Re: COPY: Truth regarding Buddhist concepts of No-Self and God?
I copied this because I find it really interesting. I am in no way claiming to know any great truths. All I have is my own interpretation of my own experience.
I really think it comes down to individual interpretation of subjective experience, which then gets passed on to others, who may or may not actually "get it" in any real sense, and just take the words and form a concept and eventually it turns into dogma. The original mystic who had the experiences and tried to pass them on interpreted it according to their unique culture, society, and personality, with emphasis on that which they uniquely saw/experienced as "most important" or "most significant".
My experience is probably closer to that of the Theravada dogma. I have experienced for many years that there is no "self" here, not in the usual sense of it (yes, there's a coherent bundle of experiences with a story that ties them all together). And, somewhat sadly (I am still mourning the loss, in fact), the concept of a "God" which was somehow separate and discrete has also dissolved. So in that sense, I identify more with the Theravada teaching.
At the same time, I am ALSO aware of a pervasive, all-encompassing presence of divinity which is, paradoxically it appears to those who have not experienced it, simultaneously entirely mundane. I see and experience divinity in everything, and I see my reality moving and responding to that divinity, and to this bundle of experiences with a backstory which I like to think of as "myself". It's a very strange situation to try to explain in everyday language, and it makes little to no sense that way, so if it sounds weird, well, it is.
So, which one is "true"? Which one is "right"? The answer is fairly Zen (yet another sect of Buddhism ): None of it and all of it.
May the light surround you, may you be blessed. May the light surround us, may we be blessed. May love and light surround us all, and may we all be healed and blessed. And so it is, and so it shall be, now and ever after.
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