the Buddha refused to Answer 14 Questions

[Plenum]

I did not know this previously.

The 14 Questions are really only 4 Questions, but phrased in different ways implying an answer. These are the Questions:

Is the world eternal?
or not?
or both?
or neither?

Is the world finite?
or not?
or both?
or neither?

Is the self identical with the body?
or is it different from the body?

Does the Tathagata exist after death?
or not?
or both?
or neither?

- -

the questions are a bit more comprehensible when expanded out:

1. Are the self and the universe eternal?
2. Are the self and universe transient?
3. Are the self and the universe both eternal and transient?
4. Are the self and the universe neither eternal nor transient?

5. Do the self and the universe have a beginning?
6. Do the self and the universe have no beginning?
7. Do the self and the universe have both beginning and no beginning?
8. Do the self and the universe have neither beginning nor no beginning?

9. Does the Blessed One exist after death?
10. Does the Blessed One not exist after death?
11. Does the Blessed One both exist and not exist after death?
12. Does the Blessed One neither exist nor not exist after death?

13. Is the mind the same as the body?
14. Are the mind and body two separate entities?

- -

the reasons the Buddha gave for this refusal were:

It's said that the Buddha would not answer these questions because they were simply intellectual diversions and not concerned with the true knowledge that could end suffering and bring enlightenment.

The Buddha compared those who ask such questions to a man wounded by a poisoned arrow. Instead of allowing a doctor to remove the arrow, the injured man insists first on finding out the caste, name, and clan of the man who shot him. He wants to know if he's dark or fair, and whether he lives in a town, village, or city. The injured man is also obsessed with the weapon used to shoot him and must know if it was a longbow or a crossbow and what the bowstring was made of. What kind of wood was the arrow made of, the man asks, and what bird did the feathers come from which lined the shaft?

- -

there is an intellectual/philosophical side to Buddhism that is as deep as any in the Western Tradition, but at it's core, I think Buddhism is concerned with practical matters, things that affect direct experience, and possibly improve it.

- -

I think that Ra is also attempting to impart the same pragmatic knowledge, within the bounds of the questions that Don posed. Ra did answer 'conspiracy type' questions when posed, but they seemed to prefer the eternal truths, the one's that would directly lead one back to unity/intelligent infinity.

- -

funnily enough, I think that the Law of One actually addresses these 4/14 Questions that the Buddha wouldn't touch.

[Oldern]

Buddha was very amazing at not touching this, because the quote that you just quoted not only made my day, but is such a useful mirror to what we are all doing that it is not even funny.

Instead of learning to love in the moment, we are so busy trying to puzzle out what we are, what the Harvest is, what will occur, HOW it will occur, when will it occur, what will happen to each and every body of ours, etc, etc... I could go on for years with this.

It is good to forget the how and the why. Or to not even touch it for a moment.

[abstrktion]

Even though I find quite a bit of L/L "ah-ha!" moments while reading, I do agree that it is easy to get caught up in study and lose sight of what matters--how we live daily.

Also, I notice that it is always questions of this nature that divide us--we move off into philosophical "camps"; religious dogma is fought over. Sometimes it is better to avoid giving someone something to argue about!

[turtledude23]

I answered them in my head, if anyone is interested:

1. No, they're temporary illusions.
2. Yes.
3. No. (the universe probably exists "inside" an omniverse which might be eternal, or that could be "inside" something else, ultimately all illusions must be "contained" in some kind of infinite eternal unity)
4. No.

5. Yes, all temporary things have a beginning and end.
6. No.
7. No.
8. No.

9 - 12. I don't know what the blessed one is, if its the creator then it must be eternal, if its our soul even that is a temporary division from unity.

13. No.
14. Yes but interdependent.

I agree with the Buddha quote about transient matters however these are not transient matters, these are some of the most central questions one can ask about the nature of reality and that knowledge is necessary to become enlightened. Buddha may have avoided answering these because often its better for people to discover a truth on their own than to have someone else tell it to them, in fact sometimes someone telling it to them robs that truth of its wonder and is actually a bad thing, however I think these questions are all relatively easy for a philosopher to figure out and I don't see anything wrong with answering them.

[Lavazza]

Great post. I like the Buddah's response / analogy with the arrow. It's true, we humans like to try and figure things out and often times it really doesn't matter too much with regards to improving our situations.

Still fun to try and figure stuff out though.