Sherman Krebbs

I have been following this conversation on and off for the past few weeks, and after giving the topic some thought--and this is not responsive to the cancer argument, so apologies--my metaphysical conclusion is that the concept of dualism is driven entirely by ego. It is a selfishness. The concept a soul exists only in the abstract world of the mind, i.e. the realm of phenomenon. Abstractions themselves are pure, unborn, undying, perfect. We resort to notions of dualisim in order to reinforce a notion that there is some perfect soul behind our eyes, which is pure, unborn and undying. People cant accept their moral, physical or other imperfections (cancer, for example), and so they resort to positing a being in the abstract, which separate from their physical body and is unsoiled. Problem is how do we advance our beings if we accept that we are made of a pure soul and an impure body? ... dieting? maybe people object to non-dualism based on the idea of having no soul--they object to the idea of existing only in the physical world. To me, however, non-dualism is the opposite. Non-dualism is having only sprit, imperfect as it may be. It is the physical world that is the illusion, an abstraction created in the realm of phenomenon. When photons bounce off the mirror and stimulate the cone and rod receptors of my eyes, the resulting image in my head is not what I am. I am the sun, with rays shining out, but never in, erupting, revolving, and touching everything I contact. Not sure if its good form to organize personal thoughts by writing them out and sharing them with strangers on the internet. Apologies for the non-conversational rant.

Weren't there were public debates about this maybe in the Yuan dynasty? Given that we are still arguing about it, maybe this statement is accurate. Seems to me, however, that dual and non-dual are really just two sides of the same coin.

The general argument is correct, in that the dao is something that cannot be defined in words. It would be a pointless exercise. I see it every day around me, however, in the way that the leaves grow on the trees, in the way that the river snakes its way into the sea, in the way that mountain peaks gently erode away overtime into terrifying spires. Someone called it the dao, so that's what I call it. While defining the dao may be pointless, it is wrong to conclude that cultivating oneself in the context of the dao is equally pointless. The definitions are there to help beings live in harmony with the Dao, not as dogma. They are usually written in words because that's all we understand. One can follow them or not, it really does not matter. To answer the question, the daoist world looks just like the one we live in.

Its easy to have something to point to, such as a God, as the source of suffering, pleasure, joy, etc. That however disregards our own karmic role in responding to events as they unfold in our life. The Dao has no compassion. If one falls from a high place, one will experience suffering and maybe die. While one can't control everything that happens in life, my experience is its usually best not to thrash against the current. Although easier said than done. Pain and suffering are hard to deal with, but a necessary part of life. A river must pass over many rocky ravines and waterfalls in order to reach the sea.

My understanding of emptiness: The ultimate reality of the universe is different than the reality created in the mind. The reality of the mind is the sum of the phenomenon that encompass it: sight, smell, taste, sound, touch, feelings, consciousness, etc, including the concept of self. To grasp the ultimate reality, one must therefore form no attachments to the phenomena of the mind, including one's concept of self, because the phenomena of the mind are inherently empty and not real. Doesn't mean, however, that one walks around like a blank-minded zombie, running into walls, or cutting of his or her arm, simply because the pain is not real. Doesn't mean that one sits under a tree with no thought, avoiding all others simply because the pleasure of human interaction is not real. To the contrary, it means that one has to be even more mindful of such things, investigating and understanding each phenomenon with the goal of promoting a harmonious and balanced life. Through such an investigation, one may come to understand that the concept of self created in the mind is not the real being that he or she is. One's real being is something quite different, always looking out with no ability to look in, and can never be grasped through abstraction or self reflection. Although to your point, such way of thinking can be boring, and writing this has made me feel thirsty; perhaps a beer is in order : )

Hello, My name is Brad. Interested in meditation advice and philosophy. Also interested in finding good english translation of daoist texts, other than the dao de jing, and book of changes, if anyone has any suggestions. Also a student of Mahāyāna, but don't tell anybody. Quote I like: -Ripples in the upside down lake of the void, is what I should have said. The bottom of the world is gold and the world is upside down. - Kerouac