Imagination (poem)

With imagination, mere clouds
in the sky become water dragons,
dancing way up above us all.
With imagination, the sun
on the ocean with the waves
crashing on the shore
become water sprites dancing
on the surface of the sea.
With imagination, the hum
of the computer fan becomes
the angelic voices of a heavenly choir.
Without imagination, clouds are clouds,
the ocean waves crash on the sea shore,
and my computer fan has this annoying hum.
For imagination takes the ordinary
and transforms it into the extraordinary.

Meditation on Ultimate Reality

Noumenon is mind, and phenomena, cosmos. When the ignorant mind discriminates between noumenon and phenomena, unreality arises in the form of confusion, and sometimes madness.

By viewing both noumenon and phenomena as one, nondual reality arises, and thus serendipity. For nonduality is the ultimate reality.

Only in the ignorant mind is the reality of existence suffering. Indeed, the mind that realizes nonduality is real has attained Nirvana.

All of what has just been written about the cosmos, the mind and reality is True. Only unbelievers doubt this Truth about reality itself.

Beyond the Buddha is Adi Buddha, the primordial Buddha. Though he is no Creator, Adi Buddha is the originator of all things, even the Creator and his Creation, the cosmos.

Although this Truth is alien to the Christian mind, the mind of the Buddhist accepts it as True and real.

---

Reference:

Adi-Buddha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi-Buddha

What My Sex is Like in my Head (satire)

In public I sometimes behave like a socially inept 12-year-old. Some women who observe me get anxious, and ignore me. Other women try to maintain oblivious serenity. A few of them are disgusted with my "attitude."

Then I go home, sleep less than six hours a night, and is a willing captive of the manic libido!

Why? Because it beats the sadness inherent in depression, the anxiety about my lack of a sexual relationship.

Indeed, I especially loathe the social isolation that consistently befalls me after getting 6-10 hours of "normal" sleep at night.

For me, life isn't fulfilling because no woman is willing to cross the threshold and get to know me intimately.

Do I have to plan the seeds of passion into her mind to inflame her heart so that she crosses the line which separates us? I think not: no woman in her right mind wants to cross that boundary because she is safe living her life on her own terms without me.

She does not wish to share a life together with me for the same reason that I used to enjoy sleeping until noon: its safety socially isolates each of us from being intimate lest all hell break loose. This is also why women fear having mad sex without regret, because they loathe casual sex for its lack of a long-term relationship.

To most women, sex and intimacy is tied to a relationship which leads to a family. Thus sex for them is a means to an end: having children and mainly, companionship with a suitable lover and perhap a husband.

For men, sex is about lowering the blood pressure and rewarding their mate for picking them to protect them from other men. Women however call this reason for sex "selfish", ignoring the simple fact that their family-mindedness may be a mind game that they create for themselves to justify enjoying sex to the fullest.

In my humble opinion, women think about sex more often than men, but convince their men that their selfish sex is sexist whilst hold family-mindedness as the highest of human virtues. This is the work of the libido, not a rational mind.

For love is tied to our emotions and feelings about sex and relationships. They cannot help but be.

Indeed, libido is both the motivator of our feelings and emotions to use said feelings to establish emotional ties so that the mind does not turn to the dark side (depression) and cause a person to become socially isolated from family, friends and loved ones.

We fear loneliness so much that we ignore the fact that we spend most of our lives alone, shaking off the stress caused by the resulting anxieties.

This is why my sex activity is all in my head, while my hand is beating a tattoo to the south! >:)

---

Original post: September 1, 2011 at 6:27 PM

Reference:

Hypersexuality: http://bipolar.about.com/cs/hypersex/a/aa_hypersex.htm

Life Is All Smoke and Mirrors (satire)

Nothing is either good or evil. There just is Yin and Yang. All good and evil is is just smoke and mirrors.

Yet Westerners love to delude themselves by believing good and evil have been here from the beginning. The only thing that is here from the beginning is the Tao.

When humanity becomes extinct, the Tao will remain. Then a new champion will arise take our place.

My bet is on the cockroaches...

Thus all of creation is neither solely good nor solely evil. Instead, all of it but the balance of Yin and Yang, dark and light as one.

This is why it is impossible for me to accept Christianity or even Islam completely. Christianity makes it seem as good and evil pre-date Creation. If you're not good enough for Islam, then the Fire is your destination. It all seems black and white to the ʍuslim.

However, by not being Jewish or Christian, but somewhat touched by the Quran, ɪ still am going to spout words that would get me stoned in the Middle East, mainly because I have outed myself as an unbeliever in strict Muslim eyes and an apostate to Christian and Jewish ideals.

However, it is all an illusion, this concept of good versus evil. For in each of us is the potential for great evil and also great good.

Few of the religionists will grasp my meaning, because they take sides on the concept of good and evil, falsely tainting it as "good versus evil" which is a fallacy if one believes that "forces of good" and "force of evil" predate humanity.

Each of us creates by our actions good or evil, depending on whether each act leads to confusion or to understanding.

In Buddhism, it is said that evil is the result of actions that create confusion and pain. All good actions result from creating conditions that favor peace and understanding. It is impossible to be a goody-two-shoes, because when you least expect it, your good actions might result in suffering for other living beings.

One of the Buddhist precepts is about not killing a living being. Bacteria are living beings, but if we do not kill them with antibiotics, then we might end up dead. This is why we wash our hands.

Yet killing a living being is against the Buddhist precepts. However, because a bacteria is causing us harm, we allow ourselves the right to defend ourselves to kill it. Once ɪ continue my thoughts on this topic, the line between good and evil becomes fuzzy. It is no longer a question of black and white anymore.

Good and evil exist together. You cannot have one without the other. They are not opposites; they are complements.

In my opinion, the same applies to the Absolute and the Void. They coexist to form Space. Yes, I am saying being and nothingness coexist to form the whole universe, reality and unreality, the whole existence, and life as we know it.

Therefore the end of the world story of all evil being consumed by Fire is only half the story of that time, because the brimstone is a clue that the Fire cleans everything of the darkness that is Evil. Once cleans, the goodness of all souls God create remains to return to him in the Absolute. This is known as returning to the Godhead.

Only the wise will understand what I just said. Those people who think ɪ am babbling, their understanding is limited.

This is why it is best for you who understand to just forget what I just said. Truth like this only sounds like babbling but is known to the depth of the souls of the wise.

---

Originally postedː ʍarch 31, 2014 03ː18 PDT

With Silent Awe: A Short Critique of Creationism and their Detractors

Sometimes I find both sides of this argument of creationism versus evolution tend to abuse logical fallacies to prove their point. I do not buy the logic of "either you believe in God or you don't" because it is a fallacy.

Why should I take sides regarding belief and faith with regard to religion?

Like the existence of God, evolution is a matter of belief, for belief that evolution did occur is based on the archaeological evidence, but is actually based on faith in the scientific method. However, the scientific method fails to prove the existence of God because it requires belief in something outside the realm of science, which excludes use of the scientific method.

A Christian would have to base his faith on a fallible source called the Bible, much of which is exaggerated to the point of miraculous — the feeding of thousands as Jesus makes his Sermon on the Mount. As well, logical fallacies are often used to make a point, but on close examination they do not stand to reason — the Cretan tells lies.

This may be why the prudent Christian when faced with such challenges by non-believers claims Christianity is outside the realm of scientific argument and only has to do with the spiritual realm.

Within that realm, ANYTHING is possible. Within the realm of science, the scientific method requires evidence based on collection of data. Merely having faith in the face of lack of evidence is not proof of anything significant.

If we take the Bible as a collection of mytho-poetic prose designed to appeal to some of humanity's spiritual needs, then it becomes useful to the few people who believe. Yet the detractors who side with Christians would then object to calling the prose "myths".

In the case of the Bible, myth is defined as hidden truths revealed by consulting the compendium. This is why a good Bible cross references each chapter and verse against other chapters and verses.

Yet a rational mind that has faith in the scientific method makes the false conclusion that myths have only one definition as a fairy tale that does not hold any truth at all.

Obviously then, if it deals with the spiritual realm, then for atheists, the Bible is devoid of truth. This too is false.

Truth is not based on evidence; it is based on what the mind knows to be true i.e. if an atheist deems the spiritual realm to be unknowable because he really has no experience in dealing with it then, rather than saying so, he concludes that a Christian's experience with the spiritual realm is subjective and thus tainted. Because of his lack of experience, the atheist assumes that the spiritual realm is unknowable.

What the atheist sometimes does instead of stating this, is to mock the Christian's experiences.

However, a Christian's subjective experience of the spiritual realm is his story and is real to him. For the only way to view it is not with derision but with the same respect you pay to your grandparents when they tell you about a time before you were born, WITH SILENT AWE.

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Originally posted: December 22, 2012 12:19 AM

The Richness of Existence (satire)

My Photos

If seeking riches were truly normal to everyone, then no one would be poor and there would be no wars. Yet such a utopia hides the dark dystopia where the riches sought are obtained through the hard work of the middle class who are compliant to orderly production.

Anyone who is non-compliant in such a world is subject to social control, be it through laws that favour the rich and oppress the poor, and by means such as the widespread use of psychopharmaceuticals.

Yet the seeking of riches is not normal to everyone. Some people are poor and others are rich, but most people are middle class.

There is no dark dystopia in reality, for that is the side effect of our suppressed fears about today's world where the West is peaceful while elsewhere, there is conflict and war.

Instead, we live in a world that may be a wonderful place to almost everyone, whether rich or poor. Seeking riches is not a norm but a choice that determines who would be poor and who would be rich.

Of those few people who do not experience the world as a wonderful place are people who live in nations which are embroiled in conflict, a war brought upon them by forces beyond their control. There, survival is a daily struggle.

Still, war is beyond the imagination of people in the West, most of whom live in peace.

Almost seventy years have passed since the last world war was fought. In that time, nearly three generations have seen changes in technology that captivate them today.

Once there were computers of immense size that took up the space of a small warehouse, cooled by gallons of water. Today, we have computers in our smartphones many times more powerful in the palm of our hands.

If we choose to buy such devices, then it is out of necessity. Such devices do not make us rich, yet enrich our lives. Still, there is much enrichment in reading a book or a newspaper rather than using a device to do the same.

Even though I have taken thousands of pictures with my smartphone, the joy of drawing is many times more than that experienced on viewing the scene in a photograph. For me, it is a luxury to draw. I wish that I could spend more time drawing but photography occupies more of my time.

Photography gives me exposure to my immediate world. No matter how many hours I might spend drawing, each hour is spent away from the immediate world. That is why I prefer photography to drawing.

Because I live in a nation in the West, my immediate world is free of war. My photographs reflect the relative calm of the moment.

Yet I am aware that outside of my world, people live in abject poverty, be it a child in the West or a child in the Middle East. Their poverty is often due to politics, whether it is due to sanctions by Western nations or due to rule by despots.

Even though I am aware of the world outside my immediate environment, my purpose in taking photographs was to show the beauty of the moment, be it a sunset or the sparkle of lights at night, and to document what might be lost to future generations, be it a mural on a wall or the hundreds of animal and plant species.

Indeed, by taking pictures I am trying to capture the richness of existence, living in the West in a developed nation.

Of course, photography on a super phone is not the same as with a high quality camera. There are limitations due to battery size and quality of the camera firmware in the phone. Despite such limits of technology, most of my photographs might be considered beautiful to other people.

Although my pictures are wholly mine, I share them freely with the world through GooglePlus.

Debunking The Metaphors of Permanence (satire)

Theists got it wrong about God being a metaphysical divine being that exists in reality.

God is a Germanic adjective that translates as "good". Therefore "god" means "all that is good," and does not represent a real divine being.

Instead, the divine being is a anthropomorphic metaphor made in the image of man. Thus the phrase "man is made in the image of God" is actually a declaration of humility designed to control the ego lest a person think himself a god due to a perverted egocentricity known as egomania.

Instead the line in Genesis which declare mankind to have been made into the image of God actually means that all human beings are born basically good. It does not refer to an actual divine being, contrary to the dogma of the monotheists.

Rather God is a metaphor for all that is good in humankind.

As for the soul, there is no soul that is permanent and immortal, for the only living soul is that of the body-mind.

Likewise, just as speculation about gods is moot, so too is speculation about the afterlife.

However, the cult of Amida Buddha is based on a metaphor about wisdom and compassion (endless life of compassion and endless light of wisdom).

In the context of Buddhism, "endless" actually implies a long moment in time that begins in the distant past and ends in the distant future.

Likewise for the terms "forever", "immortal", and "never": "Never" represents an ideal reality; "Immortal" represents an ideal state; and "forever" represents an "infinitely" long time. For these terms are but metaphors of permanence which represent abstract reality as opposed to physical reality.

In the abstract world, everything lasts forever and God exists. This world is a metaphysical one, and thus is not tangible in the physical world.

Even the adjective term "infinitely" is an abstract term that implies an ideal reality in which an object lasts forever. In reality, the term "infinite" is inaccurate because nothing in reality lasts forever. Indeed, "infinite" actually means an indeterminately long time which eventually ends.

Therefore, "life eternal" does not represent "immortal soul", for "pneuma" as the soul is not the same as "life".

Nor does "eternal" equivalent in meaning to "immortal". "Eternal" refers to a state of eternity, which still represents a very long time that eventually ends, and is vastly longer than human life itself.

"Life eternal" then does not mean human life is eternal when you place your trust in Jesus. Rather it subtly says "the Christian way of life values family;" and your progeny bring you "life eternal" e.g. you and your descendants as Christians bring you life eternal.

It's not about immortality; it's about human propagation. Immortality thus is a metaphor for such propagation.

For the metaphors of permanence which the monotheists use, be it "immortal soul" and "life eternal", actually are euphemisms for human propagation and thus guarantees "life eternal."

Only in the abstract world does God and the terms which represent an infinitely long time exist. They are actually reified (made to exist as a material thing) by the mind alone. Even when monotheists say "God exists", what they really mean is that their belief in God reifies the abstract thing called "God".

Monotheists deny this interpretation, and claim that in the beginning, God existed. Thus the abstract world is assumed to have pre-existed before the creation of the physical world. Only if the mind is made real by reified beliefs can it become a permanent object which is a separate object from God. In the physical sense, they do not exist as physical objects. Rather, the mind and God are both abstractions of what we call "the mind".

To a materialist, such abstractions do not exist outside of the mind. To a Buddhist, speculation about such abstractions are moot. The mind still exists even when my concept of it refers to an abstract term called "the mind" that is reified until the mind has a purported physical existence, even though it does not.

When a person is asleep or dead, the physical world does not exist. Yet there are some people who believe Dreamtime is the true reality. Yet the world of dreams is akin to the abstract world, because once awake, they both do not exist.

Thus it is possible that the beliefs of the monotheists puts their minds to sleep, and they awaken to the abstract world within where their God exists along with His heaven and hell that He created.

At the same time, what the previous sentence means is, the monotheists are asleep to the physical world and the worldliness that arises from living in this reality. They only know of God as depicted in the Bible. Yet monotheists live in their own Dreamtime and know not of the physical world.

No one can awaken a Christian to the reality of the physical world, because his beliefs isolate him from true reality. He only sees the reality of his own making, which is but a benign delusion that allows him to function in the real world without being tainted by worldliness.

Through his prayers and rituals, the Christian purifies his soul. I only object to the non-Christian concept of the immortal soul that a few foolish Christians accept as true though it is not Biblical. Instead, the conception of an immortal soul is blasphemous within context of the Bible.

On this point, both the primitive Christian and I do see eye to eye regarding the reification of an immortal soul as blasphemy. In Buddhist thought, such a soul violates the principle of no-soul, that all is impermanent in the physical world and nothing lasts forever. Christians who cling to such a concept will then argue that "life eternal" implies an immortal soul. This is a fallacy because a soul is only alive for a limited time, from birth to death.

As well, the adjective term "eternal" is not a synonym of "immortal". As I stated before, both terms refer to the cycle of human life and human propagation. Thus "eternal life" refers to the propagation of human life and "immortal soul" refers to human generations of one's ancestors and descendants.

Thus have I debunks the metaphors of permanence that delude the monotheists. For the truth is, nothing exists forever. Yet to a Buddhist, this frees him from permanence. The resulting freedom is the liberation of the consciousness from the detritus of the material world.

Throughout his liberation from such delusional metaphors of permanence, the Buddhist will come to realize that anything is possible, even a world of impermanence. For impermanence makes the material world possible. Indeed, the physical world is always in flux.

Mental Illness as Society's Reaction to Inappropriate Honesty (satire)

In order to deal with reality, we sometimes develop elaborate fictions to cover the past or a defect of character.

Apart from the ravages of drug abuse, including the psychosis resulting from B-vitamins deficiency, which is prevalent amongst chronic alcoholics and may be part of other forms of abuse - though never acknowledged, few people would consider their fictions as the cumulative effect of the clever white lies they daily say over the course of a lifetime.

Even when we are threatened by a mortal illness which is in part due to the idiosyncratic varieties of personality and their attendant mental habits, few of us are willing to admit that it is due to lying to ourselves about reality.

Might mental illness be due to a history of white lies used to handle reality?

Maybe so, maybe not. Consider the white lies the State feeds us daily both through law enforcement (e.g. cannabis drug laws) and the media, be it news and edutainment (talk shows, reality TV, movies and advertisement).

Indeed, propaganda might be both cause and effect of the human ability to conceal the truth by not mentioning the obvious.

Schizophrenia might just be an effect of a society that cannot handle honesty and truth 24/7.

Some civilizations fell because a few revolutionaries became too honest about their current situation and caused doubt amongst the representatives of the ruling body for a specific monarchy, only to have a civil war fuelled by differences in ideology (monarchy versus nationalism and later, socialism versus free-market capitalism).

Russia's descent into communism was a post-modern example of this.

Most recently, examples of ideological warfare include the political damage control occurring in America due to Wikileaks, the recent protests in the Maghreb (north Africa from Morocco to Egypt) and in the Middle East (especially Libya, Egypt and Syria), and the hype and propaganda on cable news.

With regard to society, the honest people tend to get penalized for their honesty.

If you are honest about your taxes, you pay more taxes; if you are honest about your sexual exploits, then you tend to either get cock-blocked or end up alone in your old age; if you are honest about your emotions, then you get misunderstood. If you keep being honest, then sensitive friends and loved ones might get annoyed and either threaten to end the relationship or find someone who will tell them the white lies they want to hear.

Although I'm exaggerating about honesty to prove a point, I'd like to emphasize that total honesty entails full disclosure.

On the prospect of full disclosure, most people are adverse to expose their indiscretions to the public due to the public scrutiny which may arise as a result of such disclosures. When faced with the prospect of honesty, we'd rather baulk and wonder, "What would the neighbours think?" In the end, such honesty might lead critics to ignore the Biblical adage that "he who has no sin may cast the first stone".

If mental illness is due to society's reaction to inappropriate honesty, then mental health is the result of the individual's pro-active use of appropriate honesty.

With honesty and in the face of total disclosure, perhaps there is an appropriate outlet for it, both through journal writing and especially on-line blogging.

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Originally posted: February 3, 2011 at 9:24 AM
Previous update: 8/28/11 1:01 PM
Current update: 11/28/13 03:28 AM

I'm no Fan of Halloween and Michael Myers

In order to be a fan of the Halloween series, you would have to believe that psychic powers is a fact, that evil causes a human to live forever, and that a druid cult is the reason why Michael Myers killed his family members.

Truth is, psychic powers are fake. Good or evil may come of what a human being creates, and satanic cults cannot cause a child to kill his family from afar.

Ain't make believe fun? >:)

Seriously though, Halloween is not a credible source to base anyone's belief in good and evil. As for satanic cults, what the Halloween movie series is promote propaganda for impressionable minds.

Anyone who uses horror films to base their moral values in and believes in the supernatural only believes in an imaginary and undead avatar of evil, but that's not how evil works.

For evil may come of what a human being creates.

Belief in evil in the reified form of Michael Myers may make great horror, but to take it seriously as a fan may lead one to question the consensual reality and perhaps invent an abnormal one.

FWIW I find truth and a firm grip on reality a lot more fun than make believe.

God as the Projection of the Muse (poem)

God is a romantic notion
that the unconscious creative processes
of the mind are projected
as the sole divine creator
while conveniently ignoring
the reality of human existence.

The Absolute is Almost Infinite

Buddhas and bodhisattvas are not the same as God, as even these Buddhas are finite in lifespan.

Only the Absolute is infinite in Western terms. In Eastern terms, the Absolute is both infinite and finite.

Compared to humans, the Absolute is close to infinite in age yet is finite in the sense that it too has a very long age i.e. is older than the present universe as the universe as science knows it has been reborn an almost infinite number of times.

Thus it is true to say the Absolute is older than the current universe as it has been reborn countless times and there has been no primordial creation.

Free from Karmic Destiny (poem)

Free, free, free are we
when Awakened &mdash free to be
unborn like a babe.
The Tathatagharbha is
Ultimate Reality,
a metaphysical womb
into which we are reborn,
free to travel to
an almost infinite number
of Pure Lands as Buddha.
as immaculate as the Unborn.
Having Awakened from Ego,
Nirvana is where anything
can happen, but few of us
can experience this freedom
due to karmic destiny.

Truth about Samsara

In this world of dreams — Samsara itself —
it is impossible to imagine Ultimate Reality,
let alone fully realize Nirvana.

Vairochana Buddha in Journey to the West

In the Journey to the West, Vairochana is mentioned in the third book, and is part of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Obviously then, Wu Cheng'en is illumining the Avatamsaka Sutra through the imagined exploits of the Monkey King - by a stretch. :)

Indeed, Buddha Vairochana is represents Pure Awareness, and helps the disciple to center her consciousness in this sphere of Reality.

in the Vajrayana text the Mahavairocana Tantra, Vairochana is an emanation of Adibuddha and represents the cosmic element of form (rupa). He is the primordial (transcendent) wisdom of the sphere of reality. His is in the center of the mandala consisting of the five Transcendental (Dhyani) Buddhas, and his rites pacify negative emotions. He is white and his two hands are held against the chest with his thumbs and forefingers touching. He radiates the light of Buddhahood and his consort is Akashadhateshvari, who is the sovereign lady of infinite space.

So the dance of light and the space for it to radiate through creates the united dance of Dharmadhatu (Emptiness, the realm of truth known as Buddha Nature). It is this dance that is represented by these unions and the sexual imagery depicted in Tantra.

Other names for Akashadhateshvari is Dhatvishvari or White Tara.

Shunyata: The True Nature of Reality (poem)

The wise Buddhist teacher,
Nagarjuna once said:
"To whomever emptiness is possible,
All things are possible."
That emptiness is known to Buddhists
as shunyata, which the Tibetans
know is free from permanence
and non-existence; indeed, it is
'empty' of permanence and
'empty' of non-existence.
Emptiness goes beyond nihilism and
eternalism, and thus is
the true nature of Reality.
Shunyata is like space,
the complete openness,
which allows anything to occur,
for reality is 'empty'
and not fixed in any way.
Thus, anything is possible.

The Guideline of Reason Proves Immortality is A Fallacy

This is the reasoning and understanding of human logic. For example, we may reflect: All realms are created from the mind. If there is a world such as ours, where good karma and bad karma are about equal, there must exist other worlds such as the three Evil Paths, with a preponderance of evil karma, as well as celestial realms, where good karma prevails. It therefore stands to reason that the Western Pure Land exists, as a result of the pure, good Vows of Amida Buddha as well as the virtues of the Bodhisattvas and other morally superior beings. — from pages 162-163, Buddhism of Wisdom & Faith by Thich Thien Tâm

In context of this text, "realms" refers to reality consisting of worlds and multiverses. Since our reality exists, it follows that the reality where the Three Evil Paths prevail also exists as well as celestial realms (e.g Tusita Heaven and other heavens). Therefore Amida Buddha's Pure Land of Bliss also exists due to the 48 Vows of Amida Buddha and the virtues of Bodhisattvas and other morally superior beings (including all sentient beings who have heard the Buddha's teachings about the Pure Land).

Thus, the mind is only empty of these realities, worlds and multiverses when disbelief prevails and faith in the Primal Vow is lacking. Such a mind is possessed by people who only believe that this reality is the only reality. Due to disbelief and lack of faith, such people are deluded. At best, they are limited in their belief and faith to one reality.

By clinging to this reality, their mind is closed to the possibility of the other realms, due to ignorance.

However, the believers of the Pure Land and other realms should not dismiss them because of their ignorance since ignorance, being the root of their delusion, is thus the source of their suffering.

Instead Pure Land followers are best to sympathize with them but not let their sympathy cause them disbelief and loss of faith due to the vain arguments of the unbelievers who lack faith in the Primal Vow.

For their delusion has blinded them to Truth, and their limited view of Truth is dependent on their belief in one reality only.

Even so, quantum theory has proven the existence of many realities. Therefore it also follows that belief in one reality only assumes disbelief in quantum theory. Thus the belief in only one reality" is based on classical physics and its related cosmology, and affirms Einstein's belief that the spooky physics of quantum theory is beyond his understanding. As well, Einstein's genius is limited.

Given that Einstein's genius is limited, belief that there are many realities is based on the Genius of the Buddha, which is just as infinite as those realities are.

However, within the context of the non-self principle that all these realities must be consistent with a finite existence, each of these realities too have a finite existence. Yet an infinite number of realities does not violate the non-self principle because an infinite number of realities does not assume infinite existence.

Likewise, Buddha Nature is limitless because even though it is of finite existence, the theory of karma suggests that its finite existence is boundless. Thus, boundless does not mean infinite. Both boundless life and boundless light are therefore of a long but finite existence.

Also, the consciousness stream (mind stream) is of a finite existence that is boundless. Thus finite is not empty of boundless, which merely means long.

Therefore boundless light means long-lasting light; and boundless life, long life.

Finally, a long life is empty of immortality and thus does not imply an immortal life.

Emptiness is Inconceivable and Indescribable

"The Victorious Ones have announced that emptiness is the relinquishing of all views. Those who are possessed of the view of emptiness are said to be incorrigible." — Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

"The Victorious Ones" refers to Buddha's disciples.

"Emptiness" is shunyata, the middle way between eternalism and nihilism.

"Relinquishing of all views" is to let go of conceiving of all the different views of reality.

"Those" refer to Buddhists, and anyone who has heard with the heartmind of Buddha's teachings (the Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination).

"Possessed of the view of emptiness" means clinging to any concept of emptiness, be it nihilism or eternalism and any variation of these two extremes.

Thus, emptiness is inconceivable and indescribable.

For the absolute truth of emptiness is that it is empty of conception and description.

As for eternalism and nihilism, belief in either would lead to delusions about immortality and fear of death.

For immortality is empty of impermanence, and the fear of death is empty of the will to live.

This is why emptiness as the absolute truth and that which is empty are associated with each other.

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For further explanation, click on the tags included with this article.

Two Extremes of Non-Buddhist Thought: http://gandhara.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-extremes-of-non-buddhist-thought.html

On Ghosts, the Fear of Death and the Affterlife

Most likely, ghosts are nothing more than fictions arising in the mind.

There is nothing wrong about creating fictions in your mind, as long as you get your facts straight, and that fiction obeys physical law but allows for anything seemingly supernatural to be metaphor for subtle qualities of the mind.

Thus, a ghost is actually based on the memory of a deceased loved one or mistaken for a dead family member.

If the latter, the purported "daemon from hell" pretending to be said family member is actually a manifestation of fear of death and the afterlife. It is similar to a wrathful diety.

However, ghosts do not exist in reality; for they are figments of the imagination "created" by the mind. A Buddhist would call ghosts delusions manifesting as spirits of the dead, and mostly likely projections of fear of death.

This is why Pure Land way came into existence, to prepare people for the afterlife.

One side effect for rebirth in the Pure Land is that it reduces any chance that a person's ghost will linger, provided that the deceased's family fully accept Buddhism as the toolkit to rationalize supernatural phenomena as projections of the mind.

By doing so, the Buddhist becomes acceptable to atheists.

Vairocana Mantra

Just as Amida is
compassion personified,
so too is Vairocana
wisdom personified.
As the Nembutsu is
Amida calling,
the Vairocana Mantra
is Wisdom calling.

Vairocana is a celestial Buddha being the Adi Buddha which represents that wisdom of transcendental reality, the True Reality of Being and Non-Beinng. This reality is non-dual because it is empty of ignorance and because samsara is the root of nirvana.

For it is suffering that motivates us to seek its cure through understanding of the Four Noble Truths and to engage in spiritual activities that result in the spiritual treasures of teaching the Dharma, humility, meditation, giving, and fearlessness to cure spiritual ignorance out of which craving arises, the destruction of anger and hate, eradication of selfishness, neutralizing pride and greed, and pacification of envy.

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Vairocana: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vairocana
Five Wisdom Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Dhyani_Buddhas

Sexuality is The Choice Made Unaware

Nurturance by caregivers determine our sexuality more so than the nature of our genetics.

Thus sexuality is a hierarchy of unconscious choices, similar to the ones we make before we learn language.

Sexual orientation is the end result of these choices.

Indeed, the treatment of a child by their parents, their peers and society determines whether s/he will prefer to socialize with male or female but the choice of sexual orientation depends on who s/he feels comfortable with.

Although this may feel like s/he has little choice, that is because this choice is foremost an unconscious choice.

If one feels as though one has no choice in the matter, then that is because sexual orientation occurs without reasoning since sexual desire is based on feelings.

Any reasoning is made ex profacto.

For love grows after the fact of making it,