Re: Mind Is Brain!! Is Mind Is Brain??
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:33 am
Part of the debate on brain/mind, in the buddhist context, concerns the nature of wisdom. For example if brain conceives of wisdom as an object or the mind does the conceiving, then what is the difference? We still have so-called wisdom as a 'something', as an object. Wisdom here is seen as coming after as a result or because of.
So what is the nature of wisdom and can it be the content of a carrier like 'mind' or brain? I think the answer is obvious that it can't be the content. It is not something seen. So what is it then? A while back I posted the comment that the Buddha had no brain. People thought this was absurd. I admit it sounds very strange. But my contention is that wisdom is beyond both brain and mind. It stands by itself unsupported and without cause. It is the nature of buddhahood and is what we really are. So from the standpoint of genuine wisdom, brain and mind are called appearance/emptiness, and can also be called the display of the nature of that genuine wisdom. In Dzogchen you also have the notion that the nature of the five elements is the nature of wisdom. So then you can get some idea of the way both brain and mind can be looked at from the standpoint of genuine wisdom.
So what is the nature of wisdom and can it be the content of a carrier like 'mind' or brain? I think the answer is obvious that it can't be the content. It is not something seen. So what is it then? A while back I posted the comment that the Buddha had no brain. People thought this was absurd. I admit it sounds very strange. But my contention is that wisdom is beyond both brain and mind. It stands by itself unsupported and without cause. It is the nature of buddhahood and is what we really are. So from the standpoint of genuine wisdom, brain and mind are called appearance/emptiness, and can also be called the display of the nature of that genuine wisdom. In Dzogchen you also have the notion that the nature of the five elements is the nature of wisdom. So then you can get some idea of the way both brain and mind can be looked at from the standpoint of genuine wisdom.