Quote:
|
Originally Posted by cwes99_03
So who's mind does time belong to? If time does not exist outside of the human mind, then why do things keep moving on when you are asleep, in a coma, dead? Why reincarnate? Time has no meaning then, so why reincarnate as anything other than what you already are? Why die?
|
It is a common misconception that Buddhists hold time to exist in the human mind. The central doctrine of Buddhism teaches that the nature of reality is essentially cognizant (awake), and hence the title Buddha (awakened one). In the doctrine of emptiness, the Buddha taught that all things (i.e., ideas, objects, activities, etc., that may be perceived or thought about) were not real, but merely contingent. Everything then is like a shadow, arising and persisting as a result of external causes, and so having no innate properties of its own. He taught that there were five elements (space, water, earth, fire, and wind), however, these were not the elements of a substantial reality, but those of a cognizant one. These five elements correspond to the five fundamental concepts that are the foundation of modern physics (space, time, matter, energy, and motion/change). The three latter elements (matter, energy, and motion/change) he taught were mere illusions, while first two (space and time) he taught were neither real nor illusory. By this he meant that neither space nor time can be said to exist independently of the other. In truth, space and time are merely concepts that we use to describe the true elements of this cognizant reality, awareness and knowledge. This is why it is written that it is not what the eye can see that is the true reality, but that whereby the eye is able to see. This is also why the Buddha taught that the true nature of reality was not one, and not two. So you see, in the Buddhist doctrine, nothing exists in the mind of man, for man, like everything else is devoid of any self-abiding properties, including cognizance. Whatever cognizance we may appear to exhibit, is not our own, but merely a reflection of our true nature. Thus we are like the people in a dream, we see, hear, feel, think, and interact, but we have no substance – there is only the eternal dreamer.
Jehu
