Re: The Problem with Buddhism
Reply #67 –
with doubt [:] I have always had an urgent need to eliminate my doubts, to clarify everything and to put everything into perspective, to build a philosophy that explains everything and is defensible against all attack.
You want to be God, but know -reasonably- that you can't… I (sort-of) understand; but I wouldn't recommend drug therapies… You say you are old; but that's the middle-aged man bemoaning that he's no longer a teen-ager, I think. Give it (life) more time. You'll get used to it!
Learn to laugh, even when you only want to cry… (Others will be confused about which you're doing, either way.) And, please, recognize: When others attack your philosophy, they only attack you insofar as you've attacked them… That is: Your own conscience is biting you, even as it kisses!
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No wonder, we've always been at cross purposes: I revel in the chaotic immanence… Only secondarily do I need or seek explanation, explication or exegesis… Usually, things -people, circumstances, texts- are pretty straightforward; too much analysis often leads to a disconnection between understanding and knowing (I'd call it "believing"…), a preference for formalisms that isn't justifiable except on psychological terms: "anal retentive" is the neo-Freudian term.
Which neatly explains your "personal" reaction to my characterization of Plotinus' philosophy. (I don't think Plotinus would mind… ) What I wonder is, why are you so determined to reject a world that doesn't make sense?
Isn't there still enough that's worthwhile?
(The above -of course- harkens back to James' last post in the "Problem with Atheism" thread…)
Even temporarily…?