Hi John, No I didn't see the performance, yet. It may sound like a bunch of Western bull, but is is what Buddha preached. Check out the Diamond Sutra. The point is, that once one gets rid of the ego, that concept of inherent arising, all one is left with is selfless compassion. Now the whole bit of becoming enlightened and joining unity is something that I can't speak to. Buddha did that during his previous existence and then decided to come back and teach. Can't argue for or against it being true. None the less, it doesn't sound like Nihilism to me, although it may sound like that to Westerners full of bull.
Cheers, Mark On Mon, Oct 11, 2010 at 9:11 AM, John Carl <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey Mark, > > On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 4:03 PM, 118 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Well John, > > > > If nihilism is being used as a negative term, then I would have to say > that > > B. A. Wallace has not understood living in the assumption of Emptiness. > > > > Did you see the video? Did you see the nifty sash the guy wore in the pic > accompanying the video? obvious he knows what he's talking about! Ok, > maybe it takes more than a sash, but somehow I'd assume that a guy who > translates Physicists for the Dalai Lama probably does know something about > Buddhism and conceptions of emptiness. He sounded pretty convincing to me. > > And furthermore, I don't see how you can characterize Nihilism in anything > BUT negative terms, since it's practically centered upon that whole concept > - negativsm. > > > > > > Let's look at where it takes one. The end result of Buddhist philosophy > > is > > complete selfless compassion for all living beings. Now if that comes > from > > Nihilism, then I am all for it. And I agree, Quality is also a positive > > goal. > > > > Mark > > > > > > The end result of Buddhist philosophy is to take you back to where you > started on your journey and present you with the immediate present. You go > out with a bull, you come back with a bull. Your "complete selfless > compassion for all living beings" sounds to me like a lot of western bull, > slapped on from a hodgepodge of unexamined assumptions and religious mumbo > jumbo. > > And all Nihilism gets you is disaffected poseurs piercing themselves > because > its the fashion of the day. > > At least we do agree - Quality is a positive goal. > > take care, > > John > > > > > > > > On Thu, Oct 7, 2010 at 8:55 AM, John Carl <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Well Marsha and Mark, > > > > > > In the snipped interview of B. Allen Wallace, he says, in disparaging > > the > > > idea of emptiness as being an object of creed or belief, that it'd be > as > > > ridiculous to say that one believes in wood. "that's great. You > believe > > > in > > > wood. Now the question is, can you build anything of it?" > > > > > > If you make Emptiness your creed, you're a Nihilist. He also > disparages > > > that common mistake. > > > > > > The way he uses "emptiness" is in his explanation of SOM. > > > > > > "When we think about a subject, in itself or an object, in itself, > we're > > > talking about nothing at all - a null set." > > > > > > I agree completely. > > > > > > He's a good speaker, and I enjoyed the clip. Thanks for posting, > > although > > > I > > > think he completely negates the idea that Emptiness=Quality. > > > > > > Quality is a positive goal. > > > > > > John > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > > Archives: > > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
