10/10 - Dialogue with "Buddha Science" - Conclusion (Steve Daut)

 

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Chapter 9, Buddha Science, Conclusion

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edited Dec 3, 2023

Chapter 9a, Conclusion, Say again?

¶a2  “… The best we have is concepts.  The “real” problem is that we get so enamored of our concepts that we begin to believe they are reality. …”

I say it differently: Getting lost within one’s mindscape.

¶a3  “… to refresh your memory, these Buddha Science observations are interconnection, karma, impermanence, and illusion.

As we have seen, the idea of interconnection is simply that everything is connected to everything else. …”

¶a5  “… Complexity studies involve the idea of emergence, whereby new properties emerge from the complex interaction of many simple processes. …”

This is why taking the time to learn about Evolution is so important, because its insights have direct relevance to your self and how you get along with your self, your body.  That is your internal dialogue, and dealing with your world?

¶a5  “… Biology tells us that we are collection of part from all over the universe, and that our bodies are the result of eons of evolutionary development.  Consciousness itself may be an emergent property resulting from the interconnection of the human (body-)brain, experience, and meant formation. …”

I’m uncomfortable with that wording.   

Our Earth’s constituent atoms, and minerals that do come from all over the universe, but then we have some mind boggling mineral evolution, then biology and life, that’s all homegrown, here on Earth. That’s big, and we don’t know of anything in the universe that can hold a candle to this planet Earth.  

When are we going to own that - and start feeling a little pride for being a self-aware (or not) inhabitant of this overwhelming Earth with its biosphere and hydrosphere and cryosphere of interwoven always evolving life?

¶a7  “Ecology shows us the complex interconnections of organisms with their environment. Not only is the organism dependent on the conditions of the environment, but the condition of the environment itself is inextricably connected to and dependent upon the organism that exist within it.  And these system are also dependent on their past, including all the evolutionary changes and interconnections that occurred to give them their current configurations of entices and functions. …”

Nicely said, worth repeating.

9/10 Dialogue with "Buddha Science" - Science of the Mind (Steve Daut)

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Chapter 8, Buddha Science, Science of the mind

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Chapter 8a, Science of the mind, 

To be or not to be an animal?

¶a1  “Ever since Darwin began the evolution revolution, we have struggled to apply or reject “survive of the fittest” to the progress of society . …”

¶a2  “The middle way of Buddhism escapes this dilemma by taking the approach that if we see and recognize our true (Buddha) nature we’ll understand that our animal nature does not give us a true picture of Reality.   

Think about those words, our “Buddha nature” and our "Animal nature.”  What do they actually say about what we are?  

Animal nature sounds like something bestowed upon us.  But the fact is, we are evolved biological sensing creatures.  Our bodies are animal nature through and through.  

Our bodies and brains are much like most other mammalian brains, but with a slight twist that made all the difference in the world.  Perhaps this is the source of our developed Buddha Nature.

Folds within folds.  Rather than simply being aware of our world, we gained the facility to remember, to file away, to recall with increasing efficiency.  We enhanced those facilities with effective learning, weaving together memories, calculating into the future and dreaming.  Each advance building upon previous achievements. 

Until our human/Buddha mind learned to tame, or at least strive to somewhat tame our animal nature.

¶  “We’ll see that our thoughts and ideas are merely conceptions, a result of causes and conditions. …”

8/10 Dialogue with "Buddha Science" - Science of Life (Steve Daut)

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Chapter 7, Buddha Science, Science of Life

(edited July 29)

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Chapter 7a, Science of Life, That’s life, I can’t deny it

¶a1  “Let’s begin with the most fundamental question: What is life, exactly?  Peter Ward, “Life as We Do Not Know It,”  … life is an emergent quality of a complex system, … 

¶a2  “Carl Sagan and trying to define life.  It’s been impossible.  Capacity to change, ¶4 division between living and non-living, …”

It’s a good question, but what do the answers actually offer us regular people in regard to our normal lives?

We live and experience.  We know what life is and what death looks like, and what non-living material looks like, and that sometimes the boundaries get momentarily blurry.  

Then the hair splitting can begin.  One could argue, biological life is never “dead” because, for instance, once a person dies, the microbial world takes over with an explosion of life forms that inhabit and consume the carcass, transforming it’s tissue back into constituent living biological elements, that are then reabsorbed into the next life form to come along.  There is also time.  It can turn living creatures into life-less rock fossils, only to be ground up again, then absorbed and utilized by another living creatures and so on.  

Still, for regular people why over complicate, or over dramatize?  Life has more interesting aspects for wondering about.

¶a6  “Life in either sense requires balance, a chain of causes and conditions that allow life to emerge and sustain itself. … James Lovelock, Gaia Theory, Earth as interconnected complex living organism…”

5/10 Dialogue with "Buddha Science" - Science ( Steve Daut)

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Chapter 4, Buddha Science, Science

(Edited July 29, 2023)

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I’m engaged in a virtual dialogue with Steve Daut’s written words in “Buddha Science” because I want to better understand where my Earth Centrist, bottom-up-evolutionary outlook differs from his summary of *Buddha Science*. I am in agreement with the fundamentals he presents and I don’t take issue with the book. Instead, I'm all about using this opportunity as a worksheet that might help me do a better job.

I bring it up because the next chapters are interesting in their own right, however I’m going to skim over much of them because anything I add would be superfluous.

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Chapter 4a, Science, Another way of seeing

¶a1  “… (Science) the second finger pointing to the moon of Reality . . . First assumption: we can learn general rules by looking at specific phenomena. … Second assumption: we can separate Reality into smaller chunks and test those chunks from the “outside” without affecting results. …”

¶a2  “… the heart of the scientific method, can be outlined as follows:

3/10 Dialogue with "Buddha Science" - Two fingers pointing at the moon (Steve Daut)

A conversation with Steve Daut’s Buddha Science, Chapter 2, Two Fingers 

This is another Cc's Student's Workbook, of sorts, 

meaning a little repetition is to be expected, 

honing concepts and descriptions.

Food for thought.

Is there anybody out there?

(edited July 28, 2023)

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Chapter 2a, Two Fingers, Pointing at the moon

¶a1  “… We (humans) suffer from the tendency to form concepts that may or may not have anything to do with the words, or intent of the speaker (or author). …  Perhaps this just gives us unlimited number of opportunities for subtle and complicated miscommunication. …”

No doubt.  It's a reason why I think the quest for “Truth” is a self deception.  

People tend to seek their own truth and everyone is the center of their own world. 

¶a6  “Are objects real, or are they just transient event that mark a convergence of smaller events that we call atoms?  Since every language is constrained by a particular viewpoint, is it even possible to describe reality with language? …”

Transient doesn’t mean illusion.  

Why the need to second guess the transient nature of everything?  What other option is there for nature?  

Existence flows down the river of time.  It is what it is.  

Enjoy your transient moment and appreciate being an aware participant in Earth’s pageant of evolution, while you can.

¶a7  “… The Buddha was concerned with the causes of suffering in the world, which he viewed as attachment to our mistaken view of reality. …”

Attachments ~ Expectations, seem like two sides of the same coin.

My particular journey has been a pursuit of clarity and minimizing my expectations of others and the world, because that's how it was.   Finding value within.  Striving to take nothing for granted and remaining supple enough to weather the changes as they come.