It's truly amazing to be able to realize that all of those separations become meaningless from certain points of view....and yet still have value from others. Balancing those varying perspectives gets to be quite a trick...
I have a feeling that once we reach the ultimate perspective, all things will appear as one, and there will be no seperation, nor even any argument that could lead to it. In the heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that if you look at one, you see all the others reflected in it. In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact, IS everything else.
In taking the Reiki class I recently did, our teacher mentioned that Buddhists tend to see all times as NOW and all places as HERE and all things as ONE. However, it's one thing to think about that abstractly and quite another to have a flash of experiencing that perspective...
That's paralleled by a phenomenon in physics related to electrons. See, they're usually found in pairs, especially in atoms, and they have complimentary "spins." If one changes direction, the other flips to accomodate it. The really trippy thing is that, if a pair is separated and then one flips, the other will immediately and instantly flip to mirror it....NO MATTER WHAT THE DISTANCE SEPARATING THEM!!
Superstition and mysticism, alchemy, magic, it's all just stuff that hasn't been proven by science yet. We can't detect certain energies or the effects of things other than how we feel, and science has created no tool to measure them. Maybe one day.
Yeah, it's amazing the way science has been slowly catching up with what's been known in mystical traditions for millenia. I can't help thinknig that, when science is able to give us God's home telephone number or e-mail address, we're going to be forced---as a species---into some serious changes.
I think that's already starting to happen slowly. People all over the damn place are waking up to what the universe is actually like. It's unfortunate that there are so many who would require empirical proof of the divine before coming to any realization of their relationship with it. But I suppose good things come to those who wait.
I agree about it coming about. I also know that different people seem to need different paths to follow in order to get there....even though there's nowhere to get! I think that has some to do with why I love the idea of the bodhisattva, those who've achieved enlightenment and, rather than hop off the ol' karmic ferris wheel, keep riding to help other people get it, too.
I don't know that, even as the bodhisattva, you can jump off the karma wheel until you're truly done. I believe that's a part of the karmic cycle. Much like in the program: I received great benefit from the steps, and in order to pay that back I sponsor guys and work with others. Mine just happens to be on a less cosmic scale. Or maybe not. Who can say?
My understanding of the bodhisattva is one who's on the brink of enlightenment, where the next step of hopping off the karmic ride is become something that can be chosen at any time. But, instead of hopping off and abandoning those still riding it, they choose to hang out on it longer to help those they can. I may be mistaken in that. It may also have a lot to do with the nature of a being who's achieved that level of development, that the compassion experienced wouldn't allow them to abandon others in that way.
Going back to the Buddhist idea of all time and space being one, I can't help thinking that in some respects all levels of SCALE are also one, too. If nothing else, look at the similarity between the structure of an atom and that of our solar system.
The cool thing is that the concept of such unity makes those kinds of distinctions irrelevant in a very real sense.
Without a doubt, the measure of a scale, or even the concept of a cosmic scale is a construct put together because our human minds seem to require that there be a structure or hierarchy in everything. I believe you're right about the bodhisattva, that the compassion for others still suffering is what keeps them on the wheel, and they can choose to jump off at any point. From an enlightened perspective (or as close as I can get to one), the "choice" they make to get off the wheel is to release themselves from their attachment to either their compassion or the suffering of others. Without an attachment to a sense of duty or something similar, there would be no need for them to stay. Of course, I'm talking about things that I can only really understand on a very basic level. I'm still working toward all that.
Of course, I'm talking about things that I can only really understand on a very basic level. I'm still working toward all that.
Join the club, bro. Hell, for all I know the bodhisattvas are choosing to stay out of a mix of compassion and thinking some of the stuff "mere mortals" do and think and believe are so fuckin' funny! 8D
It wouldn't surprise me to find that out. I imagine that's what's showing on TV in Nirvana. Wow, what a great corollary to all the lives spent watching television. Maybe there's something to that. Perhaps some couch potatoes aren't lazy as much as their personality is no longer a barrier to their spirit, and they're simply passing the time by monitoring the mostly humorous things that go on in human society. Probably not, but what a weird thought.
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In the heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that if you look at one, you see all the others reflected in it. In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact, IS everything else.
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That's paralleled by a phenomenon in physics related to electrons. See, they're usually found in pairs, especially in atoms, and they have complimentary "spins." If one changes direction, the other flips to accomodate it. The really trippy thing is that, if a pair is separated and then one flips, the other will immediately and instantly flip to mirror it....NO MATTER WHAT THE DISTANCE SEPARATING THEM!!
Science....proving God's perspective mathematically! ;}
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Going back to the Buddhist idea of all time and space being one, I can't help thinking that in some respects all levels of SCALE are also one, too. If nothing else, look at the similarity between the structure of an atom and that of our solar system.
The cool thing is that the concept of such unity makes those kinds of distinctions irrelevant in a very real sense.
Reply
I believe you're right about the bodhisattva, that the compassion for others still suffering is what keeps them on the wheel, and they can choose to jump off at any point. From an enlightened perspective (or as close as I can get to one), the "choice" they make to get off the wheel is to release themselves from their attachment to either their compassion or the suffering of others. Without an attachment to a sense of duty or something similar, there would be no need for them to stay. Of course, I'm talking about things that I can only really understand on a very basic level. I'm still working toward all that.
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Join the club, bro. Hell, for all I know the bodhisattvas are choosing to stay out of a mix of compassion and thinking some of the stuff "mere mortals" do and think and believe are so fuckin' funny! 8D
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