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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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/

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/

“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/
@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.
@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.

@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
@clfh @annedraya That‘s wonderful… perhaps one should really just trust karma and continue to do the practice and being open to life.