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I believe I read somewhere a long time ago that when finding and studying black holes, scientists have a tricky time because they are not findable directly as nothing yet measurable can escape the event horizon. This causes them to be invisible against the backdrop of the blackness of space.

One of the techniques used to locate them is to view the surroundings for clues and distortions indicating a direction and triangulate to the emptiness they all point toward.

Since the black hole itself cannot be viewed straight on, the perspectives of the stuff around it are needed to guide the scientists.

Apparently this works because each thing they observe points from its own unique perspective to the same general location of emptiness. The more unique perspectives combined, the more accurate the map of the black hole's location.

Each unique perspective provides more of the missing data, more clues, a stronger picture which would be less without them.

It seems in living our own unique perspectives, we collectively become an extension of that which we indicate toward to any who look close enough to find.

I think we are all imperfect practitioners @david

@Jeroen said:

@person said:
I had almost the exact opposite reaction. To me it took something important and valuable to work towards in Buddhism and diminished it to something pretty mundane. It may be true (the article notes that the research isn't peer reviewed) that there is a common "enlightenment" experience that is much more accessible to people. But just because the article and Buddhism use the same word doesn't mean they're pointing to the same moon.

I can totally understand that, and agree. I don’t recall anyone in modern times having an enlightenment experience like that of the Buddha, for example. But on the other hand the Buddha would declare all kinds of people as enlightened, monks by the dozen and sometimes by the hundred.

I think to some people, enlightenment is the goal and to some it is a necessary step towards the goal in the form of Right Understanding. In the first view, not many actually experience enlightenment and in the second, enlightenment is perfectly ordinary and just a way of seeing the universal world with many of us experiencing it as part of the process. As if it is much easier to finally understand than it is to live accordingly with all fetters cast aside and old habits re or de-conditioned. That of course takes practice and skill.

I first started thinking along these lines when I heard the Zen parable about rivers and mountains https://terebess.hu/zen/qingyuan.html

It is at the point where many people are too ashamed to admit seeing the dharma unless they can perfectly embody it while many others self proclaim enlightenment and don't live up to our expectations.

The wheel turns but is not as swift as could be.

Hi Bunks,

Well, Old Java language was used 800-1300. The skull in https://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/toorale-man-murder-mystery/11015900
is dated to 1200s.
At that time, king Kertajaya of Kadiri Java escaped a murderous rebellion in 1222 and 'disappeared without trace' _ Coedes 1968. He was a Tantric Buddhist.
The Majapahit kingdom then developed and had a large navy and overseas trading interests. Javanese gold-miners were in the 'Philippines' in the 1300s so gold-exploring in Oz was possible.