ratikala
Istha gosthi
namaskaram
this was the experiencial knowledge of the Budddha in which countless generations have taken in faith , if we were to follow secular Buddhism's recomendations even to put forward the Idea of release being possible might come under the heading of conjecture , .....
If we are to rule out faith we rule out the principle of Refuge , as what we take refuge in is Buddhi it self (the revelation of the Buddha) , and we take refuge in , and trust that revelation untill the point of our own realisation , therefore there must be an element of faith and trust in what is beyond the scientificaly proven and beyond that which we clasify as the material realm .
this brings us back to the question of universal consciousness , and the question of what Luis is calling individuality
, ....
to me individuality in this sence is a state of Ignorance , .....and to deny universal consciousness (not that that is the best way of describing it , ..) is to deny all else but Ignorance , ....in which case we are eternaly traped in the cycle of birth and death .
this takes us on to ther being an eternal unborn , .......uncomprehensable untill realised truth .
Luis covered your post pretty well; so, I only wanted to elaborate on something he mentioned at the end. I believe the basics the Buddha taught for us are the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination.
The Noble Truths describe the problem, its origin, its cessation, and the path leading to that cessation. They are the subject of His first discourse after awakening for a reason, I believe. They set out His thesis on what the root causes of human suffering are, His promise that there is a way to their end, and then, the path to take to do just that.
this was the experiencial knowledge of the Budddha in which countless generations have taken in faith , if we were to follow secular Buddhism's recomendations even to put forward the Idea of release being possible might come under the heading of conjecture , .....
If we are to rule out faith we rule out the principle of Refuge , as what we take refuge in is Buddhi it self (the revelation of the Buddha) , and we take refuge in , and trust that revelation untill the point of our own realisation , therefore there must be an element of faith and trust in what is beyond the scientificaly proven and beyond that which we clasify as the material realm .
this brings us back to the question of universal consciousness , and the question of what Luis is calling individuality
, ....
Just because the individual does not return - and as a matter of fact, one of our goals is to stop the cycle of rebirths - it does not at all follow that our efforts are "reset to null". Quite on the contrary, actually; rebirths are a hurdle to be overcome.
to me individuality in this sence is a state of Ignorance , .....and to deny universal consciousness (not that that is the best way of describing it , ..) is to deny all else but Ignorance , ....in which case we are eternaly traped in the cycle of birth and death .
this takes us on to ther being an eternal unborn , .......uncomprehensable untill realised truth .