This thread brought out some interesting comments, thanks. I see that when I challenged "emptybill" on his saying: "It's a job for numberless kalpas - not just one life", and I said, "That depends on whether you really believe you'll be reincarnated. Do you really believe that? If so, on what authority?" he never replied. Hmmmm.
The trouble is, no one takes seriously the idea that we are "all" at root the One Self (or the No-Self - spot the difference). Amuse yourselves for a moment by imagining that this idea is true. What follows? If all the apparent "others" are really the Self then the idea of reincarnation becomes a perfectly comprehensible *metaphor* for the fact that "I" (which "I" is also "you") am taking on the roles of all these different individualities. There's no need to get caught up in hair-splitting debates about what exactly gets reincarnated across different lifetimes. Buddhism is particularly ridiculous in this area - how you can argue that the central doctrine of Buddhism is anatta and then talk about successive incarnations of this not-self . . . Ugh! Again: the idea of a Bodhisattva become another perfectly comprehensible *metaphor*: to become enlightened - to see that you are that One Self - is to see that there are no other sentient beings to "save" - and so you've completed your vow! Give yourself a slap on the back. Isn't the realisation that awareness is continuous and never lost the key? Ramana Maharshi taught that there is a gap of a few seconds right when you wake up where you can see the I-thought rise up. If the I-thought did not rise up each morning, then you would continue to be the Self in the waking state. Considered subjectively you are never unconscious. What happens is that (say) you are at a party and you suddenly open your eyes to find yourself lying on the floor and a friend is scolding you for drinking so much punch. Or, you place your head on your pillow at night, battle with ogres in a forest, and then hear the alarm telling you it's time to get up. Subjectively the experience of consciousness is never broken. You *assume* it is broken because (as an example) your wife tells you that you were snoring so much she retreated to the sofa and you take her description of what happened (which is true subjectively for her, of course) to replace what you yourself actually experienced. I know this is entering The Twilight Zone but if you decide to always champion your own subjective experience of life over any objective description of it then the whole Advaita-Vedanta position becomes bleeding obvious. (It could be wrong - but it is obvious!) ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote: I said; "Do people really talk in those terms? I say he was a selfish bastard!" (for not taking the Bodhisattva vow). Richard said: "Is that the way people over there talk about the Buddha, that he was a selfish bastard? LoL!" People over there?! I always speak for myself alone. What's your problem? "If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him!" has to be the best-known quote in Zen. The Buddha that you imagine would be offended by either of those comments never existed. That's what Buddhism is saying! ---In fairfieldlife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote: On 11/10/2013 8:53 PM, s3raphita@... mailto:s3raphita@... wrote: Do people really talk in those terms? I say he was a selfish bastard! Is that the way people over there talk about the Buddha, that he was a selfish bastard? LoL!
