An abstract question of life and death

[BadgerJelly]

I would like people to imagine what it is to not be alive.

Meaning imagine being a stone but with consciousness. From the perspective of a stone and its existence (for these purposes assume it is conscious with all the senses we have) what do you as a non-living stone make of living organisms?

Remember you have no motion other than through the happenstance of external environmental factors such as gravity.

Thank you

[edy420]

Hi BadgerJelly.

Going from a human state, to that of a rock, has a deeply depressing feel to it.
Not being able to walk any more, communicate, express love etc etc.
It reminds me of a song by Metallica where a soldier is involved in an explosion and he can no longer communicate, yet he is fully conscious. (Metallica - One)

Edit* I found out the video clips in Metallica - One, are from a movie called Johnny got his gun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7AFmXc0wK0

But..
If I started out as a rock, I think the opposite would be true.
Instead of being depressed about my state, I may be enlightened by the living.
A little jealous I guess, but the thought of going from non-living to living, would make for an inspiring dream.
Similar to the way we humans may dream of having Godly powers, we can not achieve it, but the thought of being a God is enlightening, where we go from our regular mortal state, to immortal and powerful.

As an immortal rock that witnesses the living come and go, I may smile (consciously) at the thought of becoming a living being.
Perhaps I would dream of giving up my immortality for the idea of love and life.

So then, I would think of those who posses concious life, as being lucky, even though the duration of life for each individual is brief.

But overall I would be happy, just chilling :)
During my eternal existence, I would have watched a few cool movie's about dinosaurs, evolution, the development of a planet, the coming and going of entire civilizations and perhaps the dying of a planet.

[weakmagneto]

Because this is "The Lounge", I will share a teaching about a rock as it is kind of related.

A rock had worked its way up from the lake near the shoreline. Every spring, the ice would move the rock closer to the shoreline. The rock was excited because it had wanted to see the world beyond the lake and had heard the most wonderous stories about the creatures that resided outside his waterworld.

It was spring and sure enough, the ice pushed him forward onto the shoreline. The rock was so happy to see the sky, trees, and animals such as the bear and deer that walked by him. He enjoyed basking in the sunlight. He loved and appreciated all of the colours that the outside world had to offer.

One beautiful spring afternoon, the rock observed a creature that he hadn't seen before. He had heard all of the stories about human beings. He recognized some of the features that the other rocks had told him about humans. He was so happy to see one. He just gleamed and shone so brightly as to attract the human being's attention.

Sure enough, the human being noticed him. The human being picked him up. He couldn't believe how soft and warm the human felt. Suddenly, he found himself feeling exhilarated by the connection that he had with this other being. There was so much energy radiating from this human, it was magical. Suddenly, he found himself stunned by feeling the all-too-familiar fluidity of water. He had been thrown back into the water from whence he came...

[BadgerJelly]

Love it!

I pretty sure quite a few humans have felt like that in life. I know I have :)