[MD] MD Two Theses in the MOQ

[MarshaV]

At 08:43 PM 12/31/2005, you wrote:
>I really was interested on your take on the book not
>Amazon's but I should know better than to ask for
>that.


Erin,

I took a logic course in college.  I found it interesting, but I 
wasn't impressed.  Actually, I took course for the wrong reasons.  I 
was quite tired of my husband calling me illogical every time I 
presented my side of an argument.  What it proved to me was that I 
was as logical as the next person.  I don't believe humans use 
logical thinking very often, and there are often problems with 
underlying premises when they do.

Well, Nagajuna's MKK is twenty-seven chapters of logic arguing that 
nothing exists independently.  Or everything (including emptiness) is 
empty of inherent existence.  I suppose it is because of Garfield's 
translation and commentary that the text was clear, concise and 
exciting to follow.  I did have to go back more than once to reread 
previous portions of the argument to make sure I was understanding 
correctly a present aspect of the argument.  But it was very, very 
interesting.  On some level, I am still shocked by the implications 
of Nagajuna's argument.  I need to, as Pirsig mentioned, do some 
lateral drifting.  As far its affect on my thinking about the MOQ, 
maybe I see the MOQ as a better explanation of the quality events I, 
as a human being, experience as reality.

I cannot paraphrase an argument that took twenty-seven chapters to 
build.  Maybe the above chatter will have some meaning for 
you.  Maybe not.  But if your worried that Eastern thought lacks 
logic, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Marsha