Heart Of The Matter

Mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy.

Potential energy is the energy held by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors.

The kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion

Motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future.

Existence is the state of having being or reality in contrast to nonexistence and nonbeing.

Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within the universe, as opposed to that which is only imaginary, nonexistent or nonactual.

Energy is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of [thermodynamic] work and in the form of heat and light.

Thermodynamic work is one of the principal processes by which a thermodynamic system can interact with its surroundings and exchange energy.

A physical quantity, quantitative property (or simply quantity) is a property of a material or system that can be quantified by measurement.

A physical system is a collection of physical objects under study. A thermodynamic system is a body of matter and/or radiation separate from its surroundings that can be studied using the laws of thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation.

Radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium.

A physical object or physical body (or simply an object or body) is a collection of matter within a defined contiguous boundary in three-dimensional space.

Three-dimensional space (3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a mathematical space in which three values (coordinates) are required to determine the position of a point.

A mathematical space is a set (sometimes known as a universe) endowed with a structure defining the relationships among the elements of the set.

A set is a collection of different things; these things are called elements or members of the set and are typically mathematical objects of any kind: numbers, symbols, points in space, lines, other geometrical shapes, variables, or even other sets.

A mathematical object is an abstract concept arising in mathematics, where an abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (real or concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods.

That signified and its signifier refer to the two main components of a sign (anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign), where signified is what the sign represents or refers to, known as the “plane of content”, and signifier which is the “plane of expression” or the observable aspects of the sign itself.

A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs.

A universe is a collection that contains all the entities one wishes to consider in a given situation.

Matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume.

Volume is a measure of regions (a non-empty, connected, and open set) in a topological space, three-dimensional space.

Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It  experimentally defined as a measure of the body’s inertia, meaning the resistance to acceleration (change of velocity) when a net force (the sum of all the forces acting on an object) is applied. The object’s mass also determines the strength of its gravitational attraction to other bodies.

An intrinsic property is a property of a specified subject that exists itself or within the subject.

  • A subject is a being that exercises agency, undergoes conscious experiences, and is situated in relation to other things that exist outside itself; thus, a subject is any individual, person, or observer.
  • An object is any of the things observed or experienced by a subject, which may even include other beings (thus, from their own points of view: other subjects).

H.H. the Dalai Lama’s commentary “Defending the Two Truths, Practicing Wisdom” 

By meditating on the sphere wherein all dualistic elaborations have been pacified, we accumulate wisdom. And we accumulate merit by deepening our conviction in the validity of the casual principles within the context of conventional truth.

Categories such as “subject and object,” “perception and object,” “one and many,” “self and others,” and of course, the “existence of all phenomena” are dependent upon worldly conventions. They are thus relative.

Bodhicharyavatara: 

[108] Analysis and what is to be analyzed
Are linked together, mutually dependent.
It is on the basis of conventional consensus
That all examination is expressed.

[110] If phenomena are truly analyzed,
No basis for analysis remains.
Deprived of further object, it subsides.
That indeed is said to be nirvana.

When the object of an inquiry is subjected to critical analysis, the subject too is revealed to be devoid of any intrinsic reality or intrinsic origination. This absence is described as nirvana, the state beyond sorrow (defined in terms of the cessation of karma and afflictions). So while a meditator is directly experiencing the emptiness of intrinsic existence of all phenomena, there is no basis for grasping onto the intrinsic existence of anything else.

For the meditator in this state, there is no awareness of subject and object. A subject-object distinction could be made, but since the meditator’s mind is totally fused with the absence of inherent existence, there is no need to analyze the emptiness of the analyzing mind itself.

I/O

Proposal of 

First Principle: Establishing that…

One can never physically perceive the fundamental components of nature. 

Ultimately, all one can ever “know” of them subjectively is their mathematical attributes, thus objects of math. 

Mathematically all numbers, rational or irrational, are ultimately  component the base unit, thus all real numbers are composite of 1.

Fractionally there is still the base unit of 1.

Computationally 1 is denoted as  the “on” state of a transistor.

The absence of 1 is known conceptually as 0 and computationally as the “off” state of a transistor. 

Thus ultimately, perceived reality is fundamentally either composite of 1 or 0, or what is the same, phenomena is ultimately binary.

Subsequent

If all one can know of reality is numeric,
Further,
If one does not perceive numbers in themself, but a subsequent manifest realty,
It follows one experiences life as simulated reality manifest mind, or it can be said in simulation.

Rhetoric:

“The origin of all phenomena lies beyond the reach of understanding.” –Shantideva, Bodhicharyavatara” 

“So, as long as a thing is divisible-as long as we can break it into composite parts we can establish its nature as dependent upon its parts. If, on the other hand, a thing were to exist intrinsically as a substantial reality, then that thing would not be dependent upon its parts; it would instead exist as an indivisible and completely discrete entity.”  – H.H. The Dalia Lama  on being mindful of the emptiness of all phenomena from “Practicing Wisdom.”

Ergo Non Sum 


René Descartes’s “first principle” of philosophy states:

Cogito, ergo sum
je pense, donc je suis (Fr.)
I think, therefore I am (Eng.)

Expounded by Descartes himself as:

Dubito, ergo sum, vel, quod idem est, cogito, ergo sum
I doubt, therefore I am — or what is the same — I think, therefore I am.

Herein Posited:

Wherein, without objects of cognition, there can be no cognition.
Herein, “I” cognizes mind and infers a self.
Therein, mind cognizes mind, cognate, “I” is self cognizant.

Aggregate, ergo non sum
Summation, therefore I am not

Basis of posit:

Shantideva reflects in his text, “The Boddhisattva Way“:

57. The teeth, the hair, the nails are not the “I,”
And “I” is not the bones or blood;
The mucus from the nose, and phlegm, are not the “I,”
And neither is it made of lymph or pus.

58. The “I” is not the body’s grease or sweat,
The lungs and liver likewise do not constitute it.
Neither are the inner organs “I,”
Nor yet the body’s excrement and waste.

59. The flesh and skin are not the “I,”
And neither are the body’s warmth and breath.
The cavities within the frame are not the “I,”
And “I” is not accounted for within the six perceptions.

73. The thoughts now passed, and those to come, are not the self;
They are no more, or are not yet.
Is then the self the thought which now is born?
If so, it sinks to nothing when the latter fades.

“74c. Analytical investigation will find no “I,” no underlying self.”

H.H. The Dalai Lama’s meditative commentary in “Practicing Wisdom” elaborates: 

“It is quite evident that if we search for the “self,” it is unfindable. However, the implication of this is not that the self does not exist, for we know from our personal experience that we undergo pain and pleasure. We know that it is something or someone who has these experiences. However, if we search for it, it is unfindable. The conclusion we arrive at, therefore, is that the self can only be said to exist nominally, by the power of conceptual designation.

With this thought in the background, try and examine how things, including your own self, appear to your mind. Do they appear as if they possess only nominal status, or do they appear to you in a different light? Certainly they do not appear as being only nominally real; they appear to possess some kind of objective, intrinsic existence-to exist in their own right. They do not appear to exist by the power of designation; they appear to enjoy an objective, independent status.

What we arrive at, then, as a result of our reflection, is a deep conviction that things do not exist in the manner in which they appear.

While resting in meditative equipoise on emptiness, you should not have even lingering feelings that “This is emptiness” or “I am meditating on emptiness.” You should instead try to remain absorbed single-pointedly in the mere absence of intrinsic existence-the unfindability of phenomena when searched for through critical enquiry. It should be as if your mind has become fused with emptiness. You should not have any sense of a subject-and-object duality, as if you are observing something “out there.” Like this, meditate  on emptiness.”

“We can eliminate ignorance because we can develop its opposing state of mind, the insight into emptiness. This insight directly opposes the way our mind grasps onto a nonexistent self. Since, in reality, there is no such self, the insight that penetrates into the nature of reality perceives its absence. Thus, meditation on emptiness is firmly based on reason and can therefore eliminate the ignorant mind that grasps onto the intrinsic existence of the self.”

The root cause of suffering is the misperceiving mind grasping at intrinsic existence, a distorted mind that has the potential to be eliminated. This can be achieved by generating a deep insight into the nature of emptiness. Reflect upon these potentials. We should then develop a deep compassion for all beings and try to enhance that capacity within.”

Means to Attain

Dhamma wheel

”Seeing and being aware is the nature of the mind itself. As long as mind exists, it has the ability to know, but this ability does not reveal itself until all obstructions have been removed . This is what it means to attain enlightenment.”

Dali Lama , The Bodhisattva Guide

POV

“According to the Madhyamikas, we can speak of two aspects of perception. From one point of view, it is valid; from another point of view, it is deceptive or deluded. From this understanding we can attribute two aspects to a single event of cognition. Just because we have valid, direct experiences of objects does not mean that these things and events experienced by us possess objective, intrinsic existence.” Practicing Wisdom 

“Every statement of view, however certain one may strive to make it, can never, on the relative level, be more than a point of view.” Translator’s Introduction to “The Wisdom Chapter” Jamgön Mipham

“By studying others’ points of view, it is possible for us to discover new and refreshing perspectives on the world.” Practicing Wisdom

Behavior and View

Dhamma wheel

From “The Meaning of Life, Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect”
By H.H. The Dalai Lama
Chapter 1: The Buddhist Worldview
section: Behavior and View

Behavior

The root of all of the Buddhist teaching is compassion.

View

Dependent-arising is the general philosophy of all Buddhist systems even though many different interpretations are found among those systems. In Sanskrit the word for dependent-arising is pratityasamutpada. The word pratitya has three different meanings – meeting, relying, and depending- but all three, in terms of their basic import, mean dependence. Samutpada means arising. Hence, the meaning of pratityasamutpada is that which arises in dependence upon conditions, in reliance upon conditions, through the force of conditions. On a subtle level, it is explained as the main reason why phenomena are empty of inherent existence.

In The Rice Seedling Sūtra, Buddha speaks of dependent-arising in three ways:

  1. Due to the existence of this, that arises.
  2. Due to the production of this, that is produced.
  3. It is thus: due to ignorance there is compositional action; due to compositional action there is consciousness; due to consciousness there is name and form; due to name and form there are the six sense spheres; due to the six sense spheres there is contact; due to contact there is feeling; due to feeling there is attachment; due to attachment there is grasping; due to grasping there is the potentialized level of karma called “existence”; due to existence there is birth; and due to birth there is aging and death.

Twelve Links of Dependent Origination (D1-12)

  • (D1) ignorance
  • (D2) compositional action
  • (D3) consciousness
  • (D4) name and form
  • (D5) sense spheres
  • (D6) contact
  • (D7) feeling
  • (D8) attachment
  • (D9) grasping
  • (D10) existence
  • (D11) birth
  • (D12) aging and death:

With regard to the twelve links of dependent arising, there are basically two modes of explanation, one in terms of thoroughly afflicted phenomena and the other in terms of pure phenomena. In the Buddha’s root teaching of the four noble truths, there are two sets of cause and effect: one set for the afflicted class of phenomena and another for the pure class. Just so, here in the twelve links of dependent-arising there are procedures in terms of both afflicted phenomena and pure phenomena. Among the four noble truths, true sufferings -the first truth- are effects in the afflicted class of phenomena, and true sources — the second truth — are their causes. In the pure class of phenomena, true cessations, the third truth, are effects in the pure class, and true paths, the fourth truth, are their causes. Similarly, when it is explained in the twelve links of dependent-arising that action is produced and so forth due to the condition of ignorance, the explanation is in terms of the afflicted procedure; when it is explained that action ceases and so forth due to the cessation of ignorance, it is in terms of the procedure of the pure class. The first is the procedure of the production of suffering, and the second is the procedure of the cessation of suffering.

The twelve links of dependent-arising are thus laid out in terms of a process of affliction and in terms of a process of purification, and each of these is presented in forward and reverse orders. Thus, in the forward process, it is explained that:

Due to the condition of ignorance, action arises; due to compositional action, consciousness arises; due to consciousness, name and form arises; due to name and form, the six sense spheres arises; due to the six sense spheres, contact arises; due to contact, feeling arises; due to feeling, attachment arises; due to attachment, grasping arises; due to grasping, “existence” arises; due to existence, birth arises; and due to birth there is aging and death.

Because this mode describes how suffering is produced, it is an explanation of the sources that produce suffering. In reverse order it is explained that:

The unwanted sufferings of aging and death is produced in dependence upon birth; birth is produced in dependence upon existence; existence is produced in dependence upon grasping; grasping is produced in dependence upon attachment; attachment is produced in dependence upon feeling; feeling is produced in dependence upon contact; contact is produced in dependence upon sense spheres; sense sphere are produced in dependence upon name and form; name and form is produced in dependence upon; consciousness; consciousness is produced in dependence upon action; action is produced in dependence upon ignorance.
 

Here emphasis is on the first of the four noble truths, true sufferings themselves, which are the effects. Then, in terms of the process of purification, it is explained that:

When ignorance ceases, action ceases; when compositional action ceases, consciousness ceases; when consciousness ceases, name and form ceases; when name and form ceases, the six sense spheres cease; when the six sense spheres cease, contact ceases; when contact ceases, feeling ceases; when feeling ceases, attachment ceases; when attachment ceases, grasping ceases; when grasping ceases, “existence” ceases; when existence ceases, birth ceases; and when birth ceases, aging and death ceases.
 

This explanation is given in terms of the purified class of phenomena with emphasis on the causes, the true paths, second among the four noble truths. In reverse order, it is explained that:

The cessation of aging and death arises in dependence upon the cessation of birth; the cessation of birth arises in dependence upon the cessation of existence; the cessation of existence arises in dependence upon the cessation of grasping; the cessation of grasping arises in dependence upon the cessation of attachment; the cessation of attachment arises in dependence upon the cessation of feeling; the cessation of feeling arises in dependence upon the cessation of contact; the cessation of contact arises in dependence upon the cessation of the sense spheres; the cessation of the sense sphere arises in dependence upon the cessation of name and form; the cessation of name and form arises in dependence upon the cessation of consciousness; the cessation of consciousness arises in dependence upon the cessation of action; the cessation of action arises in dependence upon the cessation of ignorance.
 
Here, within the process of purification the emphasis is on the effects— true cessations, the third of the four noble truths.
 

“Undertaking this and leaving that,
Enter into the teaching of the Buddha
Like an elephant in a thatch house,
Destroy the forces of the Lord of Death.
Those who with thorough conscientiousness
Practice this disciplinary doctrine
Will forsake the wheel of birth,
Bringing suffering to an end.”

Samsara Mapped

Dhamma wheel
Samsara Thanka

Illustrations: Samsara Thanka (shown), Rings key, Rings C &  D key, Full circle detail, Top circle detail, Bottom circle detail.

(P) Perimeter:

Shakyamuni Buddha (top left), The Mantra OM MA-NI PAD-ME HUM (top center), Avalokiteśvara (top right). “Monster holding the wheel” signifies that the entire process of cyclic existence is caught within transience/impermanence

(A) Hub

The Three Poisons: Desire; Hatred, Root Ignorance
Depicted respectively as: Rooster, Pig, Snake

(B) Half Circles Surrounding Hub

Indicate virtuous (white, ascending) and non-virtuous (black descending) actions

(C) Six Transmigrations (Realms of Existence)

(C1) Gods
(C2) Demigods (Devas)
(C3) Humans
(C4) Animals
(C5) Hungry ghosts  (Pretas)
(C6) Hell beings

(D) Twelve Links of Dependent Origination: indicated by…

(D1) ignorance: … an old, blind person hobbling with a cane
(D2) compositional action: a potter making a wheel
(D3) consciousness: a monkey
—— cause-consciousness
—— effect-consciousness
(D4) name and form: person(s) in a boat
(D5) sense spheres: an empty house with six windows
(D6) contact: a man and women touching, kissing
(D7) feeling: an arrow in person’s eye
(D8) attachment: persons partying
(
D9) grasping: a person grabbing at fruit in a tree
(D10) existence: a couple copulating or pregnant woman
(D11) birth: a women giving birth
(D12) aging and death:  person with burdens

Reference: “The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect by His Holiness The Dalai Lama

The Guru’s Precepts

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From “Lady of the Lotus Born” chapter 5 “Practice” herein an excerpt wherein Guru Rinpoche  and Yeshe Tsogyal address the  practice of austerity.

“This precious human form is a stream of gold. If you have gained it and are wise to use it, You will find continuous sustenance.”

Pledge to Practice austerity in…

  • Nourishment
  • Clothing
  • Speech
  • Body
  • Mind
  • Doctrine
  • Selfless Kindness
  • Compassion

“Thus [practice the eight great teachings that are hard to practice] holding others dearer than self without thought for life, for body, for worldly power and you will embody all the Buddha’s Teaching.”