John, I too feel as if we stand before the verge of emptiness (it hurts doesn't it). There are those who say "when I look down, I have faith that there will not be emptiness below, even though it should be there. I believe that there will be something beyond this" This is not a way that you or I can take. It is a way that Bryan and Alex can take. We are all the same and not the same. For your part, stand there, and instead say "there is emptiness beyond this" and be not afraid, for it is true. Emptiness does not hurt. it is the fear of emptiness which causes suffering.
fear not.
So to these questions, let us have no view. Let us let off and let go, for to contemplate them is to hold a burning stick and wonder about its burning. It is more important to let go the stick and refrain from harm. There will never be a perfect answer to these questions. Take refuge in not knowing and thus be at peace.

This is excerpted from a translation of the Digha Nikaya. I feel it is ironically appropriate to the nature of our discussions, and to what John writes of. Vaccha was a wandering Monk who asked the Buddha a number of very clever questions;

"These questions that you ask Vaccha, they lead to a tangle of views, a dense dark jungle of views, they are difficult to shine a light upon, they make for endless discussion and dispute, they make for agitation and worry, they are a heavy burden, replete with suffering and discord, they do not lead to tranquility, to harmony, to detachment, to relinquishment, they do not lead to clarity, to knowledge, to wisdom. This is the fear that I have Vaccha, in contemplating these questions, and this is why I do not take up any of these ideas."
..."Vaccha, I have nothing to do with beliefs or theories, but declare what I know. I declare the nature of from, how it arises and how it perishes; the nature of perception, how it arises and how it perishes. And because I have abandoned all fantasies, false ideas, and imaginings about the nature of self, or anything to do with self, I am freed from it."

but, perhaps "the question cannot be answered reliably within the limits of human knowledge, since thesis and antithesis are equally valid (Kant, Critique of Pure Reason )"
...I mean, honestly, it's not even possible to visualize a 4D coordinate system (give it a try) which we can proove mathematically, so um, yeah. Abide in peace, all of you-

posted by Adrian   [11:12 AM]

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