[Buddha-l] Re: Magic

[Joy Vriens]

Richard,

>To whatever extent it seems to one that consciousness requires the  
>support of several billion living neurons, to that extent rebirth is  
>difficult to imagine. 

>From another perspective, what do you have when you have a kilo (or a liter etc.) of neurons (is a kilo of neurons more or less a kilo of consciousness)? How do we recognise consciousness? Well, it's very sticky, it can stick to basically anything. You can't imagine a thing without there being a bit of consciousness stuck to it. Are those things the products of consciousness, are those things consciousness itself or does consciousness simply stick to them? Any way, a great part of the kilo of neurons life endows us with sticks to various identities, that's all they seem to do. It's sticking to them identities that is birth. E.g. Americans aren't born when they come out of there mum's wombs, hell no, they are born in their families, in school, by watching Foxnews, by seeing planes flying into their symbols, by watching bodybags come home from far away countries. Monks and priests aren't born when they come out of their mum's wombs, they are born when they come second after a !
 first boy was born, when they see the kindness of priests or monks, when they see the ascendancy priests have over others, when they read hagiographies. There are so many ready-made identities, models, fashions, habits floating around for neurons to stick to. And every time they adhere there is rebirth.  The same identity is reborn. Neurons are merely food for identies and models, blood for vampires.  

Joy