Hi Volker, a simple question or expression like: let me see!
Who is let to see?
Who is seeing?
Who has to let someone to see something?
What is these “whos” or “who”?
How many who I have?
May I have a who inside me?
I, me, myself…who’s that?
Is that possible a possesor to be a possetion?
How can an I to have a me, a myself, or to be a who?
How I can to have a my body, if I have a body that means my body is not a part of my I, even if I have a mind/soul is that means my mind/soul is not a part of my I? and then an I is compost by three parts: I, my body, my mind – but if this is right, it means they are not the same if they are not the same can you show me where is “I”, where is “my body” or where is “my mind”?
If you point me at some part of my body to say this is my body, be sure you are not point at any part that has a especificaly name such as my head, my leg, my arm, because the same object cannot have two names…likewise I cannot point at my hand and say this is my body, because it is my hand, or even it is a skin, a hair, a pore, a protein, a carbohidrate, an electron, a proton, a neutron and so forth…
So if i cannot point at those part, recognising them as my body, I also cannot say, those part are part of my body, because if i cannot find a body anywhere how can I say that some part of something is a thing? or if i say those thing are part od a big thing and I say they are the collection of something, such as: all parts of a body are the collection of a body, or if i cannot find a body without its parts or the collection of its parts, where is the body?
We can say the body is an expression of our I being selfexpressed by our mind, or the body doesn’t exist itself.
We need the mind to apprehende an image of a body, we need the body to apprehende an image of an I. ummmm….it means we exist only if the mind can apprehende, discriminate, identify and nominate something as I?
So, I am a mind!
All right, if I is a mind, where is it? Please do not point me at your brain! Brain is something physical, we know mind is not that!
Where is it? In occident cultures we normally point at our heart to say, this is the place where my mind is. Are you sure of that? Can you find an inmaterial object in a material place? Can we find air in a room, or is just a mere imputation or mere acceptance there is air in the room where we are.
What is air?
My friend there is nothing from its own side and everything is there perceived by our mind which can apprehende, discriminate, identify and nominate it by recognising it from previous experiences and learnigs (karma). In Buddhism we say the duality: there is no beggining and there is no ending, there is no going or coming and soever.
Tell me, explain to me, what are You, where are You without using another object to help me to try to follow you explanation and understanding what you are saying.
We can say this is a vase, we need our senses to perceive, identify, apprehende, discriminate and nominate it, all this senses come from our mind, we cannot find our mind, it exists from our previous experiences those are held by our mind which is held or belong to someone!
Shantideva says:
“Just as i am familiar with devepoling the thought “I”, “I”,
When perceiving my body, which arose from others’ sperm and blood,
So should I become familiar with developing the tought “I”, “I”,
When perceiving other’s bodies.
L&K
Marcelo
Buddhism
