Message from @Arthur Konrad
Discord ID: 426771372497174539
DIOGENES WAS FUN BECAUSE HE WAS A LITERALIST
REALISM IS A BIT MORE IDEALISTIC
IN THE SENSE OF GERMANIC IDEALISM
BUT I LIKE HIS GROUCHINESS
"HUMANITY... FUCKIN' BLIGHT"
Zen isn't realism, certainly not Shinto and even much less temporalism
Zen is derived from early Tantrism, originates from India, touches "Shinto" only on the plane of appearances, much like Tibetan or Mongolian folk touches Vajrayana. Zen decidedly IS transcendentalism, but unfortunately, its method is not widely understood, and is somewhat impenetrable for philosophy and dialectics
Zen places so much emphasis on the "unsayable" (Zen koans illustrate this well), that any polemical Zen is almost impossible to conceive of
Mahayanism is a much wider definition than Zen, so Zen does not derive form it, but it can be included in Mahayanist tradition, but then again, it can also be included also in Tantric tradition, but emphasis is slightly more contemplative and meditative
TRANSCENDENTALISM IS INHERENT
THE "UNSAYABLE" IS JUST A RIFF ON NIHILISM
COMMUNICATION DOES NOT EXIST
Absolutely not
Transcendentalism is connected to what defies the world of opposites
In that sense, Zen is intensely connected to going beyond the opposites
As such it does not belong to naturalist "realism", which is a Nietzschean domain
Language itself is inherently connected to the world of appearances, and hence "realization" cannot be spoken of in any definite terms, I mean this is the alphabet of transcendentalism
THAT IS MORE TROPE THAN PHILOSOPHY
IT WILL END UP AT BACKDOOR DUALISM ANYWAY
Cultivating non dual experience via meditation alone or meditation + koans. Predominantly
Even monism, in philosophical terms, does not represent any genuine realization in itself, it is a mere plane of philosophy
The Atma, the Brahman, it also has its own backdoor, which is Naturalism
I'm not a great fan of introducing concepts of non-dualism and dualism in general, because these are merely polemical devices that do not really help
Non-dualism and dualism could in fact easily be explained as one and the same
And then also not - the fundamental problem of philosophy
it's true they don't
But short of hitting each other with sticks what do you wanna do
Nothing really, but Brett is fond of pulling impossible claims, and he just produced another one, namely, that Zen is not transcendentalism
Take this for example "Cultivating non dual experience" this is an instruction which is purely philosophical, it demands elaboration, which leads down the rabbit hole
No argument there dude
"Cultivating concentration (of the mind)" this one is more intuitive
If someone asks "what is concentration of the mind" then you can apply the stick if you prefer
But the point is always in getting to work
Or shout
Stick is simply more Zen
still an action either way
But yeah
You're right
So is zen your deal?
It strikes me that Brett accepts so very few Nietzschean concepts and precepts, because he defines himself as Nietzschean (And I do not mean to belittle, I just speak what appears to me)