Search found 815 matches

by Jeff H
Sat Sep 30, 2023 3:19 am
Forum: Lounge
Topic: Resources to learn how to listen & support others
Replies: 5
Views: 585

Re: Resources to learn how to listen & support others

Totally off topic: Myoan, I just finished reviewing the entire Daily Lojong topic you started on this day in 2017. There's a lot of good material in there and I'm using it in my current wave of lojong training. I just wanted to commemorate the event with you, but couldn't find a way to PM. :namaste:...
by Jeff H
Fri May 12, 2023 5:46 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics
Replies: 1067
Views: 144653

Re: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics

All quiet for 24 hours...

In case, you guys are done, I just want to thank both Kenneth and Kai lord for a really good discussion. I found it quite interesting. :thumbsup:
by Jeff H
Mon May 08, 2023 10:34 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics
Replies: 1067
Views: 144653

Re: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics

Because if you want to convince others of your theory or explanation, you must first hear their arguments and objections then you respond and so on. Surely you can't expect an one sided exchange? I’m trying to understand the substance of your argument, Kai lord. It seems like your point is that Ken...
by Jeff H
Mon May 08, 2023 9:19 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics
Replies: 1067
Views: 144653

Re: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics

Because if you want to convince others of your theory or explanation, you must first hear their arguments and objections then you respond and so on. Surely you can't expect an one sided exchange? I’m trying to understand the substance of your argument, Kai lord. It seems like your point is that Ken...
by Jeff H
Sat May 06, 2023 4:10 pm
Forum: Academic Discussion
Topic: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics
Replies: 1067
Views: 144653

Re: How Madhyamika Philosophy Solves the Mystery of Quantum Physics

The problem with the current scientific understanding of Quantum Mechanics is that scientists are trying to fit it into the philosophical stance of a mind-matter duality. This unfortunately leads to solipsism and that is why most scientists insist on a materialistic universe. If we remove this need...
by Jeff H
Sat Mar 11, 2023 2:59 pm
Forum: Wellness, Diet and Fitness
Topic: Barefoot walking 👣
Replies: 20
Views: 1763

Re: Barefoot walking 👣

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh
by Jeff H
Sun Feb 19, 2023 4:16 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: Generating bodhichitta - and the opposite
Replies: 16
Views: 1075

Re: Generating bodhichitta - and the opposite

We all try our best each day to accumulate merit. What is the opposite of accumulating merit? I don't think the premise is correct. On the contrary. Without "trying" we habitually accumulate negative karma each day. Some people try to do good for the morality of it, which is good as far a...
by Jeff H
Tue Feb 14, 2023 7:27 pm
Forum: Tibetan Buddhism
Topic: Generating bodhichitta - and the opposite
Replies: 16
Views: 1075

Re: Generating bodhichitta - and the opposite

Seems to me that generating bodhicitta means wishing to attain buddhahood, driven by powerful loving compassion for all beings, guided by wisdom.

The opposite is everyday life: wishing to gratify self-cherishing, driven by self-grasping, guided by ignorance.
by Jeff H
Mon Dec 19, 2022 6:04 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Direct perception of interdependent origination
Replies: 33
Views: 2139

Re: Direct perception of interdependent origination

Can someone explain why that is a misunderstanding? Not necessarily a misunderstanding. Who says it’s the same for each person? Dharma isn’t a cookie recipe. In actual practice, direct awareness will come whenever the causes and conditions are such that the result is produced. What is generally con...
by Jeff H
Mon Dec 19, 2022 5:55 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Direct perception of interdependent origination
Replies: 33
Views: 2139

Re: Direct perception of interdependent origination

So according to Asanga's model, ending craving breaks the subsequent link and the chain as a whole. Maybe Nagarjuna had another model. Yes, this corresponds to what I am thinking. I was puzzled that others were saying that the "natural" break point was between Contact (#6) and Feeling (#7).
by Jeff H
Mon Dec 19, 2022 4:37 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Direct perception of interdependent origination
Replies: 33
Views: 2139

Re: Direct perception of interdependent origination

In the chapter on the 12 links in Nagarjuna's MMK, the very same point is made. i.e. the point of intervention is between contact and feeling, from which grasping at 'me' or 'mine' can be broken, and the grasper itself can be relinquished. Just a point of clarification for me. I thought the point o...
by Jeff H
Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:19 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Two Truths Doctrine
Replies: 102
Views: 8937

Re: Two Truths Doctrine

It’s getting really tiresome watching you present the same straw man arguments over and over, and seemingly never consider anyone’s responses. JD, just a personal note: I often like questions like Ardha's that may seem obstinate. In my opinion the value of DW includes more than the direct issues an...
by Jeff H
Sun Oct 30, 2022 2:44 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Two Truths Doctrine
Replies: 102
Views: 8937

Re: Two Truths Doctrine

Ardha, I think maybe the core issue is that you are satisfied with life as you find it, with all the ups and downs. If so, that's good. But if you are curious about the causes of “man’s inhumanity to man” or the fact that “the road to ruin is paved with good intentions”, those are the things Buddhis...
by Jeff H
Wed Oct 26, 2022 3:52 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Two Truths Doctrine
Replies: 102
Views: 8937

Re: Two Truths Doctrine

The conventional world starts here: Perceptions by any of the senses innately appear to truly exist. It’s like the billiard ball model of physics; there appear to be solid, self-contained objects truly existing and interacting out there. That innate perception only goes away upon reaching full enlig...
by Jeff H
Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:13 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Twelve Links
Replies: 86
Views: 6871

Re: Twelve Links

I think for most of us, all these insightful responses are useful signposts aiming our attention in the direction Buddha suggested, leading to the realization of how things are. It could well be that some few members of this forum have realized it non-conceptually. But for anyone who simply can’t ac...
by Jeff H
Fri Sep 30, 2022 2:54 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Twelve Links
Replies: 86
Views: 6871

Re: Twelve Links

A side topic for me, Clyde, is that I don’t understand your standard for assessing profound teachings. Why should the ability to explain it to a child validate or invalidate any Dharma teaching? What is being transmitted is beyond explanation and reason. The teachings are heuristic and require that ...
by Jeff H
Fri Sep 30, 2022 2:41 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Twelve Links
Replies: 86
Views: 6871

Re: Twelve Links

Clyde, I want to thank you for making me reexamine my understanding of the 12 links. I know my understanding is not very deep, though, so I hope anyone with a better understanding will correct me. The 12 links are not meant as a logical proof. It is a description of the mental formulation of samsara...
by Jeff H
Thu Sep 29, 2022 7:38 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Twelve Links
Replies: 86
Views: 6871

Re: Twelve Links

I'd like to get in on this because I think I understand the 12 links, but Clyde makes me wonder. A realized being sees what you think of as a glass of apple juice and can appreciate it non-dually as a projection of emptiness. That’s wisdom. But here’s how I understand the 12 links explaining our ign...
by Jeff H
Mon Sep 05, 2022 8:50 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: What is svabhava and how does its negation cause compassion?
Replies: 7
Views: 612

Re: What is svabhava and how does its negation cause compassion?

It might help to factor in impermanence. The upshot of emptiness is that each instant of awareness is a single mental moment in which an objective phenomenon is perceived by a subjective mind. Neither arises first because neither actually exists in any substantial, permanent way. Both occur interdep...
by Jeff H
Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:57 pm
Forum: Dying and Death
Topic: How are you preparing for death?
Replies: 126
Views: 17470

Re: How are you preparing for death?

The thing is, current science cannot really answer the Hard Question of Consciousness either, and the more honest materialists will own up to this. So a practitioner is left either accepting that 1) such direct knowledge is possible via Buddhist practice, as the Buddha stated or 2) Buddhism is not ...

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