--- In [email protected], "peterklutz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], akasha_108 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > <snip> > > > > Action, indeed, should be understood, > > > > wrong action should also be understood, > > > > and inaction should be understood as well. > > > > Unfathomable is the course of action. > > > > > > > > MMY comments, in part: > > > > > > > > "The Lord has said that knowledge of action is > > > > necessary and yet, the course of action being > > > > unfathomable, knowledge of it must remain > > > > incomplete. > > > > > > That knoweldge of action is incomplete, not totally absent, is a > > > huge point many appear to miss. Time and time again "Unfathomable > > > is the course of action" is trotted out to claim that we can have no > > > knowledge of the effects of our actions. Such nonesense. > > > > Unquestionably nonsense. (However, that isn't > > directly relevant to the point I was making about > > its being impossible to use behavior as the > > criterion for enlightenment.) > > > > > We can have a reasonable and useful level of such knowlede. And with > > > various abilities refined, some may have quite a bit of on- target > > > abilities. > > > > If we didn't use it, we couldn't function at all. > > > > > The point is, there is always going to be an "error term", just as > > > statistical models all have error terms. They might explain 60% or > > > 90% of the fluctuations of some phenomenon, but not all of it. > > > There are always some unexplained influences and effects. That does > > > not mean that such models are useless. Quite the contrary. In a > > > similar fashion, humans can know some efect of acions. In some caes > > > quite a bit of the effect. > > > > I'd suggest that our knowledge of the consequences > > of actions becomes less and less certain as the > > ripples of an action's ramifications extend outward > > from the time and place of the action. > > > > Michael Dean Goodman (on TMNews, I think it was) once > > set out a lengthy account of the potential consequences > > of some simple action unfolding over time in which they > > shifted from negative to positive to negative to positive, > > over and over, extending centuries into the future with > > no end in sight. It's not difficult to imagine such > > scenarios with any action. > > > > This is also why the notion of "support of nature" is > > iffy. An event that seems to be completely positive > > when it happens can have very negative consequences > > down the road, and vice-versa. > > > > I think it's a mistake to consider "positive" (sattvic?) > actions/events and evolutionary-promotive action to be the same, > they are not. > > Occasionally the growth of something new can happen only after > something else that stands in the way is destroyed. > > If the action that at one time promotes growth is sattvic at another > turn destroys something that holds growth back, the same action - > although displaying both sattvic and tamasic qualities - always serves > to promote evolution. > > Conversely, an action that on the surface appears to be sattvic might > in fact be checking progress by overextending the life-span of > something that need to go, whilst at another turn, the same action > might destroy something that should really have been given the chance > to grow. > > In both cases there is action that is sattvic then tamasic (and so > on), but only one of these actions promotes evolution.
Excellent points. And you can't second-guess. It really leaves you without any ground to stand on, which is probably a good thing... ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
