Quote:
Originally Posted by Angela  Alegro, Mercuryrising said "How you or I experience the world is subjective reality." Aside from the level of dropped or broken cups (what you call physical reality), you and I actually create our reality of it subjectively. You have infinite power to create your world --
-- the broken cup is a tragedy (you are creating a tragic reality)
-- I hated that cup, and am so glad it's finally gone without my having to throw it away -- that would piss off my mother-in-law who gave it to me as a wedding present) (you are creating relief)
-- oh, god, maybe I have some neurological disease! Dropsy!? (reality = fear and pain)
-- I am five years old and wheeee! how fun to see that cup go kerploosh! (fun, learning)
-- etc. etc.
There is nothing objective about that cup falling and breaking, except perhaps that it has fallen and broken (and even that part is arguable  ). |
I wasn't going to come back, but your post made me feel like it. It was such a simple and clear explanation of your position it helped me clarify my own. To me, the fact of an objective broken cup is more important than it seems to you (although I certainly agree with all that relativity of responses stuff). In a way, this is kind of what my original Buddhist point was, that Buddhism is about seeing the objective reality (The monk sees a cup fall. It breaks. That is all.) All of the emotional reactions - which to you I guess are like a menu you can choose from - are, in the kind of Buddhist philosophy I'm talking about, just as unreal and distracting and problematic as all others. Of course, it's a choice, and my way is dry and joyless to some, I'm sure. Still, it is freedom, and you can even still choose one - but with awareness that you are creating it in your mind, since it is not objective, it is not actual.
Besides, it is very easy to spout warm fuzzy philosophy about the non-tragedy of a broken cup.