[ExI] Heroism without self-sacrifice

Gary Miller aiguy at comcast.net
Tue Mar 11 00:30:38 UTC 2008


Terry said: 

<<
"For there is suffering, but none who suffers; Doing exists although there is no doer.
Extinction is but no extinguished person; Although there is a path, there is no goer.
— Visuddhimagga
_________

Conventional thought/belief of a hero is one who sacrificed his life for the good of others. Sacrifice/suffering evidently exists but Visuddhimagga {a Buddhist philosopher?} stated there is none who suffers or no one dies/no life lost in the context of being a hero.

Words like hero and suffering are thoughts, inter-subjective processes of cause and effect/interacting energies. We continually change as cells die and replace in the organ system of the body. >>

I believe the author was as is typical in Buddhist and Hindu teachings speaking about the illusion of ego or self.  When enlightenment is achieved the ego of self is gone for a time and one perceives the world one's being as having merged with all that is.  This altered state is accompanied by a state of euphoria and great emotional and spiritual intensity.  

Although the state does not last long.  It is deeply transformational due to it's intensity.  And obviously highly addictive given that followers will study and devote years of their life in an attempt to attain this state if only for brief periods.

Buddhists believed that if you entered this state prior to death then your self would not be required reincarnate and your cycle of rebirth was ended.

A master of achieving such states (one who has trained to enter the state at will) is free from pain and desire because the seeming reality of the enlightened state seems much more real that what we know as everyday reality.

I believe that this state of consciousness is the true goal of true mystics from faiths and religions.  Of course the vast majority of any faith are followers and although they may be awe of the true mystics are not usually able to attain these states themselves.  A true teachers goal is to help disciples attain this state. 

The objective reality of such states can not be proven scientifically.  Indeed alternate explanations such as the release of internal pleasure chemicals in the brain is a tempting and somewhat plausible hypothesis but why does this state serve to convince those who experience it that it is this altered state which is reality and it is our normal everyday state that is the illusion?  And why does this state inspire those who achieve it to start religions, form cults, and help others to achieve that same state.  

Such altruism may be viewed as a crucial ingredient for a hero.  After all Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammad, probably serve as role models and heroes for more human beings on this planet than all others combined.  And I know this sorely galls many folks here who blame religion for many of histories wars, atrocities and probably rightly so.

But heroes lives serve as examples for the rest of us to live by.  Can we blame a hero though for those who use their names and the stories of their lives to control others and manipulate their teachings for their own gain?

Descending Soapbox now...





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