a philosophical stance but it kinda gets tossed under the umbrella of spirituality. Maybe that's actually a problem come to think of it. Since spirituality is easier to dismiss as "woo" (as in, everything that goes against the almighty scientism is woo...)
Though you do say:
subjective perception
What do you mean? Because as an idealist, I was specifically taught to see the difference between a subjective perception and general consciousness. It's very possible this is just semantics of course.
Burden‑of‑proof reversal - >support your positive claim that consciousness is fundamental.
Begging the question / Circular reasoning - Presenting that claim as a settled fact without argument assumes the very point under dispute.
I did offer support, several times. Just because you keep skipping over it doesn't mean I didn't. My support is: to say anything about the world, you have to be conscious first. Feel free to refute the fact. Once you do, I'll respond.
I'm presenting an axiom. Every "proof" you offer for matter is itself an experience appearing within consciousness. I'm not assuming the conclusion; I'm highlighting the only medium through which "evidence" is even possible.
False analogy / Irrelevant comparison
Materialism and Idealism are equally "unfalsifiable" at the foundational level. Science measures the behavior of things (phenomena), but it cannot prove the nature of the "thing-in-itself" (noumena) exists without a witness.
Tu quoque / Defensive turn
It is not a fallacy to point out that you're guilty of the very "unfounded belief" you accuse me of. It is a valid critique of Scientism (the mistaken belief that the scientific method can solve metaphysical questions)
Equivocation
I'm not "blurring" terms; I'm defining them more precisely. For an Idealist, "to exist" is synonymous with "to be experienced". You are assuming a secondary, unobservable definition of "existence" outside of experience.
Appeal to ignorance / Appeal to unfalsifiability
Materialism relies on indirect inference. Every "fact" about matter is an appearance within consciousness. Not only that, it's a thing filtered through language. Idealism relies on direct evidence: the immediate, undeniable fact of experience itself (before labels, words, concepts, map-to-the-territory) There is zero evidence for matter existing independently of an observer. To claim that matter exists when no one is experiencing it is an unfalsifiable leap of faith, not a scientific "fact".
Rhetorical trap / Straw‑man implication - Labeling the opponent’s method a “trap” without showing how their specific move misapplies logic risks mischaracterizing their argument rather than refuting it.
I did explain, but well... you don't read. You just want to prove yourself right.
Special pleading - Claiming your position is exempt from the usual requirement to provide independent support while insisting others must disprove theirs functions like special pleading.
I'm pointing at the Hard Problem of Consciousness. It is actually "special pleading" to claim matter is the only thing that doesn't need a witness to be "real".
Consciousness isn’t just the starting line, it’s the entire field. Without it, there’s no game, no players, no 'matter.' You’re arguing about the rules of a game while standing on the field and pretending the field doesn’t exist. Matter is the "Guess": You only assume physical things (like rocks or brains) exist "out there" because your awareness shows them to you as images, sounds, or feelings. In short: You don't have to prove you are aware, but you do have to prove that the "outside world" exists when you aren't looking at it
Just in case there's someone else reading this at this point and is actually interested, go read these (because the person I'm responding to won't and there's little point in continuing to argue with someone like that):
https://philarchive.org/rec/KASAIA-3 Analytic Idealism: A consciousness-only ontology, Bernardo Kastrup
This is a recent philosophical look into Idealism
Some useful wikipedia links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_dualism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%C3%AFve_realism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map%E2%80%93territory_relation
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Yes, but "people" must include oneself as well. Else it just becomes another people-pleaser mantra.