fluid spirituality

[brightlotusmoon]

"If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview."
-Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

I replaced Buddhism with my own spiritual beliefs. I like the idea that science and faith need to work together to understand the universe. Religion should not stay five hundred yards away from science at all times.*
It's part of the reason my novel has elements of both magic and science, working in harmony.

*Name where that paraphrased quote comes from and you get a cookie.

Comments

[gwynethfar.livejournal.com]

You know, I read a couple of books about Buddhism, and it seemed like such a downer. I guess I'm not meant for enlightenment this time around. ^_^

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's an acquired taste, I think. I like some of the concepts, but I can't see myself following or practicing it.

[gwynethfar.livejournal.com]

Right, like, I can't foresee ever eating an awesome cookie, with M&Ms and frosting and stuff, and being like, "Now, when I eat this cookie, it will cause me suffering, because everything causes suffering." No. It's a cookie. There is no way it will cause me suffering.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Mmm, frosting...
Ahem.

When I was in pre-school, I had a very mean, aggressive classmate named Justine. Her parents were Buddhists and didn't believe in discipline or punishment the way my parents did. Justine ran wild. She liked to hit me and pull my hair.

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

What if the cookie is poisoned?

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Do we know the cookie is poisoned? Because if we don't, well... we're still happy.

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

Our ignorance of its deadly nature does not change that nature.

And it's a slow-working poison, too.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Hmm...
I suppose, then, that it would cause suffering. However, as humans we tend to do things we love despite the fact that we could suffer. We rationalize, we justify. So, even though the cookie would bring suffering, we might still eat and enjoy it, because at that moment, it is a delicious cookie and we will gain pleasure and satisfaction from eating it. Living in the moment. Even up to our deaths.

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

But we can't assume the cookie is delicious. It may have been baked by a three-toed sloth, who surely has no natural talent for baking, and cannot even read the recipe. The chances of a successful production of a delicious cookie are unlikely.

I will concede that, before the actual tasting of the cookie, we could fool ourselves into believing it is tasty, and therefore create a temporary reality, a spider-web that seems substantial until the breeze of the unsavory sensation tears it to shreds.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Well, it has been shown that we can create tiny pockets of personal reality in our own minds, so we could indeed believe that the cookie is delicious and wonderful. People do have varying tastes, though, and perhaps a cookie baked by a talentless three-toed sloth would be very tasty to some.

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

True.

Well, if the subject was told that the cookie was poisoned, and that the subject would die a slow death upon ingestion, and then the cookie was forced into the subject's mouth, then the cookie would never be a source of joy for that person.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

No, the cookie would never be a source of joy... but what about other desserts?

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

Why do you seek to assign labels to food? Labels just serve to divide them and prevent harmony.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

I don't, I'm just thinking.

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

You can't fool me. You're one of the food oppressors! I should have realized it was all a conspiracy.

You know, I'm surprised a discussion about cookies lasted this long.

[brightlotusmoon.livejournal.com]

Sigh.
*throws up hands*
Okay, you caught me. I am a food oppressor. It's a massive, global conspiracy, by the way. You cannot stop us!

So am I. It was fun!

[poelaramont.livejournal.com]

The Resistance shall not give up!

Ah, the philosophy of cookies. It was fun.