Hi Bill,
Here are links to the two papers. Would be glad to hear your or
anyone else's comments.
http;//EdgarLOwen.com/stc.pdf theory of the physical world and
consciousness
http://EdgarLOwen.com/consciousness.pdf consciousness what it is
Both have specific application to my understanding of Zen, since Zen
is precisely consciousness in the sense I use the word.
Edgar
On Aug 27, 2008, at 12:25 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Edgar,
I agree with you that consciousness is the essence of zen. I prefer
the
word 'awareness' instead of 'consciousness', but I assume we're
speaking
about the same thing. For me, 'Buddha Mind' is analogous to pure
consciousness or pure awareness, as opposed to the illusions of
self-consciousness or self-awareness.
I disagree with your statements about 'understanding' pure
consciousness/awareness. I do not believe we can 'understand' this
quality
because 'understanding' is a function of our rational mind, our
dualistic
mind, or self-aware mind. I believe any notions of understanding pure
consciousness/awareness we do have are illusions and possible even
detrimental in experiencing pure consciousness/awareness.
I do know we can experience pure consciousness/awareness, and for
me that is
the essence of zen - experiencing, not understanding.
I haven't thought much about non-human consciousness, so don't have an
opinion on that; except the very fact that you divide consciousness
into
human and non-human is suspect to me.
I would like to read your papers on this subject. You could post
the links
here or send them directly to me at my email address.
Thanks...Bill!
From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf
Of Edgar Owen
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 6:07 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Zen] Re: [evol-psych] Essay: The Shy Computer
Hi Bill,
I posted it here because consciousness is the essence of Zen. Zen is
precisely pure consciousness. So the more we understand about the true
nature of consciousness the more we understand about Zen. I believe
we can
get some good insights by considering non-human consciousnesses. I
have a
couple of papers on the nature of consciousness and the 'true
nature of
things' if anyone is interested I could provide links to.
Best,
Edgar
