--- In [email protected], Ian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I can see the point there and it's an interesting one. Still, I prefer to > think that philosophical *problems* are a kind of neurosis > perhaps. Philosophy sometimes gets a bum rap, but if we take it for what > it is - a tool, a guide, a pointer, use it skillfully and not attach to it, > then it serves it's rightful purpose. Sometimes a few good words can open > doors. > > Ian
--------------------- Hi, my first post here. Perhaps inspired by watching NOVA's "Origins" series, believe it reasonable to speculate that natural forces brought about animals with bigger brainpans-- humans. This, of course, took a very VERY long time. With their increased brain capacity humans became aware of themselves as separate physical entities; that is, (seemingly) separate from everything else in nature. Eventually humans created civilizations/cultures (including agriculture to fill begging bowls with grains) and so finally humans had the LEISURE available to them to speculate about their existence and everything else. This larger brain triangulates/appreciates life via the NURTURED senses and eventually also through accumulated knowledge (oral or written). Philosophy is a natural outcropping, a natural consequence of all of that. When humans were bands of hungry, wandering, cave-dwelling, meat-eating clans struggeling to survive one more day I seriously doubt that anything remotely like Buddhism or philosophy existed. >From a certain perspective, philosophy (including contemplating on the cause of suffering) is a relatively modern luxury. (smile) > > > >"Zen is a way of dissolving philosophical problems, not of solving > >them.It is a way of getting rid of philosophy, because philosophy is a > >sort of neurosis." > > > > words from my zen teacher. > > > > > > gassho > > > > > > > > > > > > > >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! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZenForum/ <*> 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/
