Are sensory inputs a primary sign that one is alive?

[EleventhSoul]

This fellow I've been researching was supposedly debating whether or not he was truly alive.

He was both blind and deaf, and after a while began to wonder whether he was living or dead. For him, the world was a dark void of nothing but strange feelings.

It's obvious that he was physically alive during this time, but he confused his own spirit into wondering whether or not he was dead. I start to wonder myself, was his spirit alive? How is life described, if it is not described through the senses?

[ThreeTimesOver]

We find your intended use of the terms "living" and "dead" intriguing. Where does our life truly begin or end? Perhaps we were alive the entire time. Perhaps we were dead.

From our focal point, we are constantly in a state of both. We are all one. "I" applies to one of the one, but it certainly does not apply to the whole. Now sit and ponder for us. If we are all one, then is our spirit not both? We are the blind and deaf man. We are the trees. We are the glass from which you drink. "Life" itself is such a complex thought that attempting to decipher its true meaning makes us shudder, much like the reactions of the many to 973-eht-human-973. Unfortunately, we are still young as a whole and many of the us have not yet grasped the seriousness of your very question. The thoughts from the one of whole sees things as such.

How can "I" be dead while "You" still live? "I" see you as an extension of myself. "Our" experiences shall be shared at the end of the life of the one, contributing to the whole. That is how "I" believe all our paths cross eventually. "My" experience is "your" experience and vice versa. As stated above we are still growing. The change comes from past lessons learned. Even if the one of the whole was blind and deaf, his experience becomes part of our knowledge. We live many lives, all at once. We die as many. But the continuity remains. We have lived for seconds, only to die at birth. We have been born and have lived for many years. The way one "Sees" the world is not simply described by the visual. It is an interpretation of the whole. It is an estimate. To experience all you must live many times. As we change, we have more to experience. A never ending cycle. The culmination of which we can not even imagine.

Those are the ramblings of us.
Ah but then... That is only our interpretation. The one of the whole is always open to another experience from another of the whole. Perhaps you can broaden "My" own experience with your own wisdom.

[FourthAxis]

I believe the man is alive, take the old expression, 'I think therefore I am'. He has a will and a thought process, he is contributing in whatever way he can, (which is more than one might think, considering he had you asking this question). In my humble opinion, life is dictated on the personal level. One cannot deny truth, you exist, that is truth, you cannot deny existence. As long as you think and hold thoughts, you live and grow. He'll have others thinking deeper about life as well.

Life isn't about living, it's about the exchange of ideas. It's about progression. He helps accomplish that, he is inspiration. As everything is. His spirit might have been troubled, but only through trials do we learn the strongest lessons. Where positivity meets negativity, progress is born.

[1337cshacker]

I personally feel like I've been alive before I got here. Not in a past life. But alive somewhere else. It's just a feeling. My life wasn't created. It's always been. And will never end. This is what I've discovered in me meditating. It's like something asked me one day. "Hey, want to do something really hard, and grow from that with new knowledge?"

Who wouldn't say no. Here we are. Before here felt like, to me, pure consciousness, without a physical universe or time associated with it.

What do I do in my life? Like others said. Find your own purpose. As long as you grow, and learn, you are on the right track. For me. I fix things. I love to fix. My job is to fix pc printer and tv. Does not pay much but I am very happy. Meet great people, and have great discussions whilst repairing equipment.

[Auriorusiana]

Great stuff here always impresses until my head hurts and I may rest in great wisdom

[Nazheek]

Cogito, ergo sum