Search found 42 matches

by norman
Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:55 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Consciousness in the Heart Sutra
Replies: 4
Views: 1804

Re: Consciousness in the Heart Sutra

The skandhas are interpretations of what, to us, appears as "void" or "empty". But emptiness are no thing but the skandhas as functional appearances, so that what Appears is a concept in mind, i.e., form, sensation, perception, and so on. All sensorial phenomena (dharmas) are NOT...
by norman
Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:07 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Consciousness in the Heart Sutra
Replies: 4
Views: 1804

Consciousness in the Heart Sutra

The knowing of an Appearance as an object is constituted by its sensorial awareness of that very appearance. So that the knowledge of the cognized Appearance or Form appears as the being-conscious of that Appearance or Form, its apperception. Form therefore is composed of its sensorial awareness, or...
by norman
Sat Mar 10, 2012 5:21 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Cupness
Replies: 20
Views: 6874

Re: Cupness

According to Dharmakirti's apoha theory of universals, the cupness of a cup is derived from the exclusion of everything that is not a cup. Do you have a quote? I'd like to read it. What we intuit in the meaning of the word "cup" is its Cupness (its qualities), and that Cupness is what we ...
by norman
Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:53 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Cupness
Replies: 20
Views: 6874

Re: Cupness

Plato was discoursing on his theory of ideas and, pointing to the cups on the table before him, said while there are many cups in the world, there is only one `idea' of a cup, and this cupness precedes the existence of all particular cups. "I can see the cup on the table," interupted Dioge...
by norman
Sat Mar 10, 2012 1:51 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Cupness
Replies: 20
Views: 6874

Cupness

The cupness of a cup doesn't derive from anything; neither consciousness, nor Dependent Origination, nor anything else (function, condition, shape, use, etc), since all these are phenomenal as concepts. The "origination", or source as pertaining to its ”cupness”, and its phenomenal awarene...
by norman
Tue Dec 06, 2011 9:25 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

Hi, Sherab, sorry for not responding earlier. Arising-and-ceasing, as a concept, is an appearance. There is nothing factual about concepts at all. Conceptuality in itself is not a concept, since what conceptuality is is the conceiving-act as such. We cannot conceive the act-of-conceving, because tha...
by norman
Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:33 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

Hi, Kyosan. Yes, what Namdrol said: phenomena as appearances. There are no other phenomena other than appearances. Nor are there any appearances other than phenomenal or conceptual; and this applies to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, all the doctrines, etc, just like the Heart Sutra says. I disagree that phe...
by norman
Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:29 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

"Own-being" is therefore not cognizable as an object of thought. well in ignorance it is. :popcorn: "Ignorance", and "own-being" are aspects of the same same 'thing'. Ignorance is the state of mind that things are perceived, and own-being is the perceiving of the thing...
by norman
Sun Nov 13, 2011 1:57 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

Hello, moderators, is it possible to move this thread into the Dharma-free-for-all? I see now that I put it into the Mahayana-forum.

Thank you.
by norman
Fri Nov 11, 2011 12:07 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

" Form itself does not possess the own-being of form, etc. Perfect wisdom does not possess the mark (of being) ‘perfect wisdom.’ A mark does not possess the own-being of a mark. The marked does not possess the own-being of being marked, and own-being does not possess the mark of [being] own-bei...
by norman
Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:46 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Re: Own-being cannot be cognized

” Form”, that is without form. And why? Because no form exists in form; and this fact of its non-existence in itself, that is the wisdom which has gone beyond. For form is without the own-being of form; and this being without own-being, that is the wisdom which has gone beyond. For the non-own-being...
by norman
Thu Nov 10, 2011 11:46 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: Own-being cannot be cognized
Replies: 15
Views: 4844

Own-being cannot be cognized

Voidness is not a quality of objectivity, phenomena being their absence of themselves phenomenally as conceptual objects. Phenomena cannot be perceived at all, they are appearances integral in their perceiving, which is why they are called "void", or "dependently originated". &qu...
by norman
Mon May 23, 2011 8:58 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies
Replies: 12
Views: 36104

Re: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies

Astus,

Anything in particular you would recommend from that list?

Thank you.
by norman
Mon May 23, 2011 8:58 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Mahayana/Vajrayana Links and Resources
Replies: 427
Views: 183423

Re: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies

Astus,

Anything in particular you would recommend from that list?

Thank you.
by norman
Mon May 23, 2011 8:53 pm
Forum: Zen
Topic: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies
Replies: 12
Views: 36104

Re: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies

Great topic! Has anyone read The Record of Linji ? http://www.amazon.com/Record-Nanzan-Library-Religion-Culture/dp/0824828216" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The Linji lu (Record of Linji) has been an essential text of Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhism for nearly a thousand ...
by norman
Mon May 23, 2011 8:53 pm
Forum: Discovering Mahayana Buddhism
Topic: Mahayana/Vajrayana Links and Resources
Replies: 427
Views: 183423

Re: Chan Texts: Translations & Studies

Great topic! Has anyone read The Record of Linji ? http://www.amazon.com/Record-Nanzan-Library-Religion-Culture/dp/0824828216" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; The Linji lu (Record of Linji) has been an essential text of Chinese and Japanese Zen Buddhism for nearly a thousand ...
by norman
Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:20 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)
Replies: 12
Views: 3462

Re: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)

I don't think I understand the distinction you allude to between the metaphysical on one side and the positivistic on the other; positivism is definitely a metaphysics (in the sense of an ontology), while materialism as I understand it is intended as a critical antidote to metaphysical idealism, wh...
by norman
Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:32 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)
Replies: 12
Views: 3462

Re: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)

Aemilius wrote:Mt Meru is really 84 000 Yojanas high! See the correct calculations here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meru
My bad. The length seems to vary between different sources.
by norman
Fri Mar 25, 2011 2:57 pm
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)
Replies: 12
Views: 3462

Re: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)

Hello Jikan, Reeves' contemporary version, Kato's Threefold Lotus, and Watson's Lotus seems to have received most praise. Why do you consider Murano's version to be the best one? I can't find any reviews or comments on it, so it's hard to make an interpretation of its "quality", so to spea...
by norman
Mon Mar 21, 2011 1:58 am
Forum: Mahāyāna Buddhism
Topic: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)
Replies: 12
Views: 3462

Re: The height of the Treasure tower (Lotus Sutra)

Thanks, Jikan. Indeed alot of Mahayana sutras seems to indulge in these extraordinary elements for dramatic effect. My preferences have usually been for those sutras, texts, etc, that has kept the dramatic imagery to a minimum. Usually you have to dig for years to get to the nuts and bolts, or the i...

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