[MD] The Intellectual Gauntlet

[MarshaV]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Heather Perella" <spiritualadirondack at yahoo.com>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: [MD] The Intellectual Gauntlet


>
> Marsha quotes:
>> "The Prasa?gika Madhyamaka solely avowed technique is
>> to show by prasa?ga
>> (or Reductio Ad Absurdum) that any positive assertion
>> ("it is", or "it is
>> not") made about - or view proclaimed of - phenomena
>> must be regarded as
>> merely conventional (sa?v?ti or lokavyavahara). Therefore
>> there is no
>> position that constitutes the ultimate truth (paramartha),
>> including the
>> views and statements made by the Prasa?gikas themselves,
>> which are held to
>> be solely for the purpose of defeating all views. The
>> Prasa?gikas also
>> identify this to be the message of the Buddha who, as
>> Nagarjuna put it,
>> taught the Dharma for the purpose of refuting all
>> views."
> Marsha:
>> This is intellect!  See for yourself.
>
>
>
> SA:  Sorry, I know I said I wouldn't be able to respond for some time, and 
> it is happening, but I couldn't help but leave one more tid bit of what I 
> was talking about.  I would have liked to have a longer opportunity, but 
> it seems over the years I've been here I've basically repeated myself many 
> times and at times it seems nobody either understood me (thus didn't put 
> any effort into understanding me) or shrugged me off as this "woods" guy 
> with no philosophy, anyways...
>     When I keep saying 'art of wild flowers', this is an artful image, one 
> of nature and one that I've generated by pointing out the beauty and 
> something happening, an effort called art with this wild flowers.  One 
> could say art of trees and that's good too.  What your pointing out here 
> Marsha comes close in what I'm saying, when I say "still contemplating", 
> isn't that what we do.  We don't come up with absolutes, we find something 
> to contemplate, thus, in this instance, "still contemplating art of wild 
> flowers" is a mouth full.  The intellect is trying to understand this art, 
> but can't fully, thus, the intellect is "still contemplating" and this 
> contemplation blooms something wild, something here, something original, 
> something in particular in all of this earth with sky - a wild flower and 
> it is art, this beauty of this occurrence, coming not just of intellect 
> trying to understand this art, this image we conceive of, of reality and 
> this image is wild
> and fleeting, static as a flower, here to stare at for some time, notice 
> the details in the colorage, the growing from bud to full bloom, and the 
> contemplation continues and the image passes as the flower dies in season. 
> This is something that is found - a wild flower, in the woods, along the 
> road, and the art of this event includes me, includes a bear.  Yet, we are 
> still contemplating, so, maybe this next picture in art will be art of 
> fire.  This is democracy, sped across these posts many of times, for as 
> the quote above says "refuting all views", thus, all of our views are 
> agreed upon, we get somewhere, but then we want to contemplate something, 
> exercise our intellect, for as we walk, our intellect must walk - it is a 
> do or slowly die situation.  Thus, it happens, and so we are still 
> contemplating about this art, an art that is not just you, or me, or even 
> just a society, for gravity, all this weight is falling, collapsing, and 
> permeating this wild
> flower.  So beautiful, take care, and when this goes away, we can find 
> something else to contemplate, and on and on it this does go.
>
>
> woods,
> take care,
> SA



 Sometimes I read what you write and cry...    Sadness?   Joy?    Flowing 
where no words exist . . . .