no death, no fear

In no death, no fear, Thich Nhat Hanh deals with complex issues of existence-and-non-existence by using simple examples from nature such as a flame:

“Looking deeply into a box of matches, you can see the flame. The flame has not manifested, but as a meditator, you can see the flame. All the conditions are sufficient for the flame to manifest. There is wood, sulfur, a rough surface and my hands. So when I strike the match and the flame appears I would not call that the birth of a flame. I would call it a manifestation of a flame.

The Buddha said that when conditions are sufficient you manifest yourself. When conditions are no longer sufficient, you stop the manifestation in order to manifest in other forms, with other conditions.” (pgs. 71-72)

I found many of his examples very New Agey. He suggests several meditation mantras. One of them involved trying to annul corporeal identification. Unfortunately, I tried it on a cold breezy day. As I felt the cold air freezing my face, the suggested idea that my ears were not I, did not work. Unlike many New Age writings, this book does not explore consciousness nor the state of “ku.” But all in all, I enjoyed reading it and learned something from the idea of thinking in terms of “manifestations.”

Manifold Origin

Although I like Latin I did not wish to watch The Passion. There are not that many films in Latin but that one was too bloody to enjoy. Stephen Baxter’s Origin reminded me of why I wouldn’t watch Gibson’s Christian film.

In a scenario that would partially please those New Agers that believe that the Moon was planted by some conscious force in our solar corner, Baxter imagines a satellite maneuvered by some civilization. Obviously, it is a society ahead in technology by millions of years. However, it is totally absent from galactic affairs. Given the background of suffering that takes place in that world, the “old ones” sound like exclusivist earthly gods absent during the many genocides, starvation and suffering on Earth.

In this parallel science-fiction world, a shock of civilizations and hominids follows similar patterns in attitude when followers of a religion encounter different local hominids:

Another lash to the shoulders … “Look on His merciful face. … Do you know what my fathers suffered to bring the Word to this world? When they fell here, they had nothing … They were set upon by beasts like yourself; they starved; they fell prey to diseases. And yet they survived, and built this community … And that is how the Word of the Lord came to this pit. … And now you, an animal of the field … you presume to call on Him for help?” (pp. 376–377, paperback edition)

The tone is evidently pessimistic as “The universe aged: indifferent, harsh, hostile, and ultimately lethal.” (p. 494) Which does not mean I didn’t enjoy this book. Even though his fictional solution to the Fermi Paradox did not follow my expectations in imagination, as in his previous book (Space), I find that Baxter did an excellent job in trying to get into the consciousness of Neanderthal-like beings, trying to show us how it would feel.