Re: taoism, zen, and PCP

Robert Feldhaus (bobfeld@ucla.edu)
Thu, 10 Sep 1998 09:12:29 -0700

At 12:10 PM 9/9/98 +0100, Luis wrote:
>My only objection in terms of an important point of contrast between zen
>and constructivism will be addressed to the zen notion that through
>absorbed meditation practices one can ultimalely get in touch with a
>direct and unmediated state of experiencing an indifferentiated reality
>beyond words. Can we experience anything beyond our distinctions (be
>them verbal or preverbal)? I don't know, but I keep on meditating to try
>it for myself--of course without the goal of reaching anything, since
>the very "desire" to reach it prevents you from reaching it.

I agree this is an important point. Granted that there are many ways to
construe any situation, is there such a thing as an unconstruing state of
consciousness, an unconstrued experience of the world? I love how you say,
"I don't know, but I keep on meditating to try it for myself"! I love your
experimenting, empirical, open-minded, non-dogmatic stance!

I think that the more one really feels the indeterminacy, the
non-absoluteness of all possible construals of a situation, the more one
can construe with a sense of perspective and freedom. Then I think there
is such a thing as realizing one's freedom to either make a distinction or
not make a distinction in any given situation; also, once one has made a
distinction and decided for one side of a distinction, to balance it out by
seeing that the other side of the distinction is equally relevant and
"true" from a different angle.

What would it be like to be in a non-construing state? Would there be
perception of any kind without at least implicit distinctions? I'm not
sure either! But I know there is such a thing as at least relative mental
silence.

Bob Feldhaus

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