Re: RESPONDENT:Richard, first of all – great site! It’s absolutely awesome, what you’ve done. In both respects – great and horrifying.
RICHARD: Aye … anyone who comprehends the implications and ramifications of what is being reported/described/discussed will most certainly be affected deeply – at the core of their being (which is ‘being’ itself) to be precise – whereupon the existential angst of being nothing but a contingent being is bound to arise.
The flip-side of awe is dread … hence the feeling of horror.
Contingent means “occurring or existing only if (certain circumstances) are the case; dependent on.”
i.e. it means that ‘being’ itself is conditional, not unconditional… i.e. ‘being’ itself is not foundational, it is not a solid bedrock that can be relied upon – it is ultimately but a fickle thing.
This means that the very essence of who ‘I’ am - who ‘I’ experience ‘myself’ to be on an ongoing basis - is not as immutable as I believed to be. And this can be very terrifying indeed… at first!
It wasn’t terrifying for me at all. It was in fact exhilarating that there’s a way out.
“Contingent being” means our reality is standing upon actuality(and we can be free from the reality which is actuality seen through affective feelings, which are commonly deemed to be undislodgeable). Is that close, @claudiu ?
Another Re: “RICHARD: A deep feeling of dread, the abject intuition of impending doom, is fraught with foreboding, be it a grim, dire, or awful presage, and this intensely apprehensive trepidation is symptomatic of the existential angst (the anguish of the essential insecurity of being a contingent ‘being’) which underpins all suffering.”
And, can the last words be restated as “the feeling of ‘me’ underpins all the suffering”?
That’s great . That is the ‘thrilling’ aspect of ‘fear’ that Richard talks about. It should serve you well
Hmm sounds about right I suppose yes… keeping in mind that it’s not that ‘I’ remain once reality vanishes, but ‘I’ disappear along with ‘reality’. And just to re-iterate the problem isn’t feelings per-se but rather ‘being’ itself — so the key isn’t to stop ‘feeling’ but to stop ‘being’ .
Well Richard is saying that “existential angst” is what “underpins all suffering”. So you could re-write it to:
A deep feeling of dread, the abject intuition of impending doom, is fraught with foreboding, be it a grim, dire, or awful presage, and this intensely apprehensive trepidation is symptomatic of the feeling of ‘me’ which underpins all suffering.”
It doesn’t quite fit, maybe you can give it another try writing out the full sentence yourself?
I tried to calibrate it to Richard’s words, but couldn’t come up with any better than “feeling of ‘me’ underpins all the suffering”. I feel I’m not quite on the mark. Can you please refine it?
. That is the ‘thrilling’ aspect of ‘fear’ that Richard talks about. It should serve you well 