l am not a religious person , l am not a scientist. I am a practitioner of vipassana meditation whenever the oppurtunity presents itself to me because it benefits me to do that. I did study science at Monash university for 1 year (1983) but got put of by having to do dissections in biology on cane toads l think it was. I fainted in the lab l seem to recall. I did also live in a religious community for 5 years. In Picton,Sydney. The 12 tribes of lsrael. Living as a disciple of yahshua (transliterated jesus of the scriptures). Not dependent at all on government, home schooling birthing working within the broader community, living life as recorded in the scriptures of the bible acts 2 & 4. So, my hypothesis or thesis is probably not going to stand up to academic standards or scrutiny. I never completed any degree. I don't really care about that. To me, at the moment, it seems like science is trying to replace the abrahamic religions as the new religion. Medicine seems to be training up the new high priests, gods even. With talk of genetic editing, modification & updating in humans through these vaccines . Genes are supposed to be qualities or traits, expressed or latent (dormant) that supposedly we are susceptible to or inheritors of, through genetic family lines. We can supposedly be helped to have better traits through the intervention of the new high priests- the doctor giving us vaccines made by pharmaceutical companies. Sounds to me quite similar to the priests of the various abrahamic religions mediating between us & God to propitiate on our behalf or forgive our sins. In both of these “religions" it seems that sin is not believing the narrative (ie vaccines are poison, harmful, not beneficial or that abrahamic gods are invisible & imaginary & made in the image of those who believe in them & want to vindicate themselves & their actions, however good or bad they are , for example.) Or that you go to heaven or hell depending on whether you believe or doubt etc) But in reality we alone are responsible for our own actions,thoughts etc & we are our own masters. I don't believe in miracle potions , workers of magic , creative accountants, economic rationalists, or gods being interested enough to intervene in my life,let alone 8 billion humans who believe in all sorts of different things,gods , even when they believe in the same God, priest or doctor. That's not to say l don't believe in God almighty or that we are not all subjects to the laws of nature (or God almighty). We are. To believe we can destroy, outsmart or be separate & above nature is great folly. & it's better to stand between a lioness (or a female leo) & her cubs than between a fool or fools in their folly. God helps those who help themselves. As a kid l used to think that meant eating a lot as a guest at the food offering. Now l think it's abstaining from unwholesome actions that harm others, being the master of my own mind & purifying my mind (Sila Samadhi Panna) Sankharas. What in god's name are they? If you look into the Dhamma , the practice & teaching of any Buddha, sankhara is a link in the chain of causation ( of suffering). You can find out about that for yourself (or not), as the case may be. I can say it is consciousness or a part of consciousness, in particular it is the response or reaction of the mind to sensation on the body. It's a broad topic, but l can say it is conditioned by past habitual responses to similar sensation, but also that it is something which can be altered in a beneficial or harmful way by training. In a beneficial way by experiencing sensation on the body in it's true nature (which is that it is ephemeral or impermanent, it is suffering & it offers no evidence for an eternal personality or identity or ego or soul). In a harmful way by believing it is permanent or an eternal condition & reacting in the mind with fear aversion craving denial anxiety etc, especially if this response becomes habitual . Hell heaven & all the other realms are not destinations above the clouds or in some furnace somewhere. They are within us. Sin is perhaps better defined as any action, physical or vocal, that harms the peace or harmony of any being(SN Goenka) The perpetrator of such (sinful) action being the first victim. So, this Dhamma is different from the genes sins models of new/old religions of science/abrahamic religions in that the lay practitioner does not have to go to the priests interceding on our behalf, for our benefit(for a small fee- taxpayer funded) & that the Dhamma asks the lay practitioner to renounce or sacrifice something of value to the individual in order to get something back in return of greater value. (This is perhaps a good definition of folly/wisdom, a fool gives up something of great value in return for something of far lesser value- eg autonomy for slavery or dependence,) wisdom does the opposite, giving up what is valueable(eg essenceless or fleeting pleasure (eating corpses, craving fleeting sensual pleasure, having aversion to passing unpleasantness/suffering or pursuing sexual gratification) which give pleasure/pain to get back something more valueable (having a mind established in equanimity, balance,being able to trust, be trustworthy & enjoy the company of others that you formally ate (animals)or sexually desired(craved) . To abstain from all harmful unwholesome action as a base or foundation of practice(Which the new religion of science does not ask us to do(bottle shops being essential services), & wearing masks & getting vaccinated or not, which cannot seriously be considered as being outward symbols of internal piousness or virtue. Anyone can do those things. Virtue or piousness is more a function of what one abstains from doing, surely. Surely, if the base of the mind is unwholesome (involved in harming any being, including oneself, in any way- killing stealing lying performing sexual misconduct(that harms others) or being intoxicated(& not being the master of one's own mind)then anything done or said will be harmful, just as the wheel of a bullock cart follows the bullock yoked to that cart (That's a law of nature) & that any benefit gained (being liberated from our own sins genetically inherited undesirable or harmful traits or Sankharas) is only going to come in direct proportion to one's own efforts in cultivating /practising qualities/ faculties like loving kindness (metta) generosity (Dana), tolerance(khanti) abstaining from self harm & from harming other beings(human & non human)(Sila), renunciation (of power greed unwholesome livelihood etc) (Nekkhamma), determination (Adhitthana), truthfulness(Sacca), effort(Viriya) equanimity(Upekkha) , discernment (panna)- the 10 paramitas or qualities faculties of great value & our devotion to practice(in real life), absence of doubt that abstaining from actions that may give us fleeting pleasure but that harm other beings , if renounced, will bring benefit to ourselves & others , that being the masters of our own minds is beneficial to us & that benefit is experienced by us if training in these practices purifies our minds. So my 2 pennies worth is that Dhamma (that is practice that is free of dogma, universal, non-sectarian & eternal) should be seriously considered by all institutions at the moment as not only a middle path out of this mess but as a base or starting point (ground point zero) to unify humanity to walk together on a path that excludes none(no matter what faith or sect you come from) on the long path ahead of us (that values both human & non-human beings, animate & inanimate matter as being fellows worthy of a place in this big Lila (play). Enjoy the journey, the destination will be a pleasant surprise- and not what’s expected. I didn't know much about veganism or animal lib when studying biology in 1983 having been brought up on a diet of meat veg fruit rice pasta basically.
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Genes sankharas sins
Beautiful, dear Gregory!