From: pharvey@quack.sac.ca.us (Paul Harvey)
Subject: Re: An Unprovoked Act of Aggression. (wuz: Re: Luke, Derrida, etc.)
Organization: The Duck Pond public unix: +1 408 249 9630, log in as 'guest'.
	<1992Dec14.110033.9552@ac.dal.ca>
Date: 14 Dec 1992 21:01:14 UTC

In article <1992Dec14.110033.9552@ac.dal.ca> 
hartigan@ac.dal.ca writes:
>In article <fWz2s4m@quack.sac.ca.us>, 
pharvey@quack.sac.ca.us (Paul Harvey) writes:
>>>> The best have all been humbled, even the great Indra. I sir, am not
>>>> as enlightened as the best. 
>>>I see. What is the difference between you and "the best?"
>> No greater than the difference between you and I.
>> But, these differences are all we have to cling to, are they not?
>Hmm...what I meant was, what makes you call some people "better" than 
>others?  

I'm clinging to the differences. If I wasn't do you think I'd be typing
letters on a keyboard right now? Or perhaps all I say is merely to lead
you astray. Are these bad things, or good? Don't become insulted by
thinking I'm playing words with you. What else can I do? The
transcendent is transcendent, that certainly includes letters and words.
Beyond the literal meaning, that is where insite is to be found. But
don't think I see any better than you, or worse. So why do I say "better"
when I could just as well say "worse?" Is that pessimism versus
optimism or vice versa? Why do I say "life" when I could just as well
say "death?" Is this a choice or no choice at all? Is Indra better than
me? It is wise to say so, is it not? Why? The student naturally wants to
learn from "better" not from "worse." But is this a wise method or a
fool's? Or no method at all? A student can learn from a rock, do you
agree? Is the student better or worse than the rock? Is this good or
bad? Choice or no choice? Is it not a hill of beans? Is "Play it Again,
Sam" better than "Casablanca?" C'est la meme chose, ne c'est pas? Eh,
mais la difference, Vive la Difference? In Latin it is said that In Vino
Veritas. Why do you think this means to get drunk? Or not? Could it not
just as well mean to become a wine grower, a keeper of the fruit? Or
could it mean something completely different? Does Black Elk not speak
the truth when he said the central mountain is known by you as Harney
Peak, South Dakota - but the central mountain is everywhere? The
headwaters of the Ganges is an actual physical place, but must one
actually go there to see it? Better, worse, c'est la meme chose. I would
recommend the Petite Sirah. You do recall that Roma backwards is amor,
do you not? That is in Langue d'Oc anyway.

>>>>>If you would answer yes, I ask: How did you come to this conclusion (that
>>>>>you are "enlightened")?
>>>> How does one know he or she is enlightened?
>>>That's what I was wondering.
>> You know. I know you know you know.
>What makes you think _I_ know?

I know you know you know. It is as it is, as it was and as it shall be.

>>>>>There is nothing outside the text. -- Usenet Survival Guide
>>>> But, there is everything *outside* the text. The letters come alive, a
>>>> to z.
>>>Sort of the "words made flesh," eh?
>> Ah - yep. But this sort of thing happens all the time ya know.
>Ok...the mirror opposite of that, the "flesh made word," probably the most
>popular recreational pastime in history, equals "There is nothing outside
>the text."   
>Words, words, words. 

Yes, but these are the same thing, are they not?
You say nothing, I say everything, what makes you think there is a
contradiction? If you had said everything, I would have said nothing.
Yet I would do this without bad intent, nor good.
Maybe it's just a dharma thing?
"There's no justice, it's just us" - Spice1
What is it that lovers say? Shall we recreate the world?
Which came first, night or day?
Yudhishthira says day, but it was only ahead by one day.
Which came first, the mother or the child?
Which came first, the human beings or the deities?
Which came first, atheists or deists?
Which came first, the mountain or the rock?