He probably had to go to work, but all Hindus and Buddhists believe in
samsara, karma, and reincarnation.
On 11/11/2013 6:02 PM, s3raph...@yahoo.com wrote:
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!
