Something I just learned about the heart...

[marasinghe]

6. perhaps; perhaps not.

Last edited Mon Mar 19, 2012, 01:19 AM - Edit history (2)

after all, what are the concepts of good & evil, but positive & negative -- like protons & electrons.

sometimes, i think we get hung up on language & metaphysical speculation. but Buddhism is, first & foremost, a way of dealing with everyday life. this is shown in the story of one of the Buddha's followers, who was having a hard time understanding the concepts of Buddhism. in brief: The Buddha, sensing the monk's inability to grasp abstract ideas, took a clean white handkerchief & asked the monk to keep rubbing it between his palms, whenever he was due to meditate. after long hours of this process, the monk noticed how the clean white handkerchief became soiled & black, and, an instant of enlightenment occurred, allowing him to enter the state of an Arhat.

The Buddha's teachings state that consciousness & the self are purely a creation of the interaction of matter, energy, motion & time, without any existence apart from such interaction. which - in my opinion - is similar to a physicist saying that eveything which exists in the Universe is a construct of physical forces, whether electro-magnetic, or otherwise.

Newton's 3rd (i think) law of motion -- "every action has an equal & opposite reaction" -- states the same principle -- though applicable to different forces, as the law of Karma' (the actual term is 'Karma Phala' -- Phala = result; Karma = action in the form of thoughts, words, deeds). thus, i think there is a chance that Karma might very well be the action of some form of energy, set in motion by one's actions. for example: wouldn't there be a possibility that -if we kill an animal, the pain & suffering the animal undergoes at the time of death will create some form of energy, which will gather momentum over time & return in a circular path, to affect us?

in another vein, i saw your thread on dualism. if you would allow me to put my understanding of the matter -- in its primitive form: to my mind, what Buddhism teaches is that in a holistic sense, there is no duality. negative & positive are just two sides of the same coin: when the lion hunts the deer -- if the lion feeds - the deer is dead; but if the deer escapes to freedom - the lion starves.

the same man may treat his child with love & tenderness; yet may act with extreme vileness to torture & kill someone he hates. so, good & evil are two ends of a circular scale, which meet at some point & turn into the other -- in an individual's mind.

both the Yogis & the Taoists will have it that: when Yin reaches its limit, it becomes Yang; and when Yang reaches the end of the line, it turns into Yin.

just to add -- on a last note: The Buddha did state that, he only taught what is conducive to the eradication of suffering, the living of the holy life, and arriving at enlightenment. so, what i have indulged in here -- is of course speculation, outside the scope of Buddhism.