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The universe

EverChanging

Well-Known Member
I've pondered and meditated on this subject quite a while: if I am a part of the universe then the universe is the greater part of me.

I am what I am because the universe is exactly what it is. I am a function of the universe, my whole identity intertwined with it and not set apart from it.

So in a sense I am the whole universe.

What are some Buddhist perspectives on this matter?
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
From Dogen's Genjo Koan

http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/GenjoKoan_Aitken.htm

snippet quote:
To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.
 

EverChanging

Well-Known Member
From Dogen's Genjo Koan

http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Dogen_Teachings/GenjoKoan_Aitken.htm

snippet quote:
To study the buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of realization remains, and this no-trace continues endlessly.

Some of those expressions are unfamiliar to me, but I think that may be what I'm saying. And I think this is probably what "eternal life" really is.
 
Some of those expressions are unfamiliar to me, but I think that may be what I'm saying. And I think this is probably what "eternal life" really is.
This is a difficult subject for me and I don't claim to understand it, but I think you may be on to something. In Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha speaks of his eternal life. I think that when he refers to himself in Chapter 16 he is not referring to his carnal body that is subject to birth or death and he is not referring to the Christian concept of a soul. The "I" is something else, something that I believe is not subject to birth or death. The Buddha also makes this clear in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. He makes the distinction between the worldly conception of himself and his real self, as he sees himself.

This an important question in Zen and the Zen masters have asked questions such as "who is sitting and meditating" or "who is typing on the computer" or "who is peeling potatoes". I believe that in order to see this person--the "who"-- one needs to stop seeing things in terms of self and other.
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
This is a difficult subject for me and I don't claim to understand it, but I think you may be on to something. In Chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra the Buddha speaks of his eternal life. I think that when he refers to himself in Chapter 16 he is not referring to his carnal body that is subject to birth or death and he is not referring to the Christian concept of a soul. The "I" is something else, something that I believe is not subject to birth or death. The Buddha also makes this clear in the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. He makes the distinction between the worldly conception of himself and his real self, as he sees himself.

This an important question in Zen and the Zen masters have asked questions such as "who is sitting and meditating" or "who is typing on the computer" or "who is peeling potatoes". I believe that in order to see this person--the "who"-- one needs to stop seeing things in terms of self and other.
It's a koan.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
We are star dust (now what is that? Is it some sort of soil? Or it is space/energy). We have no creation, no birth, no death, no soul, no God, no heaven, no hell, no salvation other than understanding this.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Don't ponder too much on this. Buddha advised against that. 'Acinteyya'. It does not help you in life. :)
 

Electra

Active Member
This an important question in Zen and the Zen masters have asked questions such as "who is sitting and meditating" or "who is typing on the computer" or "who is peeling potatoes". I believe that in order to see this person--the "who"-- one needs to stop seeing things in terms of self and other.

Whoever you believe to be . . .
 
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