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ha, no problem. But when it came to discussing whether burning bushes were capable of enlightenment, well, I had to step in and get things back on course.
Again @Dakini - that question can only be answered by you and the answer will only have relevance to you.
Intrinsic and extrinsic are both sides of the same coin.
It is sometimes called the great 'natural' perfection for a reason.
Better thinking about shedding rather than gaining - in my experience it is not linear so there is nothing to pursue.
You assume that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps you have your answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way your brain works.
It is sometimes called the great 'natural' perfection for a reason.
You assume that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps you have your answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way your brain works.
I've agreed with this position from the start. You're assuming I posted this question to get an answer for myself. You're further presuming to know how my brain works. Wrong on both counts. I posted it because I thought it would be a good topic for the membership to discuss; I anticipated a variety of views would come up. When people got hung up on the implication of "intelligent design" or a creator-deity in the original wording of the question (not my wording), I revised the question for the benefit of the discussants. It doesn't mean I'm "still" searching for an answer (I never was). I'm just trying to create a context for member discussion.
apologies - when I said 'you' - I should have said 'one'... it wasnt directed at you as a person per se and nor was it a comment on your personal practice... except for the first paragraph where I was referring to you personally sort of as it also applies to everyone but that part was in direct response to your question.
it certainly is a good topic to discuss - grateful for the opportunity...
Last bit would better read:
One assumes that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps we have our answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way our brain works.
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federicaSeeker of the clear blue sky...Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubtModerator
See? That's interesting.
'He'.
Conditioning.
What's interesting is that you object to God being worshipped as a male, but not as a gooseberry bush!
Conrad.
(that's because i can see a gooseberry bush and it's real. D'uh....
Someone shut me up!
hang on.....It's ok, I'll do it!
Sorry @Dakini. I'm out of here, thank you so much for your patient indulgence.
One assumes that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps we have our answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way our brain works.
I get it. The answer is right in front of us if we only had a decoder ring. Where's Mountains, with his secret handshake and decoder ring?
I have no qualms with giving an unequivocal "YES!" to the question: is Enlightenment intrinsic to humans. Isn't that what Buddhanature is about? We wouldn't be Buddhists if we believed otherwise.
I think that enlightenment is the most natural, as in real, state of being that there is. Anything that is "meant" to be is of the mind and comes from our non-sleeping dreamlike state. I think that reality is not, nor can be, of the mind or experienced via the mind. And that enlightenment is just being awake from the every day dreamlike state in which we exist. They are temporary moments of being when you are not in your mind. It is being and doing but not thinking or experiencing reality via the mind. For example; I am on a beach looking at the sea. Do I experience this by seeing, remembering, what my mind recognizes as being the sea, or do I just experience THAT? Am I dreaming the sea, or am I awake? I am awake only until I become aware of being awake. This quest of experiencing reality requires me to realize that Buddhism itself is not part of reality although it teaches us how to accept reality and participate in it. Buddhism is ironic in that way and at some point must be accepted as being something not-real in itself. Buddhism to me is like a manual on how to breathe. The manual is not breathing but without reading the manual, I would be dead. Forget the self. Lose the mind.
Comments
I thought I'd ask while you're here, as the person who defines the topic and question.
C.
But note that I've reworded the OP twice now, for greater clarity.
Intrinsic and extrinsic are both sides of the same coin.
It is sometimes called the great 'natural' perfection for a reason.
Better thinking about shedding rather than gaining - in my experience it is not linear so there is nothing to pursue.
You assume that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps you have your answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way your brain works.
it certainly is a good topic to discuss - grateful for the opportunity...
Last bit would better read:
One assumes that the universe follows digital (1-0) logic - perhaps we have our answer already but just cannot perceive it as it doesnt fit into the way our brain works.
Someone shut me up!
hang on.....It's ok, I'll do it!
Sorry @Dakini.
I'm out of here, thank you so much for your patient indulgence.
A flashlight whose lense is covered with mud is not useful to see by.
Conrad.
No, "human nature" is the mud.
Conrad.
Can you find such defilements?
Potential and expression are same.
Thank you!
God made gooseberry bushes so that we could eat gooseberrys.
Spiny
Spiny