Dependent Origination(Part III)-Who Am I ?
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Who Are You ?
Where Do You Come From ?(Before This Life)
Where Will You Be Going To ?(After This Life)
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An Interesting Conversation On Dependent Origination
The following is edited from a Dharma talk at National University of Singapore Buddhist Society:
(Ven: Venerable Thubten Chodron, Aud: Audience
Ven: The same is true for our "self" or "I." Remember a time when you were very angry. How did "I" appear then? It seems very solid - as if there is a real me that someone is insulting. That "I" feels real, as if it were independent, yet still somewhere inside our body and Mind. We get angry in order to defend that "I" that seems so real. If that solid, independent "I" exists as it appears to us, we should be able to find it, either among our body and Mind or separate from them. There is no other place such an "I" could be. Let's see. Are you your body?
Aud: Yes.
Ven: Which part of your body are you? Are you your arm? Your chest? Your little toe? your brain? It's clear that we aren't any of the parts of our body. Let's try again. Are you your Mind?
Aud: I must be.
Ven: Which Mind are you? Are you your visual consciousness? Your auditory consciousness? Your mental consciousness? Are you one particular characteristic? If you were your angry self, you would always be angry!
Aud: "I" am what goes from one life to the next.
Ven: But what goes from one life to the next is constantly changing. Can you point to one moment of your Mind that always has been and always will be you? Are you yesterday's Mind? Today's Mind? Tomorrow's Mind?
Aud: I'm all of them together.
Ven: But that's a collection of parts, none of which are "I". To say that is "I" is like saying a group of grasshoppers are a butterfly.
Maybe you're completely separate from your body and Mind. That is, can you take away your body and Mind and you ("I" ) still remain independently? If the "I" is separate from the body and Mind, my body and Mind could be here and I could be across the room. Is that possible?
The "I" or self doesn't exist independently of the body and Mind. It is not the body and it is not the Mind. Neither is it the body and Mind together. In other words, the solid "I" that we felt when we're angry doesn't exist at all. What we are negating is its independent or inherent existence. There a conventionally existent "I" that is angry and that "I" does not exists independently.
The "I" depends on causes and conditions the coming together of the sperm and egg of our parents, our consciousness from a precious life and so on. The "I" also depends on the parts, which compose it: our body and Mind. The "I" also depends on concept and label. That is, on the basis of our body and Mind being together, we conceive of a person and label it "I". We exist by being merely labeled on a suitable basis - our body and Mind.
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I am looking for me.
I look and look.
Who am I?
I can't find.
I can't define.
I can't see.
Who am I?
I AM looking.
There is no looker and nothing looked.
There is only the looking.
The looker and the looked are one. -
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Thnks did not read the whole thing.better delete
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okokOriginally posted by neutral_onliner:Thnks did not read the whole thing.better delete 
if casino_king is here, it will definitely have been interesting 
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btw hav not seen him here for awhile liao.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:okok if casino_king is here, it will definitely have been interesting -
ya... the forum ratings will drop without himOriginally posted by neutral_onliner:btw hav not seen him here for awhile liao.
but even if he comes back i wouldnt have time to reply him liao.. -
i see. Well he's an interesting guyOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:ya... the forum ratings will drop without him
but even if he comes back i wouldnt have time to reply him liao.. -
Dr. Tan Kheng Khoo is a mystic (more towards new age and hindu side), very interesting personality I noticed his website months ago, and I and Thusness discussed some of the contents from the website over the internet before. Although the contents of the website is more towards Vedanta's level of understanding. But we never knew who he was.
Then now I found this webpage. http://www.kktanhp.com/doctoring.htm
What's a former pathologist doing teaching Buddhist meditation? Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is an unusual man. He spent nearly 30 years examining dead bodies, before giving it all up to teach meditation. Today, he is one of Singapore's most famous meditation teachers, counting among his students, BG Lee Hsien Loong.
Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is actually our PM's meditation teacher!
Actually I knew that Lee Hsien Loong practised meditation ever since he got cancer, and also now to keep stress away, for plenty of years. But I didn't know it was him that taught LHL. Interesting indeed. -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Hmm ... from a pathologist to teaching Buddhist meditation...interesting
Dr. Tan Kheng Khoo is a mystic (more towards new age and hindu side), very interesting personality I noticed his website months ago, and I and Thusness discussed some of the contents from the website over the internet before. Although the contents of the website is more towards Vedanta's level of understanding. But we never knew who he was.
Then now I found this webpage. http://www.kktanhp.com/doctoring.htm
[b]What's a former pathologist doing teaching Buddhist meditation? Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is an unusual man. He spent nearly 30 years examining dead bodies, before giving it all up to teach meditation. Today, he is one of Singapore's most famous meditation teachers, counting among his students, BG Lee Hsien Loong.
Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is actually our PM's meditation teacher! Actually I knew that Lee Hsien Loong practised meditation ever since he got cancer, and also now to keep stress away, for plenty of years. But I didn't know it was him that taught LHL. Interesting indeed. [/b] -
lee sian long has cancer?? why is he our PM and whats wrong with those posts why u delete them
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That was quite a number of years ago. He was not a PM then. As for the deleted posts, it is becos they r not the correct teaching. Anyway will be more careful next time.Originally posted by Cenarious:lee sian long has cancer?? why is he our PM and whats wrong with those posts why u delete them -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is certainly new age. He should use his influence to educate people about the coming new era. Also 2012 is not a magic year... nothing fantastic will happen then... the change will be gradual... also there will be no savior descending to Earth. The Second Coming is to be our becoming more awakened... not the arrival of a Savior.
Dr. Tan Kheng Khoo is a mystic (more towards new age and hindu side), very interesting personality I noticed his website months ago, and I and Thusness discussed some of the contents from the website over the internet before. Although the contents of the website is more towards Vedanta's level of understanding. But we never knew who he was.
Then now I found this webpage. http://www.kktanhp.com/doctoring.htm
[b]What's a former pathologist doing teaching Buddhist meditation? Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is an unusual man. He spent nearly 30 years examining dead bodies, before giving it all up to teach meditation. Today, he is one of Singapore's most famous meditation teachers, counting among his students, BG Lee Hsien Loong.
Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is actually our PM's meditation teacher! Actually I knew that Lee Hsien Loong practised meditation ever since he got cancer, and also now to keep stress away, for plenty of years. But I didn't know it was him that taught LHL. Interesting indeed. [/b] -
Oh I see.. more like 'a new earth' by eckhart tolleOriginally posted by longchen:Dr Tan Kheng Khoo is certainly new age. He should use his influence to educate people about the coming new era. Also 2012 is not a magic year... nothing fantastic will happen then... the change will be gradual... also there will be no savior descending to Earth. The Second Coming is to be our becoming more awakened... not the arrival of a Savior. -
Lee Hsien Loong was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1992 and undergone one and a half year of chemotherapy. He was considered cured when the doctors no longer detect any cancer in 1999.Originally posted by Cenarious:lee sian long has cancer?? why is he our PM and whats wrong with those posts why u delete them
The posts where deleted by neutral onliner because I mentioned that the articles were written on the Advaita Vedanta viewpoint (the nondualist school of hinduism). The understanding of non self is from the Hindu viewpoint. Dr Tan Kheng Khoo's website is full of advaita vedanta articles. -
yahOriginally posted by An Eternal Now:Oh I see.. more like 'a new earth' by eckhart tolle
