[Buddha-l] Re: S Pinker

[Hal Cooper]

In the field of computational intelligence, Blank Slate is all we have to
work with.  How could a computer have Karma?  It is just a bunch of circuits
with an on/off switch.  What is the on/off switch for a sentient being?  The
birth/death switch.  What if there was only a birth switch and you just had
to know about clicking the birth switch to death the computer (like the
start menu in MS Windows)?  How does a computational framework use the
"Ghost in the Machine "  idea instead of the "Blank Slate" approach?  How
could it be possible?  Computer Science just assumes all computers are Blank
Slate. Load BIOS, load OS, load application, be a slave to the users' every
whim.  Who wants to be an intelligent slave?  Is a computer inherently good
or inherently bad?

I don't think Buddhism is separate from genetics. Genetics figures into the
cause and effect/rebirth principles of Buddhism.  The double helix is what
holds some of the complex causes and effects experienced by a being  between
births and deaths (birth and birth if using Bimbows).  But, genetics is not
the only answer.

Blank Slate is an answer too.  I am conditioned by choices and conditioning
presented by the society I am born into.  Capitalist society uses media
conditioning extensively because the people live under the illusion of
"liberty and freedom."   A facist society can just stick a gun in peoples'
face and put them into prisons if they step out of line.  Liberty and
freedom are stolen, just by a more direct method.  When Bush speaks about
liberty and freedom, he is just painting a picture on the Blank Canvas.  His
is a picture of rugged individualism in a coutry of Cowboy Freedom. Yes sir.
Gitty up young doggies.   Clinton was a painter too.  Al Gore invented the
Internet.  Who gets voted off this week?  Perhaps we can increase Buddha-L
efficency by voting one person off each week.  Turn it into a competition.
Competition creates quality? Weeding out the weaker creatures to make more
room on the head of the pin. I am a pinhead and I live on the point of a
pin.  We are a bunch of "Pinheads" ; )  It's not so bad.  I don't take it as
an insult.   Add some spice.  Some red hot, orange chilie peppers.  -New
Mexico style -  Add some conflict.  Who is the bad guy?  How can we all live
on the tip of this pin while discriminating between good guys and bad guys?
Is ignorance separate from living beings?

Do we all have inate goodness (AKA Noble Savage)?   Yes, all sentient beings
have Buddha Nature.  This is the dogma.   The faith. The teaching.  It's OK
to investigate and ask questions.  Does a sociopath have Buddha Nature?
Yes, but not in this lifetime, and not for many many more countless
lifetimes.  Suffering in the Hell Realms is horrible.   The ignorance of the
sociopath is separate from the being and results from the mechanizations of
a Demon.  Scarry isn't it.

This demon took form during an eclipse. It fell onto gold, jade, a rare
fungus, a unicorn, a pheonix, a tortoise or a crane.   The sociopath denies
cause and effect because of  a demon.  All things change; therefore a day
will come when the sociopath repents and reforms for their transgressions.
The demon will depart from the sociopaths' body.  At this time be very alert
because both the teacher and students will get in trouble with the law.
(paraphrased from Shurangama Sutra roll 9)

So, perhaps all three ideas are fooey.  All is perfectly still like the mind
of the Buddhas.  In perfect stillness, where is there a place for blanks
slates, ghosts in shells, and noble savages?  Where is there a place for
dust to fall?  Why is it difficult to memorize the Diamond Sutra?

There is no mark of self
And no mark of others
There is no mark of beings
And, no mark of a life.

Sorry if I seem to "play around" with precious Dharma.  I am trying to
understand.  I would like to know the true meaning of the Diamond Sutra -
Never failing to encounter it over countless rebirths.

This song is for you:

In San Francisco things are pinker.
Fermented tofu is one big stinker.
New Flash, Seattle creates a winner.
Dedicate all merit and virtue.
Sky message, The dragon's late for dinner.