To begin this essay—the latest in a series exploring certainty—let’s recall some questions lingering from a previous post, having to do with the relationship between phenomenal appearances and Awareness, in terms of their certainty: * Is it actually necessary that appearances are less certain than the Awareness within which they arise and dissolve? Is there no scenario in which they are, say, …
[Read more...] about Absolute Certainty & Perpetual Transformation
Imagine ... Imagine … that you are a caterpillar. Perhaps a plain green one, or perhaps you’re sporting fancy spots or stripes: green, black, orange, white, red or yellow. Or maybe you’re a furry black and brown one -- or one with colorful spikes -- but in any case, a caterpillar. You’re one of many caterpillars. Your world is filled with caterpillars. What you notice is that the caterpillars …
As of late, I’ve been enjoying a pair of books, toggling back-and-forth between them in a way that feels quite interesting and enriching. One of them—Insight into Emptiness by Khensur Jampa Tegchok—harkens from the Buddhist Madhamakaya tradition. The other—The Seven Great Untenables by John Grimes—expresses the view of Advaita Vedanta. So, I read a bit from one, then a bit from the other—as …
[Read more...] about Only By Courtesy: Sankara’s Definition of Real
There are so many interesting things to explore! And I’ve explored quite a few, thus far in my life—following the thread of my enthusiasm, what piques my interest, lights my fire. But in comparison to all possible things to explore—all the phenomena past, present, and future, in this universe and all others—clearly the explorations accomplished via this one body-mind are miniscule: an estimate …
[Read more...] about Practice Notes: Distinction and Separation
Groceries Needed just a few things the other day—carrot juice, grapefruit, and eggs—so headed over to Trader Joe’s. Now, of course, I ended up with a few other things also in my shopping basket, but still a fairly small haul, overall. Scanned for a short line at the registers—and spotted one completely open. Yeah! Placed my basket next to the clerk—a young guy, late-twenties, maybe. …
[Read more...] about Practice Notes: Carrot Juice, Grapefruit & Eggs
I’ve been dipping into the rather dense but fascinating book Realisms Interlinked: Objects, Subjects, and Other Subjects by Arindam Chakrabarti—a scholar who, with great facility, straddles the worlds of Indian and (analytic) Western philosophy. Mr. Chakrabarti’s overall project is to propose and defend a form of metaphysical realism. And while I—from my lay-woman’s perspective—remain agnostic …
