THE
ARCANE
ARCHIVE

a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.


TOP | RELIGION | BUDDHISM

Anatman, Identity and Change )

To: alt.zen,talk.religion.buddhism,alt.religion.buddhism,talk.religion.misc
From: dharmatroll@my-dejanews.com
Subject: Re: Anatman, Identity and Change (was Re: Smullyan, Robot-Anatman, Roshi Alarms (was Invitation to http://taoism.net))
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 1999 05:17:12 GMT

In article <36F509E7.354FFAA2@bu.edu>,
  Tang Huyen  wrote:

> In Buddhism, it is said that thing-events (including us) are not
> identical and not different: they (including us) change from moment
> to moment, and therefore are different, yet retain enough identity
> (inertia, momentum) to conserve a sense of ... identity. The recipient
> of the return of a deed is not the same as the original doer, and yet
> is not different.
>
> Metaphysicians insist on clear-cut conceptual choices: either absolute
> identity (as with Platonic-Aristoteltian Forms and
> Abhidhammic-Abhidharmic dhamma-dharma-s), or absolute difference
> (as the absolute is different from the relative in said metaphysicians),
> but the Buddha negotiates an in-between flexibility (and therefore is
> accused of being sloppy by the Abhidhammist-Abhidharmists).

Right. This is exactly the move made by modern analytical philosophers
in the area of personal identity as well. While *identity* requires such
a strict absolute identity or difference, Derek Parfit suggested that
identity is not what matters for my survival from moment to moment. What
instead matters is psychophysical continuity and connectedness from one
moment to the next. In a relational view of personal identity, there is
not a strict yes or no answer, and survival is always a matter of degree.
Thus Parfit also negotialtes an in-between flexibility as well. Of course,
this is the move to make, if Parfit (and the Buddha of course) are right
that there is no further fact to being the same person, but only the
recurrance of dharmas which are very similar to the previous ones.

> So, not the same, and not different, that is how the Buddha negotiates
> the treacherous waters of reality. He has high tolerance for ambiguity,
> conceptual ambituity, you see, while metaphysicians have zero such
> tolerance for ambiguity. Metaphysicians insist on clear-cut conceptual
> choices, and that is what makes him and them differ.

Until 1984, when all of that changed, and now there is a very Buddhist
feel to a lot of contemporary Western personal identity theories.

--Dharmakaya Trollpa

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/       Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own    

The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org.

Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small
donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site.

The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories,
each dealing with a different branch of
religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge.
Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit:
interdisciplinary: geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness
occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells
religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo
societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc.

SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE

There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):

Search For:
Match:  Any word All words Exact phrase

OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST

Southern Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo, including slave narratives & interviews
Hoodoo in Theory and Practice by cat yronwode: an introduction to African-American rootwork
Lucky W Amulet Archive by cat yronwode: an online museum of worldwide talismans and charms
Sacred Sex: essays and articles on tantra yoga, neo-tantra, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship
Sacred Landscape: essays and articles on archaeoastronomy, sacred architecture, and sacred geometry
Lucky Mojo Forum: practitioners answer queries on conjure; sponsored by the Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
Herb Magic: illustrated descriptions of magic herbs with free spells, recipes, and an ordering option
Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers: ethical diviners and hoodoo spell-casters
Freemasonry for Women by cat yronwode: a history of mixed-gender Freemasonic lodges
Missionary Independent Spiritual Church: spirit-led, inter-faith, the Smallest Church in the World
Satan Service Org: an archive presenting the theory, practice, and history of Satanism and Satanists
Gospel of Satan: the story of Jesus and the angels, from the perspective of the God of this World
Lucky Mojo Usenet FAQ Archive: FAQs and REFs for occult and magical usenet newsgroups
Candles and Curios: essays and articles on traditional African American conjure and folk magic
Aleister Crowley Text Archive: a multitude of texts by an early 20th century ceremonial occultist
Spiritual Spells: lessons in folk magic and spell casting from an eclectic Wiccan perspective
The Mystic Tea Room: divination by reading tea-leaves, with a museum of antique fortune telling cups
Yronwode Institution for the Preservation and Popularization of Indigenous Ethnomagicology
Yronwode Home: personal pages of catherine yronwode and nagasiva yronwode, magical archivists
Lucky Mojo Magic Spells Archives: love spells, money spells, luck spells, protection spells, etc.
      Free Love Spell Archive: love spells, attraction spells, sex magick, romance spells, and lust spells
      Free Money Spell Archive: money spells, prosperity spells, and wealth spells for job and business
      Free Protection Spell Archive: protection spells against witchcraft, jinxes, hexes, and the evil eye
      Free Gambling Luck Spell Archive: lucky gambling spells for the lottery, casinos, and races