Narratives

Derrida was a buffoon. His theory of 'Deconstruction' doesn't make sense- it seems like Derrida deliberately obscured his meaning, to protect his claims from unwanted critisism. He thinks every 'text' has an ultra-fluid meaning, usually binary in nature, and he thus tosses absolute Platonism out the window. 'Deconstruction' damaged the workers movement and helped foster the growth of the 'New Left.' The end result has been a corrosive nihilism, rotting academic philosophy and maybe even dooming mankind.

Wittgenstein made more sense.


The Buddha nearly died seeking untimate truth- refusing to rise from beneath the Bo tree...until he saw perfectly, in his mind, the meaning of all his previous actions. He defeated the poisons inside his head and heart- lust, greed, ignorance. The fires had gone out, they were extinguished. Realization of the Middle Way dawned upon him...
By right views, effort,... following the Noble fourfold truths, one may gain liberation- life is painful, full of unsatisfactoriness. Desire, or misdirected wants, will betray us.

We are a slightly different person moment to moment. There is no such thing as death. You see a cloud in the sky, then later there is rain-the cloud is gone- is it now nothing? Or has it merely changed, turning into the fallen water? A cold wind turns the same water into ice. Has the water vanished completely into nothiness? No. So you see, by realizing the truth of the illusion of permenance and death, the truth that nothing is ever lost.. gives one a power.You are free from fear.

Since all things depend upon all other things for their existence(dependent origination), in an endless chain of being and causation, ultimately, nothing is permanent, nothing exists absolutely, all is really emptiness......

One must release oneself from ones attachment to the manifestations of the false world, the false appearences of the self (Skandha's)- cease craving/believing in unreal folly-your perceptions, sensations, matter(sounds, sights, all the senses) formation of mind, and consciousness. All these are illusions, because they change every moment. By detaching from these 'lies', you can obtain liberation.
There is no eternal self, there is no God. You must be your own lamp.

Buddhism never worked for me until i began to view it as a psychology, and not as a religion. I still feel its original premise is slightly too pessimistic-Life can be very good-...it's a way to achieve a level of inner peace, but then you have to move beyond it.

Its also curious to me how the person of the Buddha(Siddartha Gotama)- has been glorified into a demi-God by many of his followers. He was simply a man, a man who broke free from his chains.

The concept of 'Enlightenment' is really an overstatement. What occurs is really a coalesing or channeling of psychic energies; you become whole, complete.One needs the ego and desire to be human- but they must be reduced and controlled.