doc benway

I've read some interesting stuff suggesting that black holes could represent the birth of new universes. It's a bit speculative and depends on string theory which is not too widely accepted but interesting. https://interestingengineering.com/black-holes-might-lead-to-the-birth-of-new-universes#:~:text=In other words%2C the study,unify all forces in nature.

Along those lines is contradiction - https://lesliehershberger.com/beinspired/embrace-your-inner-contradictions/

Do you think there is a need to believe in any particular truth?

I definitely do not doubt that reality is real but that is little more than a tautology, I meant it as a play on words. As for the nitty gritty details as worked out by philosophers and scientists, I don't put too much time or effort into understanding and adopting conceptual models for reality. I do resonate strongly with Carlo Rovelli's relational interpretation of quantum mechanics. I have enough of a grasp of the science to be excited about how close QM can come to agreeing with my own personal experiences and with the teachings of the wisdom traditions, particularly regarding non-duality. I will admit a strong bias there. I can't say much about the article you linked as it was really over my head, the "explanation" given didn't really tell me much so I don't have a good enough grasp or appreciation for its veracity or implications. There are so many papers that come out making this or that claim about QM and other physics topics, way too much for an amateur like me to try and sift through and collate in any meaningful way. For me it is enough to do my practice and read the occasional pop physics book (Rovelli's book Helgoland is wonderful). I am also very excited about seeing what the Webb telescope has to teach us... won't be long to begin seeing some data and images, I think early July.

Over my head but I have little doubt reality is real. 😁

I didn’t mean to imply that all dualistic philosophies are somehow gratuitous… Good arguments can no doubt be made in their favor. Nevertheless the foundation of materialism is slowly losing support among the sciences and long ago lost the support of many spiritual traditions.

A little complicated for me to try and answer my question at the moment, but thanks. I’ll leave it an open question until I have more enthusiasm or an assist.

future fear and hope will no doubt present themselves another beer please

Do they offer a rationale or arguable basis for their assertion?

Yes, you made that gratuitous assertion before but still offer nothing to support it. That’s your prerogative but certainly not a compelling argument. It is not the case according to quantum physics or environmental biology. It is also not the case according to Bön and Buddhist metaphysics or my personal experience. I view it as a misconception fostered by a lifetime of materialistic indoctrination and by virtue of our unique sensory apparatus and ability to ambulate.

there is only now all thens simply illusion in NOW I will trust

Of course, because I am here to perceive. Your comment was: If no one was here to perceive a body, there would still be the object, it doesn’t disappear just because no mind perceives it. I find it to be valuable and instructive to think about what an object is in the absence of a subject. What is color without an eye and the one interpreting the eyes’ information? Where is taste without a tongue and the taster? I think we are a bit misled by our materialistic conditioning and by virtue of our unique sensory apparatus, something that is being revealed in modern physics and biology. Like yin and yang, I propose subject and object define and require one another and cannot exist independently. I am not saying that nothing exists without a subject but I am saying that objects do not exist without a subject. It’s a meaningful distinction for me.

Happy Litha!

How do you know? What form has the “object” that has no subject?

Overruled!

Whether you stay or go is your choice. You pissed me off and I expressed myself. It happens on occasion. I’m over it and appreciate the fact that you apologized.

No, you are just being disrespectful and insensitive towards two people I like and admire.

What the fuck difference does that make and what business is it of yours? Norbu’s native language was not English… nor the Buddha’s. You’ve known CT here for years, when has his communication ever been less than perfectly clear? You would do well to learn some manners.

It means your post sounded to me like a xenophobic bigot. You’ve attacked both CT and Luke so far this morning. Is something going on with you?

There is very little data to suggest vaccination prevents Covid transmission. So what about the people you’ve killed so far by spreading Covid? This was a shitty thing to say @ralis. Do you always enjoy kicking people when they’re feeling vulnerable? You owe Luke an apology, IMO. You’re a better man than me.

One could also read this as: ‘You are doing it wrong, you are being improper.’ ‘I suspect you are dishonest and don’t trust you.’ ‘Hrrumph, you are a foreigner, are you even legal?!’ ‘Are you stupid?’ ‘I am the authority on all things Norbu. This can’t be from one of his books because I don’t recognize it.’ I took your comments as being a bit aggressive, arrogant, and disrespectful. It is easy to offend with digital communication. It takes a little extra effort to insure you truly are being civil. An alternative might be - ‘Thanks for sharing CT, can you tell me which book that’s from?’ I suspect things may have played out differently.

I have known people who experience terrible pain and misfortune and suffer very little. I also know several whose lives seem a continuum of suffering in the context of relatively little hardship. I suggest the difference between pain and suffering may be along the lines of pain describing the direct adverse effects and associated experience of a negative event, whereas as suffering is a secondary layer of adverse experience related to our reaction to the pain. I also think it’s important to recognize that someone with a very deep connection to an inner refuge may be able to transform or liberate enormous pain such that very little suffering occurs. Silent thunder and manitou come to mind for me, not to mention higher profile individuals like Garchen Rinpoche. I don’t expect their are many people, mothers or fathers, that could lose a child without experiencing profound pain and loss. The degree to which they suffer is likely to vary considerably however. I see parallels between this discussion and the topic of forgiveness. I highly recommend a film on the topic called Rubaru Roshni.

I just got a copy of his book - Choosing Reality, which goes into more depth on these issues. Looking forward to reading it.

A beautiful thing often happens when the victim isn’t the one engaging and reacting but we trust the openness and full connection to the present moment (the thought experiment I mentioned many pages ago). Something spontaneous can happen and it often proves to be full of warmth and care and makes the most of a situation in unexpected ways. That’s a sign that the practice is working.

Wonderful to see this quote from TS Elliott’s Four Quartets on their homepage. I know nothing about their services but they’ve got good taste in poets. He sounds like my teacher. I don’t recall this little gem and am glad to be reunited. I need to read the Quartets again. In order to arrive at what you do not know You must go by a way which is the way of ignorance. In order to possess what you do not possess, You must go by the way of dispossession. In order to arrive at what you are not, You must go through the way in which you are not. And what you do not know is the only thing you know And what you own is what you do not own And where you are is where you are not. T.S. Elliot (1963)