I can tell you what I *don't* think: that all sense perceptions are nothing but an error, a miscalculation.... my lower back pain is not a miscalculation.
Ian >What do you think? > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Ian Johanson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[email protected]> >Sent: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 12:42 PM >Subject: Re: [Zen] Input 'I'-dentification... > > > > It will be interesting to see if Bhikkhu Samahita agrees with this > > interpretation. > > > > Ian > > > > >This is a very good post. The Buddha taught that all sense perceptions > > >are nothing but an error, a miscalculation on the part of the fooled > > >mind. > > > > > >This claim, outrageous as it may appear, can be verified in the Zen > > >practice. What Zen practice reveals to us is that all the sense of > > >space, time and change, that all of us tend to go through during our > > >tenure here on earth, is merely like apparitions in a dream. > > > > > >This is exactly what your post is talking about. I've really enjoyed > > >seeing it articulated that way. > > > > > >Keep up the good work, and your good intentions too! > > > > > > > > >On 8/23/05, Bhikkhu Samahita <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Friends: > > > > > > > > Overwhelmed, fooled & deceived by simple Sensing! > > > > > > > > Touched by contact, while blinded by ignorance, the unlearned and > > > > untrained ordinary person conceives this false & fatal assumption: > > > > 'By my eye, ear, nose, tongue and body I clearly sense this & that! > > > > Therefore: "I am"! I perceive this & that: Therefore "Do I Exist".! > > > > I feel this & that: Therefore: "These feelings are mine and me".....! > > > > I experience this & that: Therefore: "These experiences I am"......!' > > > > > > > > Then he proliferates this self-deception even further by breeding: > > > > "I am this eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind right here & now!" > > > > "I always was & have been this eye, ear, nose, tongue, body & mind!" > > > > "In the future, I will be this eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and >mind!" > > > > "I am this form, feeling, perception, construction & consciousness!" > > > > "I was this form, feeling, perception, construction & consciousness!" > > > > "I will be form, feeling, perception, construction & consciousness!" > > > > Thereby consolidating the false & constructed notion of a stable Ego! > > > > > > > > Finally he externalizes this non-existent entity 'Me' by comparing >it: > > > > "I am equal to this and that...", and "I am better than this and >that...", > > > > "I am worse than this and that...", thereby creating first egoism, >then > > > > pride and arrogance, and moreover detrimental feeling of >inferiority... > > > > > > > > Clinging to this hypothetical 'I'-idea, which he mistakes for real, >he > > > > becomes desperate, when whatever it is, he identifies with, changes, > > > > decays, becomes otherwise, fades away and finally disappears... > > > > He is terrified by the thought: "It is 'I' & 'Me' who changes, >decays, > > > > becomes otherwise, fades away and finally disappears..." So big is >the > > > > power of this unnoticed idea, that it produces fear, anxiety & >horror!!! > > > > > > > > There arises no such great panic, when one understands it as it >really is: > > > > The six inputs by the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind are not >mine, > > > > this is not what I am, this neither is nor belongs to my or any other > > > self! > > > > This form, feeling, perception, construction & consciousness is not >mine, > > > > this is not what I am, this neither is nor belongs to my or any other > > > self!!! > > > > > > > > Fundamentally releasing from an invisible prison is such >understanding... > > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________ > > > > PS: Please include the word Samahita in any comment, since then > > > > will my automatic mail filters pick it up and I will see it & >respond!! > > > > Bhikkhu Samahita, Sri Lanka. > > > > > > > > Friendship is the Greatest ... > > > > Let there be Calm & Free Bliss !!! > > > > > > > > http://www.What-Buddha-Said.org/ > > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Buddha-Direct > > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/What_Buddha_Said > > > > Dhamma-Questions sent to my email are quite Welcome. > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi > > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/S27xlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Current Book Discussion: Appreciate Your Life by Taizan Maezumi Roshi Yahoo! 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