I guess if I wanted to I could make an instrument for detecting people who are not going to make it in Buddhism very far; this includes Zen Buddhism. I mean by this, they are not going to awaken to the One Mind. They are too far gone with their views. Their position is deeply entrenched; they are not going to change.
In my questionnaire, I would be interested in the respondent's opinions about “faith” or “belief” (the terms are interchangeable). I have found, over the years, that would-be Buddhists (mainly Westerners) who are uncomfortable with terms such as “faith” or “belief” are generally, materialists. The philosophy of materialism, let me be frank, is inimical to Buddhism and, above all, to its correct understanding.
In my questionnaire, I would also be interested in seeing how respondents answered questions about “reincarnation,” “OBEs” (Out of Body Experiences), and “NDEs” (Near Death Experiences). If they are indifferent or have a bias towards such phenomena I would seriously question their ability to get very far in Buddhism. I find such negative opinions, that one can dismiss reincarnation from their practice of Buddhism and still comprehend the meaning of Buddhism, almost ludicrous. This also includes the Buddhist tenet of karma.
My questionnaire would also be interested in the respondent’s answers about hauntings, ghosts, demonic possession and other such paranormal phenomena. Dismissing such phenomena out of hand indicates that the respondent has a closed mind; who has not studied the evidence. This also tells me that they have a low opinion about spirituality and all that it entails.
I would also be interested in the respondent’s answer to matters about Hinduism, âtman and voidness. Of especial interest to me, would be the respondent’s opinions about the so-called void and, possibly, their unconscious reification of it into some kind of Buddhist absolute (which it is not). I would want to know their attitude towards an absolute, especially the âtman. I would also want to know their reactions to Vedanta and mysticism such as that of Plotinus.
These questions and others, would have the general aim of ferreting out potential materialists and irreligionists who mistakenly believe that Buddhism is not a first-person science that is based upon first-person verification. This is in contrast with a third-person science that is based upon empiricism (knowledge of external objects). Moreover, the third-person science has a prejudice towards the first-person standpoint in the example of pure Mind and consciousness (which in Buddhism is the transmigrant).
Besides, if there were no difference between being and becoming, then a seeker would become a Buddha as soon as he started talking like you.
Posted by: Electric Black | December 06, 2014 at 08:54 PM
You are missing the point. If half an infinite number of tangerines is still infinite, then it is possible for samsaric beings to achieve enlightenment.
Posted by: Electric Black | December 06, 2014 at 08:49 PM
As I see it, discriminating any form of becoming, whether nil or 8, is itself a departure from truth. Truth does not exist conditionally and cannot be numbered, named or reckoned into any description, because then we have a description, number or name, and not the self nature which brings such things into being, even non things like horns on a hare, division by zero, multiplication by infinity, and all such paradox. The dream experience may not obey laws of physics, logic, or the order of reality as understood while waking, yet is definable in a conditional way as "real"; and yet the experience upon waking is that all which occurred in the dream was unreal, or at least not real as understood to the mind awakened. Thus it is neither real nor unreal this dream, because the terms of reality are conditional, fluid, and shaped by false habits of discrimination.
Posted by: n. yeti | December 06, 2014 at 11:21 AM
If you take a wave and make it infinitely short, it's peak would meet it's trough and they would cancel. It would stop being a wave. Therefore, zero and infinity are the same thing. This is why the universe is like a dream. Ironically, in becoming zero, the wave that is NOT has become absolute. Enlightenment is infinitely far, but it is as close as the moment. If we could see the illusory nature of our perceptions, we would look to their origin for the answer. That origin, I think, is where the Yin and the Yang meet to become the Void.
Posted by: Electric Black | December 05, 2014 at 11:28 PM
Half of an infinite number of tangerines is still infinite.
Posted by: n. yeti | December 05, 2014 at 12:18 PM