Reflections on metaReality by Roy Bhaskar

Author:Roy Bhaskar [Bhaskar, Roy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780415689359
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2011-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

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I am reminded of a Zen koan now. The position that I am trying to get you to see is a position which is in a way beyond thought. The Zens liked to practice, on the one hand, mindfulness, which is focused activity, and on the other hand, inner-emptiness, which could also be called ‘mindlessness’, that is a position beyond thought. Mindfulness is actually the path to mindlessness, effortless, spontaneous, contextually appropriate, fight-action. To get to this state we need to understand the limitations of the mind, as well as to transcend thought in the practices and disciplines of our expertise; and we need to let go of attachment to the mind and its contents as such, to subvert it, along with our ego’s, our emotional attachments and so on. The Zens were given koans in order to help this process of subversion. These koans stretch people to the limits of thought. One koan which I am reminded of was: ‘what is the sound of one hand clapping?’ The solution is to stretch your thought until you see that one hand cannot clap. In fact one hand cannot exist. To be is to be related, that is really what I am saying. To be in this way is to be materially embodied, practically engaged, and is to be oriented to social and indeed universal self-realisation. Similarly, this talk is not mine, it is ours, everything we do, you and me and everyone else, is always a holistic performance, a joint production, a universal, indeed cosmic, creation.

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