Xian.
Use of the word “apparently” before something means you believe it. You use that word in almost every post, regardless of how loony or incomprehensible the material you’re linking to is.
Don’t use the word “apparently” in your posts unless you believe the material. And if you do believe everything you read, please don’t post at all.
I just ate a Burger King Impossible Burger. Not the most scrumptious burger ever, but not bad, considering it has zero beef. Now the question I should have asked, before I ate it: If it wasn’t beef, what the heck was it? And, am I better off having eaten whatever it was than if I had eaten a regular Whopper?
These are questions that Buddhists don’t seem to ponder all that much.
The first one says almost nothing. I could replace “Buddhist tradition” with just about any deity or philosophy that also claims to offer everything while actually offering nothing, and this article would fit in any of their websites. It’s empty of any practice, anything tangible. It says, “do my thing and get the ultimate”. It doesn’t even bother to describe one attribute of ultimate.The first one is talking about how reality is not what we think it is. That things like letters, cities, countries, even the idea of home don't exist in reality but just in our own minds. They are fabrications and constructs that we ourselves superimpose on reality.
I also think there was a part where he implied that the nature of the body is emptiness because it is just a collection of parts, which are also a collection of parts, etc etc.
Is the consistency a problem? I heard that they have a hard time matching the mouth feel.
I think I’ll see who sells them in Canada and try one.
Not really living a lie, but more of a controlled hallucination.
This excellent presentation by Anil Seth sheds light on some of the mysterious workings of the brain.
The first one is talking about how reality is not what we think it is.Yes, he says this
This is what is called apparent reality. It is not the way things really are; it is only the way they appear to us. It is like the delusion that takes objects in dreams to be real when we don’t realize we are dreaming.Buddhas and bodhisattvas who have overcome ignorance and delusion see ultimate reality.
He doesn’t really explain emptiness and he spends a lot of time telling you that your emotions are “confused” or otherwise wrong. He has no right to do that and he’s doing the opposite of this teaching when doing it. He says we don’t really know what’s real then he claims to know what’s going in inside your head. When he says this:
“There are three ways to cultivate prajna: listening to the teachings, contemplating their meaning, and meditating. These three form a natural sequence.”
In other words, read the scripture, pray, and if you don’t get it, start over. That’s what all guru hacks say because they don’t get it. He says things like, “The genuine ultimate reality is beyond the intellect. It is inconceivable and inexpressible.” Well then, it’s beyond this guy’s intellect and he can’t explain it. So not much point in believing he has anything else to say.
But reading it all again it sounds very convincing, because the things that we take to be real are just our own fabrications. That if the world was really as solid as we thought then the Buddha would be wrong. Things like cities and countries are only in our imagination and not in reality. That objects don’t exist in reality just our conceptions of objects. That there are no grandparents or grandchildren just forms.
I’m not entirely convinced by the ultimate reality but he makes it sound like there is such a state free from all our conceptions of the world.
Yeah, so Subway, yes Subway, is getting into meatless meat. A meatless meatball sub. McDonald’s too. Shoulda bought that stock.
But it is authentic? If a nut has nutmeat, then what is “meat”? Is a “burger” meat? It’s really the name of the sandwich that traditionally contains a ground beef patty, so if it can be called a “hamburger” but contains to ham, what’s wrong with calling a sandwich made with a meaty patty of vegetables a “burger”. It’s the experience of it to our senses that matters, right?
The experience to the senses is one thing like he said, but there is sensory experience and what he calls conceptual. That sensory experience has no concepts to it just data. That in reality there is just sensation but no concepts of mountains, cars, trees, bees, etc.
Its like a phrase they say about “enlightenment” that before it there are mountains and rivers, at it there are no mountains and rivers and that after it there are mountains and rivers again.