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At 09:15 AM 5/29/2006, Jef wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">In the broad sense meant by the
Buddha, to be alive is to want, and<br>
the nature of this wanting, this feeling of separation between<br>
now-self and future-self, is the great understanding he wanted to<br>
share. By understanding this, we (as subjective agents) can clean
up<br>
our internal models of the world and proceed more effectively in our<br>
lives.</blockquote><br>
How many followers of Buddha can dance on the head of a pin and still not
find happiness?<br>
You are absolutely correct about cleaning up our "internal
models" of the world that surrounds us and how we interpret, relate,
and act upon our impulses. Each moment is a choice and the choice
is ours to make. All that means is that it does not matter what
Buddha is if it is only a stance to dance upon.<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Of course, as with all great
thinking, layers of mystery and<br>
decoration were added, so many people have many different ideas of<br>
what it's all about.<br><br>
"Before I had studied Zen for thirty years, I saw mountains as<br>
mountains, and waters as waters. When I arrived at a more intimate<br>
knowledge, I came to the point where I saw that mountains are not<br>
mountains, and waters are not waters. But now that I have got its
very<br>
substance I am at rest. For it's just that I see mountains once
again<br>
as mountains, and waters once again as waters."<br>
- Ch'uan Teng Lu (The Way of Zen 126)</blockquote><br>
Lovely.<br><br>
Natasha<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<dl>
<dd><font size=2><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Natasha
</a><a href="http://www.natasha.cc/">Vita-More</a>
<dd>Cultural Strategist - Designer
<dd>President, <a href="http://www.extropy.org/">Extropy Institute</a>
<dd>Member, <a href="http://www.profuturists.com/">Association of
Professional Futurists</a>
<dd>Founder, <a href="http://www.transhumanist.biz/">Transhumanist Arts
& Culture</a> <br><br>
</font>
<dd><font face="Times New Roman, Times"><i>If you draw a circle in the
sand and study only what's inside the circle, then that is a
closed-system perspective. If you study what is inside the circle and
everything outside the circle, then that is an open system perspective. -
</i>Buckminster Fuller<br>
<br><br></font>
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