Evolution, Science & Religion (Evolution)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Thursday, June 28, 2012, 13:16 (4314 days ago) @ romansh

Not exactly. Sort of true.
> > 
> > It's not that eastern thought rejects free will, but it rejects the notion that the actor is in itself, a dependent, non-contingent thing. Our ego binds us and tricks us into thoughts of true independence.
> >
> Matt I carefully avoided using the term Free Will. I am aware that buddhism does not reject free will, though it does give a certain cognitive dissonance. 
> -I've practiced Zen over the last 8-9 years, with a couple of small breaks. What parts are dissonant? I might be able to muddy the water a little more for you.-> > Christianity was influenced very heavily by Greek philosophy in that it tried to go and MAKE all of these distinctions. This necessarily creates holes, which the early church waxed over with Dogma.
> > 
> > An old sig of mine warned "An idea formed into a word is at best, a half-truth." The eastern influence on Christianity was purged with the destruction of the Gnostics. It resurfaced in a few isolated places, with books such as "The Cloud of Unknowing," and anything written by St. John of the Cross.
> 
> From my point of view the words have not been purged (at least not all) just the interpretations that have been corrupted.-I've been a student of esotericism for some time. I have a completely different view. Compare the Upanishads or "The Cloud of Unknowing" to what you find in the NT. There's the barest hints of eastern mysticism in there, and when you move away from the synoptic gospels, it spirals into Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul....-It's pretty clear that (the canonical) NT books are much more "command and control" vs the ideal of independent discovery that is the hallmark distinction of "eastern religion/gnosticism." Contrast Ezekiel (very Kabbalistic) with the book of John. -Then compare those with the Gospel of Judas.-The amouun of work that Judas requires the reader to do is much more involved than what you are expected to do with Mark, Matthew, Luke, or John. That's because there is no "mystery" in those books. -I'm very interested to hear your take.

--
\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"