shifterknob

Timothy Ferris, the science writer, described Zen Buddhism in his book "The Mind's Sky: Cosmic Intelligence in a Cosmic Context".
Zen is the philosophy which trys to make sense of the universe, all the while knowing that you will fail, but trying anyhow.
Zen is the philosophy which examines the paradoxes inherant in living in a universe that will alway remain unknowable, at least in some sense. We are limited by our senses and our contextual perceptions... or mis-perceptions, as the case may be.

Hugo Holbling

Perhaps the essence of Zen is a joke that very few people seem to get?

For Boro: Try listening to the sound of one hand clapping again; you may just pick up the other hand pulling the pope's cap off...

Mageth

LDC said:

Only because we CALL them 'sound' waves, Mageth. Without a brain to interpret them, what are they? Just compaction and rarification of air molecules.

They're still there, affecting the world around them, reacting with objects other than our eardrums, whether we're there to interpret them or not.

One need not necessarily depend on the words of the ancients, but must only think of what is really true - Dogen

Serpahim said:

Does anyone know what Zen Buddhism is? I don't mean some 3rd party defination or from some dictionary either.

- Zen is not a conception - if you set up an idea of it, you lose the essence. - Shoitsu

- Those with higher knowledge and keen faculties penetrate through to great realization without needing explanations, devices, or objectives. - Shoitsu

Mageth

Perhaps the essence of Zen is a joke that very few people seem to get?

You are halfway there!

tk

It seems this is a dispute over the definition of "sound": whether it's the actual waves themselves, or a living thing's perception of those waves.

To complicate matters, there's the <a href="http://www.qmw.ac.uk/~zgap118/" target="_blank">wave-particle duality</a>: in some situations, what we normally call waves (e.g. light) can take on the behaviour of particles, and what we normally call particles (e.g. electrons) can exhibit wave-like behaviour. So when we talk about "waves" affecting "particles", it's worth asking whether these things actually correspond to concrete entities in the physical world.

Mageth

I don't think the wave-particle duality is relevant to sound waves.

victorialis

*snort*ROFL

You're onto something there.

Gurdur

I think Zen is best summed up by Franklin's glass organ.

I like clavichords. What do you think of clavichords ?

Bugger motor mechanics, how about the motoric cortex ?

gwh00

The purpose of any Zen koan is to freeze or still the discriminating mind, the mind of duality. Only in stillness will the mirror clear and reveal one’s original face.

The essence of Zen is stillness.

Gary

Waning Moon Conrad

Never heard Franklin's glass organ although I'm intrigued. I presume the pipes are glass?

I do like clavichords but I adore harpsichords and one of my best friends builds the best ones I've ever played. He's also a good poet and we've recently done a humourous, collaborative work harpsichords being rescued from termites by ants.

Fortunately I'll be able to commission one from him soon.