[MD] One for Ham

[Ham Priday]

Hi Gene --


> I found this online and thought I might share it with you.
> I don't honestly expect it to change anything, but it'd be cool
> if you sat down and thought about it for a bit and not just
> dismiss it out of hand.
>
> "Having found no self that is not other, The seeker must find
> that there is no other that is not self, So that in the absence of
> both other and self, There may be known the perfect peace,
> Of the presence of absolute absence."
> -"The Tenth Man" by Wei Wu Wei

Okay, I'm sitting down after thinking about it a bit.  I would like the
conclusion better if Wie Wu had equated "perfect peace" with absolute
Essence, since "absolute absence" is pure nothingness.  In that context,
Peace is only a euphemism (R.I.P.).

I would also question the premise that leads to his conclusion.  Assuming
that all experience is either Self or Other, if one believes in an absolute
essence, the absence of both Other and Self defines this essence.  If one
does not believe in an absolute essence, the absence of Other and Self
reduces to pure Nothingness.

But what is the Self, or Selves, that I am looking for, and why?

I am the "seeker".  I am a "self" that is not other.  Therefore, it is not
true that ALL selves are other, and the conclusion is false.  It is true
that I can find no THING that is not other.  A person is a thing to me in
the sense that it is an object of my experience.  I can only assume a
"self", since I don't experience other persons as "selves" -- as subjective
(self-aware) identities.  I only know that all persons are other to MY self.

So I don't see what new insight this rubric (koan?) offers.  Perhaps you
will explain its significance to me and what you think it might "change".

Regards,
Ham