Self again (2) — Buddha’s hesitation
In the Lord Buddha’s story, it was said that the after reached his enlightenment he was very reluctant to tell others what he found, since
Lord Buddha was very much aware that what he found was too difficult to make others to understand. It seems, the earliest teachings started with the teachings of the Four Noble Truth and other stories showed that the idea of the Karma, Cause and the Effect has followed it. —– though, behind those story, there seemed to be a many misunderstandings or a twisted truth.
Give a thought or two, is the teachings of the Four Noble Truth or teachings of the Cause and Effect contain any difficult logic or the theory which gave a headache to comprehend.
Considering the situation, that the time when the oral tradition of the teachings were written down by the Vedic Brahman ( = only the people who could read and write then, even if he was converted to the Buddhism, like Shari Putra.), the teachings of the No-self may not to be written down faithfully. Because to the Vedic Brahman who has been taught to believe that the existence of the Atoman (perpetual soul) it was too irrational to write down the teachings of Anatoman (= No-self). And as I wrote it in the previous post, it is almost impossible to explain it without using the notion and the word of “self”. = (If you use the word Self, it is effectively recognised the existence of the Self.)
So that, it is much more natural to believe that what Lord Buddha found in his enlightenment was the idea of the No-Self (which was the rational answer from our existence as a cause) = Anatoman. Yet this was really a problematic, revolutionary idea then. = naturally very difficult to teach against the others popular belief. Therefore, it naturally made him to become very reluctant to talk about —– until, he found the way to teach it without the words = in action (and the Upaya.)
(Without having this under line tradition — (or the hidden fact) behind, it is hard to explain how and why the idea of No-Self or Void came up and became very popular in the time of Mahayana.)
.
Virture of DHARMA (2)
When I was a small boy, my brother showed me an electric trick
of a small light bulb connected to a battery with thin wire, and light
it on and off, which he learned in the school on the day.
I learned the trick and improvised it further and made a model of
town (?) which having street with electric-poles carrying supply cable
and street-light, a house with a light inside etc etc.
—
Then a question arose —– ? ? ?
Why electric power goes every where, where ever the wire was
connected. And regardless how many light bulbs or length of the wire connected.
( Well, anyhow they are only few bulbs and few meters of wire —– it was a kid’s play )
Why the power doesn’t refuse to go one place or why a bulb some meters away, light up in the same instant
with another bulb. —– If we are walking on the street, it takes longer to get far, and not necessary go all the
places. That was a COMMON SENSE I have acquired so far until then.
So that, I had to learn “Incredible, Invisible Phenomena” and its rules !
(It was my start for the unknown frontier 🙂 )
———- Strangely, even though I’m using pretty big IC etc, to build electronic circuits these days, still I’m
not necessary sure, why electron has to go just because it is conductive, in more or less in the same speed ?
( Ultimately still there is no explanation Why a material such as lead gives positive voltage and lead oxide
gives negative voltage in a lead accumulator, and electron start to move when they are connected with wire ! )
The same can be said, why the light has to go even the end of the universe, just because it is an open space ?
———- Why they never refuse TO GO THERE saying I DON’T WANT. 😀
You may say, simply it is just an emission of energy —– ? Really ?
Those seemingly imperative phenomena are still puzzles to me. Why the light which got no fuel can travel
to infinity ? —– is it a kind of inertia ? But a Photon which got no mass can have inertia ? And why it bend
a course when it go through near heavy star while having no mass —– how gravity can affect it ?
—– Anyhow, it seems everything spread and try to get the state of even balance. (Light brighten the dark. :-))
So, it is safe to say, the basic tendency of the Dharma is to gain an equilibrium with its perpetual
spreading dynamism, which keeps changing moment to moment.
In fact this is one of the fundamentals of the Physics called Entropy.
( Hence, even a culture, knowledge, technology spread (so does the MacDonald 😀 )—– and applying
this view may explain the Democracy —– Dharma hate the concentration of the power, Dictator 😀 )
—
Contrasting to this, the existence and its activities of the Life-form is having different principle.
As I wrote before, the Dharma also support the Life-form to exists.
To create the Life, it is necessary to configure the selected atoms and molecules to combine
in specific order and create a pattern, as organic matter —— and ultimately the DNA.
So that the Dharma having two-way process, one is out-warding dispersing process, and the other is
centripetal combining process. —– Any Life-form has to go through those two-way process.
This is the Life’s fundamental Karma. The Wheel of the Life. ——– Process of configuring
the matter and the structure, then its destruction / disintegration.
This is the reincarnation in the Buddha’s teachings. ( It is nothing to do with Vedic Atoman and their
idea of reincarnation of perpetual soul,—– which is the idea Buddha rejected )
—
Life’s centripetal process and its tendency is the self-replication of the pattern (DNA) and the self-preservation,
in another word, it is self-centered. Though, Life-form is only a very peculiar small part of the Dharma,
naturally Dharma is dominated by the wider rules which is out-warding dynamism —– spread and
gain the equilibrium. So that, even the inside of our body, chemical exchange such as Oxygen and CO2 or
balance of Hormone etc or even the communication of Nerve signal are all following the dispersing principle.
And remarkably the breeding, as its name Propagation suggests, is the activity to spread the species
as wide as possible, and to fertilize as many as possible.
Inevitably such as mankind’s existence is heavily entwined those conflicting principles / Dharma.
Therefore pushing one aspect too far always create fatal stress / unbalance with external wider world.
So that, to keep a good balance with the environment and the society is the crucial matter
for the survival.
Too much exploitation of the Nature, let alone destroying the Nature, would lead to a heavy repercussion.
( Which we mankind is facing this very moment )
——- Interesting point is, as we are having the Operation System which follows the principle of
the Dharma inside of us, and the sensing mechanism of those operation in our Feeling /
Subconsciousness as the Default, some of the very sensitive people can see or sens those balances.
— For instance, an inherent feeling of compassion and the drive for the Charity is one of its manifestation
of the internal Dharma —– to help or spread the wealth to others, is a psychological mechanism to lessen
the unevenness of the society. If the wealth and the power is evenly spread, there wouldn’t be a conflict, and
it would be a Peace and a Harmony in its society and with the environment. — unless somebody with Ego and
Greed want to have all for him (her ?) self. ( Unfortunately this is the case too often )
—
If you know the Buddhism, you may found the description here is somewhat familiar.
As a matter of fact, I thought I was approaching from the scientific observation. —– then realized,
it is nothing new. —– They are all what Buddha found and taught then.
But this fact indicates, this is not a fancy observation or theory of today. They are the same findings and
the insight, by the man of 2500 years ago, who had no modern scientific knowledges.
Simply because the Dharma is the same Dharma.
—
Too much centripetal, selfish mind / Ego and Greed invites heavy repercussion and would lead to
the Self destruction. Therefore, be charitable and share the compassion with others.
Too extreme is also detrimental. Better stay humble and in the Middle way.
And above all, as the Dharma is, open your eyes wide and spread your view. Don’t get stuck
with your narrow view and narrow thinking or cling to a fixed idea. —– Be flexible to the changes
as the world is changing with its dynamism and the flow, every moment to moment.
As our thinking is emanated from our centripetal mind or Ego, better be detached from it and
embrace the Dharma. Stay in Mushin. Spread and fuse your mind to the Nature / Dharma.
—-
You must be amazed, all those Virtue and Virtues wisdom are not deduced from the concept, but they are
the inherent Rules or tendency of the Dharma itself. This is the Default settings you can see !
And this is the proof of the greatness of the Buddha’s teachings.
What Buddha did was, just pointed the Dharma with his finger. That all.
( But funnily enough, in 2500 years, so-called Buddhists have been gazing at his finger )
We need to see the Dharma with our own eyes. Which is on front of us.
___/\___
—
leave a comment