Tuesday, 30 October 2012 Can You Get A Something From A Nothing

In my debate against Richard Carrier, I argued that the beginning of the universe pointed toward the existence of God. I had said, "The most fundamental law of science is 'Out of nothing, nothing comes.' We simply do not see things popping into existence for no reason. Every parent understands this axiom when they find crayon marks on the wall or mud scraped across the floor. A child's response of 'no one did it, it just appeared' would be rightly rejected as silly." This seems pretty common-sensical to me. One cannot get a something from a nothing. In fact, the word "nothing" can be broken apart to show that it means "no-thing." But Carrier replied to my point with this statement:Oh yes, "out of nothing, nothing comes" is another one. If there is absolutely nothing, then there are no rules governing what will happen. So the idea that "only nothing can come from nothing" is a rule. That's something; that's not nothing. If you really have absolutely nothing then anything can happen. Nothing governs what's going to happen. If we start with nothing, we have no idea what could occur. As physicists will tell you, like Victor J. Stenger in The Fallacy of Fine Tuning, nothing is inherently unstable. So if we did start the universe with nothing, we could actually expect something to come out of it because the probability of nothing remaining nothing is rather low and because there is nothing governing what will happen.There are a lot of problems here. First, let's look at what we mean when we use the word "nothing." When I say the universe began to exist, I mean that all matter, energy, space, and time came into being where they had previously not existed at all. In fact, when philosophers talk about the concept of nothing, it is generally understood to mean a state that is devoid of all properties. If there is nothing, then there are no physical things that can act and there are no laws of nature by which the non-existent entities would be able to act.But Carrier seems confused on this. He first states, "The idea that 'only nothing can come from nothing' is a rule. That's something; that's not nothing." Well, that's not really accurate. The idea isn't a rule, but a description. It is another way of saying there are no laws and nothing upon which actions could even take place. But then, he goes on to say, "If there is absolutely nothing, then there are no rules governing what will happen... If you have absolutely nothing, then anything can happen!" Well, using Richard's own criteria, that would be a rule. That means you haven't started with nothing! The idea that nothing is inherently unstable is a real science-stopper. Imagine people saying, "Well, I we had nothing and now we have this new chemical because anything can happen!" or "We don't know how that came into existence. It must've simply popped into existence because nothing can produce anything!" This is not a reasonable answer. It sounds more like magic than anything else.So, I find this response problematic on several levels. First, Carrier argues that nothing is a great way to get something. I think that is a terrible answer and he needs to explain why we should accept it for the beginning of the universe then turn around and reject it for any other scientific question. Secondly, if "out of nothing, nothing comes" is considered something, then 'If you have absolutely nothing, then anything can happen" should also be considered something. As such, Carrier hasn't started with nothing and he needs to explain how his "rule" came into existence.

Reference: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com

Monday, 10 September 2012 Adyashanti Book Pack

Adyashanti - Book pack

1.) Adyashanti - Emptiness Dancing

2.) Adyashanti - The Impact of Awakening

3.) Adyashanti - What is it like to Live an Awakened Life

4.) Adyashanti - Satsang Transcript - When I Awoke - 7 March 1999

5.) Adyashanti's teachings by www.heartawake.org

6.) Adyashanti - Actually One Being

Adyashanti - Emptiness Dancing

Discovering our true nature could be called the discovery of emptiness--of the vast stillness and loving silence that lies beyond and within all that exists. Our lives are the dance of this emptiness as it flowers into form. "Emptiness Dancing" offers dynamic teachings that come directly from this emptiness and draw the open heart into profound realization. Adyashanti reveals valuable insights and explores important themes relevant to those seeking and deepening into the Truth. He shares an enlightened perspective on the seeker's struggle, the joys and challenges of spiritual awakening, the symptoms of spiritual addiction, the essence of sacred relationship, the true meaning of enlightenment, the simple secret to being happy.

http://www.demonoid.com/files/details/1491013/12315093/

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Friday, 13 April 2012 Shambhala Sun Space The Dalai Lamas Bloomington Heart Sutra Talks

Excellent - Shambhala Sun Space has posted the lectures by the Dalai Lama on The Heart Sutra. For those unfamiliar with The Heart Sutra, here is one translation, by Edward Conze:

THE HEART SUTRA IN SANSKRIT AND ENGLISH

Translated From The Sanskrit By Edward Conze

"Om namo Bhagavatyai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai!"

Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom, the Lovely, the Holy!

"Arya-Avalokitesvaro bodhisattvo gambhiram prajnaparamitacaryam caramano vyavalokayati sma: panca-skandhas tams ca svabhavasunyan pasyati sma."

Avalokita, The Holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep course of the Wisdom which has gone beyond. He looked down from on high, He beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were empty.

"Iha Sariputra rupam sunyata sunyataiva rupam, rupan na prithak sunyata sunyataya na prithag rupam, yad rupam sa sunyata ya sunyata tad rupam; evam eva vedana-samjna-samskara-vijnanam."

Here, Sariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness.

"Iha Sariputra sarva-dharmah sunyata-laksana, anutpanna aniruddha, amala aviamala, anuna aparipurnah."

Here, Sariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.

"Tasmac Chariputra sunyatayam na rupam na vedana na samjna na samskarah na vijnanam. Na caksuh-srotra-ghranajihva-kaya-manamsi. Na rupa-sabda-gandha-rasa-sprastavaya-dharmah. Na caksur-dhatur yavan na manovjnana-dhatuh. Na-avidya na-avidya-ksayo yavan na jara-maranam na jara-marana-ksayo. Na duhkha-samudaya-nirodha-marga. Na jnanam, na praptir na-apraptih."

Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; No forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or objects of mind; No sight-organ element, and so forth, until we come to: No mind-consciousness element; There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so forth, until we come to: there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path. There is no cognition, no attainment and non-attainment.

"Tasmac Chariputra apraptitvad bodhisattvasya prajnaparamitam asritya viharaty acittavaranah. Cittavarana-nastitvad atrastro viparyasa-atikranto nishtha-nirvana-praptah."

Therefore, Sariputra, it is because of his non-attainmentness that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the Perfection of Wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought-coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.

"Tryadhva-vyavasthitah sarva-buddhah prajnaparamitam-asritya-anuttaram samyaksambodhim abhisambuddhah."

All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect Enlightenment because they have relied on the Perfection of Wisdom.

"Tasmaj jnatavyam: prajnaparamita maha-mantro maha-vidya-mantro "nuttara-mantro" samasama-mantrah, sarva-duhkha-prasamanah, satyam amithyatvat. Prajnaparamitayam ukto mantrah. Tadyatha: Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhisvaha. Iti prajnaparamita-hridayam samaptam."

Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth - for what could go wrong? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs like this:

Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an awakening, all-hail!

NOTE: All is as in Conze's translation, with one exception: "O Sariputra" is "Sariputra" here, as a matter of stylistic preference.

So here is the post from Shambhala Sun:

VIDEO: WATCH THE DALAI LAMA'S BLOOMINGTON "HEART SUTRA" TALKS HERE

Streaming video of His Holiness's talks are online!

Our friends at Phayul have a fine report on the proceedings thus far. (Link opens in a new window.)

All video available at the time of this posting follows here. Click through here to watch Parts 1, 2, and 3 right now.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

You'll find continued streaming video at ustream.

And for more, don't miss our May 2010 issue featuring the Dalai Lama, pro-Tibet organizations, and much more. Browse the issue here.

Or, visit our Dalai Lama Spotlight page, which offers the finest selection of His Holiness's teachings available on the web. This entry was created by Sun Staff, posted on May 13, 2010 at 12:56 pm. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

Tags: Shambhala Sun Space, The Dalai Lama, Bloomington, Heart Sutra, Talks, Buddhism, meditation, Edward Conze, Bodhisattva, Sariputra