Bible Study 111 (with apologies to Erimitus)

Good to end on a positive.

However, virus trouble. As someone once said when leaving a tent, "I may be gone for quite some time"

Look out for "System Tool 2011"...............

Ok, nice chatting with you

Sometimes I think we are more "interpreting" ourselves than the text itself.

yes, how we interpret is based on what we know. how could it be any other way/

Hi again! Having dealt with the nasty little virus (I hope)......

Maybe "judging" rather then interpreting. As in "If I have no love I am nothing"...............if we merely say "good but nothing original" what are we saying?............ What has originality got to do with it?

"desire nothing, know nothing, possess nothing"


More to do with the Buddhist idea of anabhoga-carya (always good to use some term like this to impress the locals..... ) which is translated as "effortless" or "no striving", and relates to "enlightenment" (the bottom line......as they say). As in "at the moment of enlightenment effort falls away, having reached the end of its scope". Obviously if we have no interest in "salvation/enlightenment", or see them as meaningless words, then not much effort will be made to know if such a state is achievable. If our own interest is merely academic, to fill up time, or to groom our persona, then............

Maybe I am being too blunt.

For me to know, to desire, to possess is related to being a self we seek to groom....

Every time we happen on a statement or sentiment that fits in with our conditioned notions we adopt it, perhaps with enthusiasm, at the same time ignoring, as though they did not exist, the statements or sentiments which either we did not like or did not understand. ..............(So our own) jig-saw puzzle builds up within us, until we have a personal patchwork that corresponds with nothing on Earth that could matter in the least. Not in a thousand million kalpas could such a process produce the essential understanding.... (Wei Wu Wei, from the Harlequinade)

The "divine" is not a "self" - not a being amid other beings -but "being itself" (IMO), and is freedom itself. Therefore is not restricted in essence to any particular knowledge, possession or desire.

"Love and do what you will"

Anyway, I've waffled enough.

Part I of many responses to tariki post # 34

(Rather than one of my rambling and unreadable presentations I am going to try and address each point individually and see how that works. This may, in order to maintain some degree on contiguity, entail some reintegration, however, ultimately it may be less difficult for me to present and you to understand) (or not)
-
tariki Maybe "judging" rather then interpreting.
-
E: In order to determine the meaning of a term, statement, or a passage we (at least I) translate what was written into something that I can understand. Ultimately, any meaning that I ascribe is a guess. I consider the evidence and the reasoning and make a probability estimate and then form an opinion based on the probability estimate. (i.e. I guess – maybe a somewhat educated guess but none the less a guess)
-
E: When judging, interpreting, assessing, etc., a passage, my approach, which works for me but, I am sure, would not work for everyone, is to read as many translations as I can find and compare them; examine where the translations are the same and where they are different. Then I find as many commentaries on the passage and compare them in the same way. And finally, on occasion, not frequently, but occasionally, I am able to form an opinion on the meaning of the passage. More often than not I am only able to quote, or usually paraphrase so I am not required to cite, what others think.

E: A great advantage to being stupid is that I do not have any opinions to support and mostly I only state the opinions of others. The world is run by smart people. It might be better if it was run by stupid ones. No, I cannot support that opinion.

E: and so ends part I of my response to your post and I will start part II immediately.

Part II of many responses to tariki post # 34

tariki: As in "If I have no love I am nothing"...............if we merely say "good but nothing original" what are we saying?............

Tarike: What has originality got to do with it?

E: I am still waiting for my first original thought. Until then I can only parrot the thoughts of others.

E: and so ends part II of my response to tariki post #34 and I will start part III immediately.

Part III of many responses to tariki post # 34
-
tariki: "Desire nothing, know nothing, possess nothing"
-

tariki: More to do with the Buddhist idea of anabhoga-carya (always good to use some term like this to impress the locals..... ) which is translated as "effortless" or "no striving", and relates to "enlightenment" (the bottom line......as they say).
-
E: Does effortless non-striving refer to:

“let it be”
‘what will be will be”
“go with the flow”
=
tariki: As in "at the moment of enlightenment effort falls away, having reached the end of its scope".
-
E: I view enlightenment as a synonym to understanding. I looked up enlightenment from the Buddhist perspective and, if I understand correctly; and there is always a first time, (…I know I play the humility card way to much with my self deprecations, sorry about that…) where was I? Ok… Buddhist enlightenment is when desire and suffering are transcended.
=
tariki: Obviously if we have no interest in "salvation/enlightenment", or see them as meaningless words, then not much effort will be made to know if such a state is achievable. If our own interest is merely academic, to fill up time, or to groom our persona, then............
-
E: Well I would like to be safe, and I would like to understand, so I suppose that I am interested on more than a mere academic level, although I also have an academic interest, my persona does need grooming, and to some degree I am really just passing time until rigor mortis sets in. Anyway, if it is not too much trouble, how does one go about being safe and achieving enlightenment (i.e. transcendence of desire and suffering)
=
tariki: Maybe I am being too blunt.
-
E: tact seems to be one of your stronger points.
=
tariki: For me to know, to desire, to possess is related to being a self we seek to groom....
-
E: OK, with you so far…
=
tariki: Every time we happen on a statement or sentiment that fits in with our conditioned notions we adopt it, perhaps with enthusiasm, at the same time ignoring, as though they did not exist, the statements or sentiments which either we did not like or did not understand.
-
E: that has been my experience. See what we want to see and disregard the rest. The majority of the experts that I consult agree with me only because I only consult experts that I agree with. There is a great advantage to being stupid in that when you are you do not know anything.
=
tariki: ..............(So our own) jig-saw puzzle builds up within us, until we have a personal patchwork that corresponds with nothing on Earth that could matter in the least.
-
E: indeed…
=
tariki: Not in a thousand million kalpas…
-
E: how many kalpas to a meter? Just kidding, everyone knows a kalpa is a unit of time. A finite but very long time… Well anyone who goggled it as I have.
-
tariki: Not in a thousand million kalpas… could such a process produce the essential understanding.... (Wei Wu Wei, from the Harlequinade)
-
E: Wei Wu Wei (googled it) is the pen name of a non-Asian Taoist philosopher. . Wu Wei, if I understand correctly, refers to ‘the un-carved block’ i.e. doing without doing, which you referenced earlier.
-
E: So it would take a very long time to attain essential understanding. And unless medical science finds some way to extend my life span (I can probably get another ten years out of this body which is far less than the requisite thousand million kalpas) there will be no essential understanding for me. Doh !! Double Doh!!! Isn’t a thousand million a billion? That is a whole lotta forevers.
=
tariki: The "divine" is not a "self" - not a being amid other beings -but "being itself" (IMO), and is freedom itself. Therefore is not restricted in essence to any particular knowledge, possession or desire.
-
E: that makes sense to me
=
tariki: "Love and do what you will"
-
E: Follow your Bliss…
=
tariki: Anyway, I've waffled enough.
-
E: indecisive is good. Once we decide we have stopped thinking. Always start with an ‘IF’ and end with a semicolon;
----
E: and so ends my responses to tariki post #34

*sigh*

Get yourself some popcorn Bozie!

Just a quick response to and to some degree I am really just passing time until rigor mortis sets in........which reminded me of the words of the English comic Bob Monkhouse who said, when given about two years to live after the diagnosis of Prostate Cancer........"Its not the dying that worries me, but its just that you feel so stiff the following day"

Anyway, my poor old head is far too tired (after pounding away on my keypad striving to get rid of the virus) to respond anymore to Erimitus, at least for the moment.