Bill Moyers with philosopher Daniel Dennett

Moyers: Is there a ‘ground of all being’
Dennett: Sure! I’d like to be able to thank someone for the universe we live in but the best I can do is study it, learn about it, with awe. Anselm described God as that being than which no greater can be conceived. If that is your definition of God then I DO believe in God. The universe is greater than we can conceive and it’s far greater than anything I can fully comprehend.

So who is right? Dennet or Anselm?

If, in meditation we can come to a place of rest and identify our true self, or identify with everything that is arrising with no subject or object distinctions, then aren’t we too experiencing Anselm’s God?

Can we explain it using blogs and words and gestures? No.

So who is right?

BOTH Dennet AND Anselm!

Filed under: Atheism, Dennett, God, Skepticism, Video, meditation, our precious human life

our precious human life

Why bother? Why practice anything? Why be a good person? Why make effort to get Enlightened if this like is just a meaningless trip to our deathbed?

The Tibetan Lamas were well aware of these kinds of questions and objections, and I’m guessing these teachings arose in monasteries where young monks (often as young as 7 or 8 years-old) would have needed a little bit of encouragement now and again.

Filed under: Tsongkhapa, dharma, meditation, our precious human life, suffering