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There is a case when objectivity must be ignored even if it's real.
goldisheavy posted a topic in Buddhist Discussion
This will be a brief argument aimed at my materialist friends who are very committed to the idea that objective domain is truly real and is very important for yogic practice, while at the same time thinking of developing psychic powers. There are a number of people like that here on this forum and this argument is for them. Objective domain is a domain neutral to all observers and distinct from all the observers such that the objective domain exists regardless of the presence or absence of any number of observers, and it exists eternally. As such, the rules and constraints of an objective domain are not under a personal control of any being. Furthermore, if an objective domain had no constraints at all, it would be indistinguishable from a perfectly subjective domain, so for objective domain to remain objective it simply must have a constraining influence that is beyond the capability of beings to control. What is under your direct control is your subjective domain. You can change your subjective domain as quickly as your courage will allow, and it has no inherent limitation to change. Whatever limitations to change exist in the subjective domain, they must all be self-imposed temporary limitations. So if a change in the rules and constraints of the objective domain was required before you could produce psychic powers, you'd be left to simply wait and hope, since you'd not have direct control over the objective domain. This means developing any kind of psychic power in one lifetime would simply be out of question. So this leaves only one option. There is only one place where you have real leverage. And that's the subjective domain. Even here change can be hard, but at least in the subjective domain the only obstacle is yourself, which while difficult is surmountable. Whereas objective domain by definition presents an insurmountable obstacle as far as its constraints go. Ergo, even if objective domain exists and even if it's real, as long as you want to develop some kind of special power in this single lifetime, you have no choice but to act as if objective domain is irrelevant, because the only real leverage you have is your subjective domain. A radical change to objective constraints cannot happen in an objective domain due to your personal influence. Put another way, if as a result of your personal effort you achieved a radical removal of some experiential constraint, then that constraint has never been a part of an objective domain, and it must have only and ever been a part of the subjective domain. Therefore, whether objective domain exists or not, even if you believed in an objective domain and took it seriously, for the sake of yoga you'd still have to focus on your subjective domain, because that's where your personal leverage would be.- 10 replies
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