Friday, January 04, 2008

Collaboration for evolution

[Am I a Agnostic Buddhist? from ~C4Chaos by ~C4Chaos Like Sam Harris, I don't like putting labels on my belief and faith. But this is very close to what I subscribe to:
"So what would be the features of an ‘agnostic Buddhist?’ Such a person would not regard the Dharma as a source of ‘answers’ to questions of where we came from, where we are going, what happens after death. He or she would seek such knowledge in the appropriate domains: astrophysics, evolutionary biology, neuro-science etc. An agnostic Buddhist would therefore not be a ‘believer’ with claims to revealed information about supernatural or paranormal phenomena, and in this sense would not be ‘religious.’
An agnostic Buddhist would look to the Dharma for metaphors of existential confrontation rather than metaphors of existential consolation. He or she would start by facing up to the primacy of anguish and uncertainty (dukkha), then proceed to apply a set of practices to understand the human dilemma and work towards a resolution. An agnostic Buddhist would eschew atheism as much as theism, and would be as reluctant to regard the universe as devoid of meaning as endowed with meaning. (For to deny either God or meaning is surely just the antithesis of affirming them.)
Yet such an agnostic stance would not be based on disinterest. It would be founded on a passionate recognition that I do not know. It would confront the enormity of having been born instead of reaching for the consolation of a belief. It would strip away, layer by layer, the views that conceal the mystery of being here at all." -- Stephen Batchelor, The Other Enlightenment Project Thanks to Ottmar for the link.]
The Savitri Eran, in contrast, believes that The Mother and Sri Aurobindo have not only explained all metaphysical mysteries, but also drawn an elaborate blueprint on how to be conscious participants in the evolution of a golden future of the humanity. [TNM]

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