andrea patriceDec 23, 2022

I’ve been wondering why I’ve been so focused on #Buddhism lately- after all, it’s not a new thing in my life. But I think that, after seeing just how much what I’m finding out about the world due to my wide reading (from physics to ecology to music) of the last 2 years mirrors Buddhist insights, I’ve realised that becoming more serious about my practice is absolutely necessary to develop further— both as a theorist/philosopher and as a person generally.

#philosophy @philosophy 🧵
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Show threadandrea patrice

At heart, the fundamental problem of #philosophy that I’m examining is *how to get things done*— as a human, living in this world.

I’m looking at what is similar about intentional human action from the micro & highly individual scale— how do I (a physically disabled person with #ADHD) develop a new habit?— to the macro scale— how does humanity create a liveable and sustainable future for itself? Fundamentally, at the level of basic reality, that’s the same process. #Buddhism agrees. 2/

Dec 23, 2022 at 11:31amWeb
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022

The world I live in is a world of scale, where everything is relative to everything else. Even what we consider to be unassailable truth or fact is simply only true because we share the basic reference frame in which it is true with a wide set of others, whether that’s other humans, other animals, all life on Earth, or literally everything else in the universe. There’s *always* a reference frame- you can’t measure (or detect, or decide) unless you have a scale to work from.

#philosophy 3/

Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022
“There’s always a reference frame”- If you follow that line of thinking to its logical conclusion, you basically end up in the territory of #Buddhism- in a world where something can be both true and false, depending on your reference frame- the scale at which the chaotic frenzy that is the universe is resolved into something ordered and cognisable. 4/
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022
The problem for us, human beings in a multiscalar world, is that we are only evolutionary adapted for a limited range of scales in which we easily can detect patterns and cognise them as objects. But we now live with problems that cross so many scalar boundaries in space and time that we literally can’t resolve them- we can’t see their full extent. They don’t exist in our shared perception like physical objects or mathematical objects, so we can’t agree on what they are or how to handle them.
5/
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022
The #Buddha’s great insight, 2500 years ago, was that by developing our ability to quiet our object-creating minds almost completely by unifying it in concentration, we could directly experience our most basic reference frame- the one we share with everything else that exists in the universe over both space & time, resulting in the realisation that the universe is completely continuous with no separation except the ones our usual reference frames impose in order to detect smaller scale patterns.
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022
Once you realise the universe is a continuity- not by merely believing it - but directly *experiencing* it for yourself through that highly refined level of mental control - your usual reference frame changes, & the values that drive everything we do, which are based on the reference frame, the scale at which we perceive the world, change too. And when you are aware of these fundamental values & you have the ability to focus unwaveringly on a goal, truly intentional action becomes possible.
7/
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022
As living beings, chaotic agents of change in the universe, the energy we use to make things happen (which at the most basic level involves feeding the feedback loop which enables our continued existence) is our very lifeblood. The Buddha found out how to use this energy to perceive that we can no more be separated from anything else in the universe than you can pluck a single mitochondria from within the matrix of a living body while leaving everything else undisturbed. He changed the scale.
Show threadandrea patriceDec 23, 2022

So, you see, that’s why I’ve become more serious about #Buddhism as of late. The Buddha’s intensely honed focus and flexibility of mind, which allowed him to perceive a profound truth about reality which, if enough of us grasped it, would basically end the violence we heap on ourselves, on others and on the world we live in, is highly relevant to my queries- How does intentional human action happen? And how can we shape it to values that accord with the nature of reality itself?

9/end

Show threadAnna FDec 23, 2022
@annedraya thank you for sharing, this is really fascinating. In trying to understand the climate crisis, I keep seeing signposts towards Buddhism. It’s something I want to learn more about.
Show threadRobert M. KellyDec 24, 2022
@annedraya Thanks for putting time into a thoughtful thread. I question #3, though: you say "what we consider to be truth is only true because we share a frame - you can’t measure (or detect, or decide) unless you have a scale to work from." TBH I'm not knowledgeable at all about Buddhism. But this sounds like an argument for the relativity of truth. But, as far as I know, we believe things because they are true. Things are not true because we believe them. Would you agree?
Show threadMuckzDec 23, 2022
@annedraya That is beautifully written, thanks for this. Lately I‘ve been wondering how to apply buddhist philosophy to climate activism, social change and ethical leadership. There is much to be learned and to rediscover I think.
Show threadChris HaynesDec 23, 2022
@muckz @annedraya I puzzle over this too. #Mahayana meditation training implies you should learn to disengage from the world. "First learn to stop being a nuisance to the world" as #ChogyamTrungpa put it.
Eventually true #compassion (a shared experience of unsatisfactoryness) should arise.
But what skilful activity to undertake while waiting?
I'm beginning to sense that opportunities to learn/contribute present themselves karmically; that you just need to be open to self-presenting invitations.
Show threadChris HaynesDec 23, 2022

@muckz @annedraya
I pressed publish on the above and scrolled up to look at what was next in my timeline , and this appeared!

https://botsin.space/@dalai_lama_quotes/109563113044073514

What was I saying about how karma operates???

Dalai Lama Quotes (@[email protected])

“There are two kinds of compassion. The first comes from a natural concern for friends and family who are close to us. This has limited range but can be the seed for something bigger. We can also learn to extend a genuine concern for others’ well-being, whoever they are. That is real compassion, and only human beings are capable of developing it.” #dalailama #quote #meditation #mindfulness #buddhism

botsin.space
Show threadMuckzDec 24, 2022
@clfh @annedraya That‘s wonderful… perhaps one should really just trust karma and continue to do the practice and being open to life.
Show threadMuckzDec 24, 2022
@clfh @annedraya I had to think a while over this. I believe that compassion is active not passive. Jack #Kornfield had a talk about this: tending the garden of the world, tending the garden of the heart. And I think that disengaging from the world might not be an option for most of us in this life. Right now my activities are mostly being a good and present dad. I think I disconnected to much from other activities though. So I hope that opportunities do present themselves
Show threadChris HaynesDec 24, 2022

@muckz @annedraya
Re Disengaging: In the #Nyingma tradition it is perfectly normal (and of equal status) to be a householder practitioner, and it is said that many householders achieve full awakening.

Under #Dzogchen the disengagement is more mental than physical, one trains to be not captivated by the sensory world, whilst still operating in it.
Of course, periods of meditational retreat are extremely helpful (essential?) in gaining that ability to be actively detached.

Show threadChris HaynesDec 24, 2022
@muckz @annedraya
Re. compassion: I'm not sure what passive compassion would look or feel like 🤔.
I think what I'm trying to suggest is that, rather than setting out with a mission like "This morning I must go out and do something about the climate" (or whatever) you wait for the opportunity to present itself.
I'm not dissing the 'engaged buddhism' movement.
I'm hinting at a process which might appear magical (but, as we all know, things only appear magical if you don't know how they are done).
Show threadChris HaynesDec 24, 2022

@muckz @annedraya

... which brings us back to @annedraya 's original interconnectedness insight.

Show threadMuckzDec 24, 2022
@clfh @annedraya What I mean was you can feel compassion (while practicing metta for example) or you can act out of compassion. And while I get what you are saying and hope that‘ true my mind starts running in circles with „ooook, oh boy, please let me notice when an opportunity presents itself. what if it doesn? what if I don‘t get it? what if…“. At the end it is a matter of trust too, isn‘t it? Trust in oneself and karma.