Arkx6 Posted September 20, 2018 In buddhism there is a teaching/observation that things are empty of independent existence where when we see a spider or hear a scary noise ...the fear comes from a reaction from our senses that have associated pleasant and unpleasant things or from a reaction in our minds...the spider isnt by nature scary...the fear comes from within us. The teaching isnt to deny the existence of fear its to make us realise that freeing ourselves of fear is found within us. You cannot free yourself of fear when you perceive it outside yourself... The teaching is about understanding that the world we perceive is a reflection of our inner world and not just objectively true...ie that spiders are inherently scary. i dont know what perceiving this emptiness does or what this teaching achieves but i am confused... when you see that your love for others comes from within and reality is a blank canvas what are we left with? What does reality become if you perceive that you project your feelings onto the world and live as if fear etc is real? Is this what the buddha meant when he said the world is an illusion that it is empty of inherent existance and that we create the worlds we see? incidentaly this teaching shows how absurd people are when they argue over which is the better food dish...two dreamers stuck in two different dreams arguing about what dream is better lol 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 20, 2018 Although I'm not a Buddhist this is an interesting concept for me. Our subjective perceptions of reality as opposed to an empty-minded objective perception of reality. But I'll wait for some Buddhists to post before I say anything more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wandelaar Posted September 20, 2018 I'm not a (religious) Buddhist either, mainly because I don't believe in reincarnation and karma. The (religious) Buddhists were not radical enough. But I think the conception of reality of the Buddhists is correct. The taste of facts (how we appreciate them) is of our own making. Now this is not something specifically Buddhist, because it is also found in Stoicism. And in the West we have the saying: De gustibus non est disputandum. Empty of inherent existence means that the things we ordinarily consider as being the solid building blocks of our world in fact are only ephemeral processes that come and go and thus have no inherent existence of their own. This closely parallels the modern scientific outlook on the physical world. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arkx6 Posted September 20, 2018 So if emptiness of inherent existence refers to everything being dependant on previous states for their existence and doesnt refer to what i said....well i am referring to something i can perceive do you know what the buddhist term is for what i am pointing to at all ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wandelaar Posted September 20, 2018 16 minutes ago, Arkx6 said: So if emptiness of inherent existence refers to everything being dependant on previous states for their existence and doesnt refer to what i said....well i am referring to something i can perceive do you know what the buddhist term is for what i am pointing to at all ? I thought I knew... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc benway Posted September 22, 2018 Brings to mind a beautiful little saying... We don't see things the way they are, we see them the way we are. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marblehead Posted September 22, 2018 But sometimes I try to see things the way others see them. I don't like their picture so I return to mine. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
