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Just a few points to the most recent posts: DT Strain, I'm not entirely convinced by the arguments re: potential to affect change as being a necessary and sufficient condition to say something is part of the 'metabody'. For instance, suppose I have a situation where I am able to provide...

Interesting concept; some random musings/questions below: Do you generalise your concept to include a time dimension? In other words, do you look at the body as a constant evolution over time, where its 'extremities' [say, for arguments sake, all objects not linked to the brain by a...

No problem Vajradhara, I really appreciate your replies as they are helping me to see these teachings in a new light - in the meantime, I've been thinking about your comments so far. I think I have a slightly better understanding now on the atman/anatman point; I guess that I am having a bit of...

Sorry to belabour this point, but its important I think to establish a common understanding of this issue. The reason why using the word 'opinion' is very misleading, is that technically, whilst it may be correct, common usage of 'opinion' is that of a subjective 'truth' that cannot really be...

Just a quick interjection - This is a very common misconception, particularly amongst those without scientific backgrounds (this isn't meant to be an attack of any kind on you Quahom1, please forgive me if it comes across as such... the downside of a written communications media :( ) A...

Couldn't find a way to edit my post above, so had to create a new one. Ok, I read through the links in your post, Vajradhara - they made for very interesting reading; there was also another article on the site which expounded the idea of no-self vs. not-self and how the Buddha approached this...

Thank you for the detailed response to my post Vajradhara - its going to take me a bit of time to go through the links you've included and absorb what you've written. As a quick response though, I'm still having a lot of trouble with the concept of a difference between Atman and Anatman...

'Infinity' can mean a number of different things. A very basic use is in the area of induction, which gives rise to the natural numbers (1,2,3,4,....). Induction is an axiom that basically states, 'given x, you can get x+1'. The natural numbers then use two basic axioms: '1 exists' and...

I think that there is a fundamental misunderstanding implicit in your question. Religions (or spiritual traditions) attempt to provide frameworks for existential questions, which allow you to conduct your life in a meaningful way. I guess, if I'm reading what you're asking correctly, that...

Firstly, I want to emphasise that I haven't studied Taoism in any depth, and so my comments are merely my opinion on what yin/yang is trying to symbolise in the context of eastern mystical thought. At a surface level, yin/yang could be regarded as a symbol of dualism, with everything having a...

I've been reading a few posts on these boards about rebirth and reincarnation, and am confused. What is the difference between the Buddhist view and the Hindu view? I've seen it explained as - in Hinduism, there is an unchanging mover that transmigrates in Buddhism, there is no such mover...

Reincarnation, as described in 'Eastern' traditions, seems to me to be a natural consequence of two basic ideas. The primary underlying idea is monism, or the belief that everything is essentially the same thing. This belief (or realisation, depending on point of view) means that there is some...

Further to this, we need to bear in mind that the ice age didn't end overnight 12000 years ago - in fact, there would have been a long period of time during which sea level was changing. Combine this with early settlements tending to be near rivers and/or coastal regions, and its very easy to...

This is definitely a fascinating topic. I remember reading David Brin's work (the Uplift series) where he considers this subject in passing. His take on it was quite interesting, if I remember correctly. It goes something like this: If you have an Oral tradition, language has to be highly...

Apologies for dredging up this post, but I can't believe no-one mentioned a book called 'Sleeper in the Sands' by Tom Holland. Without going into too much detail, this novel draws quite heavily on this idea. It starts off as Howard Carter is just about to unearth Tutankhamen's tomb, and then...

As I understand it, Hinduism is Monistic but not Monotheistic. This might seem like semantics, but common usage for Monotheistic today does very much suggest the Godhead as represented in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. That is, omnipotence is held by one entity who has the capacity to direct...

From what I've read, Aryan as used in the context of Aryan Invasion Theory is a purely linguistic construct. That is, there is no such thing as an Aryan race. The name is used to provide a label for a family of languages and associated speakers of those languages. This makes the label 'AIT'...

That is one rude email you were sent - personally, I'd have used more colourful language in response :) . As pointed out on this thread, there is a lot of new thought around Indian history/pre-history, and I guess that the emailer was referring to that. It does highlight some issues around...