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cuke.com - an archival site on the life and world of Shunryu Suzuki and those who knew him.
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DC MISC.
| 6-07-2010 - How about Buddhist Geeks dot com which now features an interview with Stephen Batchelor which makes me marvel again at all the takes people have on Buddhism and reality - none of which I believe, including my own. He takes on the idea of rebirth and reincarnation (which he points out are the same word in Pali) and says he thinks it detracts from Buddha's teaching and says this implies that some part of us, like some part of consciousness, breaks off and continues. To me, nothing continues. Rebirth is just what's happening right now, no different. Nothing is continuing and it does so with no beginning or end. When people ask What is being reincarnated? (as in if there's no self, being, person, soul etc then what is reincarnated?) How about nothing? Then what is reborn? Nothing. Same as right now. What continues from minute to minute? Nothing. Rebirth after physical death adds no question or problem in my mind and does not add to what we don't know. We don't even know what's happening right now. I like Stephen Batchelor and salute him for not believing as in his book Buddhism Without Belief. His new book is Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist (pardon the Amazon links - please buy at your local Independent Bookseller). Of course Buddhism is atheistic but he's also talking about not believing in some stuff that a lot of Buddhists do. It's always good to destroy beliefs, those enemies of the Way. But I would include in what there is not to believe in, that we have continuous existence before physical death - in whatever way that we think we do. Basically, I think we're fooled by everything. I have no idea what's happening. |
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