Voice Recording - "Zen ..."

By Wayne Brown

 Misuse of language

  • Law
  • Belief
  • Signaling that I am a member of the group
  • Do Biologists "believe" in evolution like Fundamentalists don't?
Ordinary "belief" depends on a structure of related inferences - "evidence" as opposed to motivated reasoning - totally linguistic. Scientific "evidence" refers to real experience. Religious "evidence" is based on philosophical reasoning (at best).

"Survival of the fittest" is a circular concept. "Variation" is the mechanism of evolution. Hard to refute that variation exists...

What does it mean to "believe" in God? At its base, it's a system of appeasing spirits through traditional ceremonies. If you don't believe in prayer, what kind of "God" remains? If you don't think God is active in history, are you misusing the "God" concept? Do you mean God=physics?

The ground of all Being - Tillich. Video here. Is "ground of all being" analogous to the "Tao"?

Hard to find a clearer example of wordy religion than the three-volume "Systematic Theology" - by Tillich. There is a strong hint that Tillich suspects the futility of language.

Problems with Zen ...

What is the point? Many presentations imply that "Zen" is being a nice person.

Is this the Theology of Wonder? But I hate anything that smacks of "theology". 

I seek certain experiences and avoid others. Mindfulness and Zen provide a way to find the "sweet spot" - a base for everything else. Selflessness but total awareness of "self". The way the moment is so much richer than our fantasies and shades of the past.

Is it time to avoid terminology, as I did with Christianity? By using such terminology, I drag myself into association with individuals who understand the terminology in a radically different way, especially since a core principle of Zen (from Taoism) is that terminology is ultimately futile.




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