tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post5058900316212521708..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Jorge Luis Borges: Un problema (A Problem) / Hilton Obenzinger: The Theft Outright: Inauguration 2017Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-21556947306992285802017-01-16T06:53:40.407-08:002017-01-16T06:53:40.407-08:00i missed the real-time televised experience of the...i missed the real-time televised experience of the jfk inauguration (my father was stationed at NATO's southern headquarters in naples for 1959-1962) but was back in the states for the cuban missile crisis, and the assassination, so my memory of frost's appearance is based on seeing the film, not the event as it happened (unlike lee harvey oswald's murder, which took place while i was watching tv) - how full of historical events my life has been - so far - and as obenzinger's poem points out, here comes another one<br /><br />obenzinger himself has had an eventful life and sounds like a mensch in his self-description - http://www.columbia1968.com/hilton-obenzinger/<br /><br /><b>self-description</b> - there's a fraught and problematic phrase, as borges points out - don quixote's problem of reconciling his view of self with his homicidal action is like that of uncle sam coming to terms with his deeds with respect to the original inhabitants, the kidnapped africans, the workers from asia and from the rest of the americas<br /><br />here's something about how one sees self in relation to world that i read recently:<br /><br />In <i>The mind illuminated: A complete meditation guide integrating Buddhist wisdom and brain science </i>(2015), Culadasa (John Yates) gives a picture (3 pictures, really – figure 57, pages 411-413) of the changes in worldview he says can be produced by practicing the program of development he delineates. There are a lot of circles and arrows in the illustrations. Here are the captions for the three stages:<br /><br />p. 411 Three assumptions – that I am a separate Self, that I live in a world of relatively enduring and self-existent “things”, and that my happiness comes from the interactions between my Self and this world of things – are shared throughout the subminds making up the mind-system. They provide the foundation for our sense of meaning and purpose in life.<br /><br />p. 412 The “true” nature of reality, as revealed through Insight experiences, directly conflicts with all these assumptions: there are no “things”, only process; all we ever really experience are the fabrications of our own minds; the Self I think I am is as impermanent and empty as everything else; the world can never be the source of my happiness. When these truths are realized by the deep unconscious minds, it is severely disruptive.<br /><br />p. 413 As Insight matures, individual sub-minds reorganize their internal models to accommodate the new information. This transformation brings about a completely new worldview, life takes on a new and deeper meaning and purpose than ever before, and there is a much greater sense of ease, regardless of what may happen.<br /><br />The thought balloon on page 413 states, “I am not separate. Everything arises and passes away due to causes and conditions. This body and mind are not things, but causal process. Having arisen due to causes and conditions, they are causes and conditions in their turn Ultimate truth is knowable, but not through ideas and concepts. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”<br /><br />On January 13, 2017, Culadasa/John Yates tweeted:<br /><br />"A New Buddhist Path: Enlightenment, Evolution, and Ethics in the Modern World" by David R. Loy. I purchased it after one of his talks. This is an excellent work. Here he clearly explains why the emerging global culture needs the Buddha’s teachings, and why Buddhism needs Western culture and science. With the proper combination of both, humankind may even survive its successes and excesses.<br />mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com