[MD] [Bulk] spirituality

[MarshaV]

Mark,

I understand.  Buddhism offers rationality AND meditation to understand 
and experience for yourself.  I believe what you are pointing to is that 
Buddhism is empty, Emptiness is empty.  Buddhism, in its rationality (wisdom), 
does not escape the reification process.   Buddhism, too, is a pointing to the Moon.  


Marsha   



On Nov 30, 2010, at 8:46 PM, 118 wrote:

> Hi Marsha,
> 
> I wouldn't say that Buddhism and Science have different goals.  Both attempt
> at providing a meaningful understanding.  Science is easier to share than
> Buddhism, but it is more objective.
> 
> What is interesting with both disciplines is the use of words for ownership.
> A while ago I pointed out that back nearer the beginning of written words
> the Egyptians considered that to name something is to own it.  This is no
> different from Science today.  If we create a bunch of words to explain
> something, we seem to own it, and can easily dismiss any mysterious
> ownership.  Yes, the sun is a ball of flaming gas, etc., etc.  We have done
> nothing more than add a bunch of words, but by doing so, we essentially own
> the sun, and have to go forth to find more things to own.  If a mystery is
> explained, it loses its flavor, but such a thing is just the illusion of
> ownership.  This is why there is such antagonism of defining things such as
> God and Quality.  We should not own these things.
> 
> Buddhism is no different in this sense.  It creates concepts and words to
> describe our existence.  By doing so, it claims full release from an endless
> cycle.  But it would seem to me that it is simply putting existence into a
> cage.  Of course, once you are there, you can dismiss the words as no longer
> essential.  Science also has this capability.  When was the last time you
> described your computer?
> 
> Mark
> 
> On Tue, Nov 30, 2010 at 1:55 AM, MarshaV <valkyr at att.net> wrote:
> 
>> 
>>    "Over the last twenty years, a dialogue has been conducted between
>> Buddhism and science, largely because of an interest in science shown by
>> certain Buddhist thinkers, notably the Dalai Lama...
>> 
>>    "The Main difference between the pursuit of knowledge in science versus
>> the same pursuit in Buddhism is their ultimate goals.  In Buddhism,
>> knowledge is acquired essentially for _therapeutic_ purposes.  The objective
>> is to free ourselves from the suffering that is caused by our undue
>> attachment to the apparent reality of the external world and by our
>> servitude to our individual egos, which we imagine reside at the center of
>> our being.
>> 
>>    "Buddhism stresses the importance of elucidating the nature  of the
>> mind through direct contemplative experience.  Over the centuries it has
>> devised a profound and rigorous approach to understanding mental states and
>> the ultimate nature of mind.  THe mind is behind every experience in life.
>> It is also what determines the way we see the world.  It takes only the
>> slightest change in our minds, in how we deal with mental states and
>> perceive people and things, for "our" world to be turned completely
>> upside-down.
>> 
>>    "Profound as the findings of Buddhism are, it is important to keep in
>> mind as you read this book that the Buddha's teachings are not dogmatic.
>> THe teachings should be considered as the insights of a guidebook...
>> Buddhism stands ready to revise its beliefs at any moment if they are
>> proved to be wrong..."
>> 
>> 
>>   ('Mathieu Ricard & Trinh Xuan Thuan, 'The Quantum and the Lotus: A
>> Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet',pp.2-3)
>> 
>> ___
>> 
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