Iain, It's basic Hinduism.
There, the universe is considered Lila, the play of God. Before the universe, God must have been bored out of his/her skull, so the universe was made so Brahman could become Atman, and have some experience. The "play", though, is ideally for Atman to realize it is Brahman, however, and so Hindu practice I think is dedicated to this. Hence, the many Yogas, etc. As Buddhists, where no God is postulated, we nonetheless speak of the Absolute and the Relative; or, as these ideas from Taoism are called, the One, and the 10000 Things. In Zen practice, we can awaken, and indeed experience and live from Emptiness, which may otherwise be called no-mind. That is rather a boring state, although it is wonderful. Some prefer the busy, active, manufactured, illusory mind, full of illusions and playful things, and a "self", all of which are, however, also painful, due to Impermanence and Dukha. Our original nature seems to be the unconditioned no-mind, but, obviously, much becomes painted onto us with the years of conditioning by family, education, and culture. The wonder is that it is possible to sink below this shroud, slough it off, or dissolve it. When this sloughs off through effective practice, we return suddenly to the One, where nothing is happening. Whether we remain that way is up to us, in some ways, but also depends on causes and conditions. Practice helps to keep the contending forces "even", and we may remain awake, and use everything freely of our original Human inheritance. This is not just the Party Line, it is my experience. It is only the Party Line because it is actual, and true, and maintained and offered by Wisdom and Compassion. In some ways, yes, we've all "been there". It's just a matter of remembering, or, much better, clearing the decks and experiencing this again. Zen practice is crafted to enable this, as I think we all trust. --Joe > "iain" wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "Joe" wrote: > > > > The variety we have... share... partake in, from Earth, is better, I think, > > than the monotony of the scene as seen from the Sun. The Sun has a life so > > much like ours before the Absolute became the 10000 Things. Pretty boring, > > with nothing going on. > > > > How do you know what went on before the universe became manifest, and if > there is no experiencer presnt to indulge in the act of experiencing any > experience how can boring exist? > > Are you saying life in the absolute is boring? > > Have you been there? ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> 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/
