Lao Tzu (6th century BC)
Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
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The trick here is to remain unmoving without resisting motion.
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I do this in my swimming pool. Hold still until there is no relative movement nor temperature differential. Then I no longer feel the water.
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We just have to translate that to the mind… easy!
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There is awareness of relative movement and no awareness of relative movement . . . mathematical simplification of this demonstrates there is awareness and there is no awareness. There is relative movement or not.
I repaired a “spring tester” this week that measures as little as 1 gram of spring tension. This is a very small spring! It made me think that the awareness of a hypernova is great since it can be detected all across the universe but that more subtle differential movements are not so detectable — such as my spring tester.
Associating this with cause-effect, I could say that my awareness of the effect of supernova does not need to be very sensitive since the supernova’s effect is so large. OR do I say my awareness of the supernova is so large since the supernova is so large? I am curious how to talk about this.
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Vin: We just have to translate that to the mind… easy!
Chris: haha the abstraction that I described was never other than in my mind. (I’m not sure where to take the comments and discussion from there.)
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9. Associate data freely.
Let the mind associate that data freely on its own. Mindfulness is observing the very activity of thinking itself.
https://vinaire.me/2013/09/05/the-12-aspects-of-mindfulness-revised/
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This is the Diamond Sutra of Buddha.
http://www.diamond-sutra.com/diamond_sutra_translation.html
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Diamond Sutra, Chapter 3.
“All living beings, whether born from eggs, from the womb, from moisture, or spontaneously; whether they have form or do not have form; whether they are aware or unaware, whether they are not aware or not unaware, all living beings will eventually be led by me to the final Nirvana, the final ending of the cycle of birth and death. And when this unfathomable, infinite number of living beings have all been liberated, in truth not even a single being has actually been liberated.”
“Why Subhuti? Because if a disciple still clings to the arbitrary illusions of form or phenomena such as an ego, a personality, a self, a separate person, or a universal self existing eternally, then that person is not an authentic disciple.”
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Chapter 3 comments on liberation from the cycle of birth and death. It states that such liberation itself is an illusion as long as it is being aspired for and contemplated through a self.
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Wow! That is the ultimate denunciation of individualism by Buddha.
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Yes. It is quite clear.
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Diamond Sutra, Chapter 4.
“Furthermore, Subhuti, in the practice of compassion and charity a disciple should be detached. That is to say, he should practice compassion and charity without regard to appearances, without regard to form, without regard to sound, smell, taste, touch, or any quality of any kind. Subhuti, this is how the disciple should practice compassion and charity. Why? Because practicing compassion and charity without attachment is the way to reaching the Highest Perfect Wisdom, it is the way to becoming a living Buddha.”
“Subhuti, do you think that you can measure all of the space in the Eastern Heavens?”
“No, Most Honored One. One cannot possibly measure all of the space in the Eastern Heavens.”
“Subhuti, can space in all the Western, Southern, and Northern Heavens, both above and below, be measured?”
“No, Most Honored One. One cannot possibly measure all the space in the Western, Southern, and Northern Heavens.”
“Well, Subhuti, the same is true of the merit of the disciple who practices compassion and charity without any attachment to appearances, without cherishing any idea of form. It is impossible to measure the merit they will accrue. Subhuti, my disciples should let their minds absorb and dwell in the teachings I have just given.”
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Chapter 4 comments on attachment. It states that any practice of compassion and charity should be carried out in a totally detached manner. Any attachment puts the illusory self there.
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It was a good Sunday morning lesson.
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I should start an Internet Sangha.* 🙂
*San·gha [suhng-guh] noun
a community of Buddhist monks.
Origin: 1855–60; < Sanskrit saṅgha
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We should call it “a community of unknowables”.
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Yup!
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I would like to contemplate over the difference between fact and opinion.
I see fact as a datum, which is well indexed within a matrix of data. That matrix of data is well understood, which means that all data in that matrix is consistent. In other words, the data of that matrix is understood to be in agreement with each other. When that matrix of data is validated with physical observations, it becomes an accepted theory.
An opinion is a datum offered. It may or may not be situated within a matrix in a consistent manner. It needs to be examined thoroughly for consistency with other observations. So a matrix of data needs to be built to fully understand that opinion. If such a matrix cannot be built, or if any attempt to build a matrix immediately leads to inconsistency, then that opinion may have to be revised or discarded.
If that opinion becomes a consistent part of a matrix then it can be looked upon as consistent part of a hypothesis (the matrix). When that matrix of data is validated with physical observations, that opinion becomes a fact.
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