christopher::: wrote: but we are still left with the riddle of why this process exists, why we live in a Universe where compounded beings evolve in form. I'm not bothered by that. Not all questions will be answered, it doesn't mean you don't consider partial answers that can explain things.
If you are not bothered by the fact that this is a question that likely never will be answered, why try to layer over it with a god notion or some sort of universal mind notion which when pushed answers nothing?
Responding to Tilt...
We've had this discussion already, in the Advaita discussion, and you did not seem to find satisfaction in my response.
Because they really explain nothing.
The metaphor of God presented as an observing father in the sky, is a very limited concept. Alan Watts has explained this at length in his writing. Have you ever read Watts? The God of the bible does not fit well with the evidence of Science, and what we know about Nature...
I am not talking about any sort of big daddy in the sky. I have yet to see a god notion, however refined, that really explains anything.
Have you ever read Watts? The God of the bible does not fit well with the evidence of Science, and what we know about Nature...
If we are to derive a god notion from science, it would be a horrifying god.
But there are many other ways a Supreme Intelligence can be conceptualized.
One can conceptualize anything, but that does not mean that such a conceptualization offers a reasonable or useful explanation of how things are or why things are.
Myself, the concepts of Dharma or Tao make more sense...
These are the same thing - Dhamma and Tao?
christopher::: wrote:If you look past differences in terminology and focus instead on methods, the nondual teachings of highly realized beings sound quite similar, imo, whether Hindu, Buddhist, Native American, Kabbalah, Taoist, Gnostic, Sufi, etc..
But in doing that, far too much is ignored for your claim to hold any real water. What is in the terminology and behind the terminology are very different assumptions.
How they describe the Universe or "Ultimate Reality" (the words and conceptions) will differ, but most caution that the perceptions we hold in our heads are nothing like that mysterious reality itself, and better to cultivate a still non-egocentric mind and grateful heart then to think too much or become overly analytical.
Mysterious reality. That is pretty much it, which is why I prefer the Buddha’s teachings.