More comments on Pali tradition
Comment on More on Pali tradition
James said,
26.11.09 at 3:08 pm ·
I can only say that “oneness with the universe” and “being in the Now” were never the goals of Buddhism (they were actually criticized in the early texts…I can’t speak for the Mahayana here).
The tendency to equate those goals with Buddhism was mostly done by New Agers who are, almost across the board, entirely ignorant of Buddhist texts and history.
Some help can be given by reading Patanjali and the distinction he makes between awareness and consciousness. The point is that awareness, in and of itself, is neither subjective nor objective not that one is non-dual with the universe (as the Upanishads and Vedanta claim). The activities of consciousness are what are reified into an entity. The best translation is Chip Hartranft’s:
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James said,
26.11.09 at 3:25 pm ·
“Disunion” would be more appropriate as a term than “merging” with regard to early Buddhism and Patanjali as Feuerstein notes:
New Man, New Age, New Socialism 