To Prey on the Dead

Unfortunately, it is emblematic of a fashion currently raging in our contemporary world that stubbornly believes anything not yet approved by the scientific community cannot be real. And, any evidence to the contrary (and it is voluminous) is flatly denied.

“Debunked” is science’s official term for the practice of trying to negate information with the disinformation of the spin-doctor’s screed. Unfortunately, trying to describe a round planet to someone who is convinced that the world is flat is, I suspect, useless.

Fortunately, most Buddhists believe that there is a higher Truth; that unfortunately our current scientific community does not have the tools to measure. However, each of us does have the tool with which we can realize this Highest Truth, it is with awareness.

Ananda Sutta
“Then the wanderer Vacchagotta went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, exchanged courteous greetings with him. After an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies, he sat down to one side. As he was sitting there he asked the Blessed One: "Now then, Venerable Gotama, is there a self?"
When this was said, the Blessed One was silent.
"Then is there no self?"
A second time, the Blessed One was silent.
Then Vacchagotta the wanderer got up from his seat and left.
Then, not long after Vacchagotta the wanderer had left, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, "Why, lord, did the Blessed One not answer when asked a question by Vacchagotta the wanderer?"
"Ananda, if I -- being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is a self -- were to answer that there is a self, that would be conforming with those priests & contemplatives who are exponents of eternalism [the view that there is an eternal, unchanging soul]. If I -- being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self -- were to answer that there is no self, that would be conforming with those priests & contemplatives who are exponents of annihilationism [the view that death is the annihilation of consciousness]. If I -- being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is a self -- were to answer that there is a self, would that be in keeping with the arising of knowledge that all phenomena are not-self?"
"No, lord."
"And if I -- being asked by Vacchagotta the wanderer if there is no self -- were to answer that there is no self, the bewildered Vacchagotta would become even more bewildered: 'Does the self I used to have now not exist?'"
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/samyutta/sn44-010.html


When we refer to the Ultimate Ground of Being as “Mind”, we are just using the best term that us poor humans have that can relate in some recognizable way to this incredible magnificence that we realize. It is not the same as the mind bourn of mental activity that some refer to. If one could drop one’s preconceptions about emptiness, one might be able to begin to see it for what it is.

Nevertheless, I personally, have found it best, over the years, to learn to respect the feedback that my ego is giving me. Realizing that it is my life “where the rubber meets the road”, as it were. I’m not afraid to learn what my “ego” might have to show me about myself. Besides, being open means that you’re just willing to listen, if you don’t like the answers, its ok to say so, say why you don’t like the answers, and ask for other solutions if there are any. Etc.

Anyway, I don’t think life is about having all of the answers and being some kind of perfect person. It’s about learning what you can from the questions that is so meaningful.