Up@dawn 2.0

Sunday, November 27, 2011

This site sheds light on some of the core concepts in Buddhism.

The link leads to the page description on emptiness as form/It has a pretty thorough and easy to understand explanation on one of the harder/trickier concepts. It incorporates physics and math to demonstrate a more practical application.

Here is an excerpt on karma and rebirth.

If the idea of non-self sounds odd, then it must sound even more curious that non-self can be reborn. There is a seeming contradiction between the canon of rebirth and that of the non-self, which even many Buddhists find difficult to understand. The contradiction is, however, only on the surface and can be solved if one pictures the self as the result of karmic formation. This can be put into less abstract words:
If we imagine the world as an ocean, we are like the ripples on the ocean. Formations like ripples and waves occur, because of wind, tides, and other kinetic forces. In the Buddhist analogy, the universe is in motion due to karmic forces. A ripple, a wave, or a billow may seem as an individual entity for a moment, creating the illusion that it has a self, but it is gone in the next moment. The truth is that all individuals are one. A ripple is a temporary phenomenon; it is just water in motion. We know that kinetic energy causes wave forms on a body of water and it would be ridiculous to say that a single ripple or wave has a self.
Similarly, in case of beings, the process of coming into life and being conditioned in a particular way is caused by karmic forces. The up and down of the ocean's waves corresponds with the rotation of the wheel of life. The sea that surges, falls, and resurges, is the life that is born, dies, and is reborn again. It is therefore obvious that we should not focus on the temporary phenomenon of the wave, but on the force that causes, forms, and drives it. Nothing else is said, although in more practical terms, in the Eightfold Path.

5 comments:

  1. That's helpful, Marie. Thanks. If I'm a ripple on life's sea, then my rebirth as a new ripple does not really constitute a recurrence of what I think of as "me." There's no particular reason why I should wish to recur, if I don't and won't know my previous incarnations. And if I'm prone to sea-sickness I'll definitely want NOT to.

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  2. This passage has a heavy emphasis on emptiness. The conception of the self is only that a conception. Instead of seeing ourselves as seperate, the reality is we are all one ocean of ripples. Interdependently, a ripple does not exist without an ocean. A person does not exist without a people. The rebirth/reincarnation is not of the conceptualized self but of our actions taken. Our actions are reincarnated- we, or our actions exist through others that we shape. We are a manifestation of past karma/ripples, essentially everything is reincarnation. The wheel of life and karma is the connection of ourselves to the greater whole, or to the Universe. A conception of the self only exists in the mind, making it not real or inherent but a projection within the mind. We won't know how our actions/karma will be reincarnated/manifest iself, but we try to stay mindful of karma/reincarnation out of reverence for the Universe.
    I hope that lessened the threat of sea sickness. :)

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  3. Yes, a good palliative! But, a propos your statement "A conception of the self only exists in the mind, making it not real..." --

    I'm reminded of Dumbledore's observation to Harry Potter: "Just because something exists in your mind, Harry, doesn't mean it's not real."

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  4. touche! :p
    I guess I should have said our perception of ourselves is not an accurate representation of what we are- which is kinetic energy and chemicals as opposed to the identity we have been creating since we left the whom.
    but touche, sir, touche.

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