[MD] The tetra lemma

[MarshaV]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "david buchanan" <dmbuchanan at hotmail.com>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 2:59 AM
Subject: Re: [MD] The tetra lemma



Marsha said:
...While I wouldn't want you to leave the MOQ & American Pragmatists track, 
I  hope you'll keep Buddhism in mind for another decade.  The MOQ being a 
synthesis of East and West, Buddhism has something very valuable to consider 
too.

dmb says:
No doubt. "Zen" is in the title and Northrop's East-West fusion is Pirsig's 
main inspiration. Scholars from the East find sanity in William James and 
I've been reading Western translators like Alan Watts since before I was 
born. Its not Buddhism that baffles in general but the tetralemma's 
math-like structure never worked for me. Seems like an overly complicated 
way to say a simple thing. Still don't see anything I'd recognize as logic 
in it.

Marsha:
You not recognizing it (at this point), doesn't mean that logic isn't there.



>
> Marsha
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "david buchanan"
> To:
> Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 10:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [MD] The tetra lemma
>
>
>
> Thanks, Marsha.
>
> I found this section especially helpful. It explains what an essence is 
> and
> confirms my hunch that such an idea is "obviously false" and "a profound
> misconception of reality". Apparently, the metaphysics of substance is
> something even worse than materialism. Its downright crazy. Independent 
> and
> immutable? Like what?!? Even a materialist will admit that stars are born
> and die, that mountains wash away, that even the universe has a life span.
> This nonsense has got to be the vestige of some forgotten religion.
>
> Emptiness and Lack of Substance
> The doctrine of impermanence is intimately related to the doctrine that 
> all
> things lack inherent substantiality. The Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna
> argued that things cannot have separate essences because this would result
> in an unchanging world: “If there is essence, the whole world will be
> unarising, unceasing, and static. The entire phenomenal world would be
> immutable” (FWMW, p. 72). In other words, if something has its own 
> separate
> essence, then it is entirely separate and without dependence upon anything
> else for its existence. As a result, it can never be affected or changed.
> Thus, if things had essences, then the whole world would be immutable and
> static, which is obviously false. The conclusion is that all things are
> empty of any such essence. This doctrine of emptiness (sunyata) is
> fundamental to Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Similarly, Whitehead states
> that “it is fundamental to the metaphysical doctrine of the philosophy of
> organism, that the notion of an actual entity as the unchanging subject of
> change is completely abandoned” (PR, p. 29). Process philosophy departs 
> from
> substance philosophy by denying any isolated, individual essence to 
> things.
> The idea that things have essences is at best a useful abstraction, and at
> worst a profound misconception of reality: “The simple notion of an 
> enduring
> substance sustaining persistent qualities, either essentially or
> accidentally, expresses a useful abstract for many purposes in life. But
> whenever we try to use it as a fundamental statement of the nature of
> things, it proves itself mistaken” (PR, p. 79). ...An important instance 
> of
> this mistake is the Cartesian assumption that the human subject is a
> fundamental essence prior to human thought....
>
> [The whole article is at
> http://www.integralscience.org/whiteheadbuddhism.html ]
>
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Got Game? Win Prizes in the Windows Live Hotmail Mobile Summer Games 
> Trivia
> Contest
> http://www.gowindowslive.com/summergames?ocid=TXT_TAGHM
> Moq_Discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
>
> Moq_Discuss mailing list
> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
> Archives:
> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
> http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/

_________________________________________________________________
Reveal your inner athlete and share it with friends on Windows Live.
http://revealyourinnerathlete.windowslive.com?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WLYIA_whichathlete_us
Moq_Discuss mailing list
Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc.
http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org
Archives:
http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/
http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/