ArCaNuM-- FiNiShEd

At no point did I claim that botanists are all plants, psychotherapists are all insane, detectives are all criminals, quantum theorists are all quarks, etc.
You all have the right to discuss and argue about buddhism as much as you like, but I've still got a right to say what I think of the matter and buddhists may be annoyed or enraged by it.
I just said what I thought, I didn't intend to stop the discussion or anything.

 

Well then. Are anyone here Buddhist? If anyone are, please inform me if you think that we've done something wrong.

Right. That should do it.

 

I think a buddhist is much more likely to be annoyed by someone saying "I love to eat meat." than they are over people discussing the interpretations of their religious scriptures.
Besides, a good buddhist shouldn't get enraged. It's bad karma, man.

 

Right. Just wanted to be sure.

 

Consciousness has nothing to do with sentience. Ever have something known as a dream?

 

Yes.

 

The definition of sentience is being conscious. If you don't believe me check the dictionary.

Yes I have dreams but that isn't saying much as I have never been unconscious.
You dream when you are asleep. Your senses still function. A noise, light or touch can wake you up so you must be conscious of these sensations when you are asleep. Therefore you are not unconscious when you sleep.
When you are truly unconscious, e.g. during surgery, you do not dream.

 

What about those people who have "near-death" of "out-of-body" experiences during surgery? Did they just not get enough gas?

 

Dunno. But I've been uncouncious (I did NOT spell that right. I couldn't've). One time, I fainted and remained so for twenty minutes. My girlfriend found me on the floor in our kitchen. I didn't know what happened, I don't even remember going into the kitchen.

 

If you cannot spell something go to dictionary.com.

I have only passed out once in my life. I've never broken any bones or torn any muscles. I am long-overdue for a catastrophic accident.

 

Anaesthetics work by descending inhibition. Some things are blocked easily, e.g. pain sensations from the skin, whereas others are much harder to block, e.g. signals telling your lungs to inflate. Out of body experiences can occur when the body is numb but the mind is still conscious. Similar things can happen to astronauts in zero G if they remain motionless in the dark. The brain doesn't handle this type of null-stimulus very well and people interpret it in odd ways such as out of body experiences.
It can also be due to people having a dream as they are coming round and then convincing themselves it happened during surgery.
Also also, some people are just morons and need no scientific explanation.

 

Webster's Collegiate 10th:
Sentience: A sentient quality or state OR a feeling or sensation as distinguished from perception and thought.
Sentient: Responsive to or conscious of sense impressions; aware OR finely sensitive in perception or feeling.

I do offer you the concession that sentience has an implication of consciousness, but I also do wish to inform you that dictionary's are made by men. Of course they would only equate the two. However, I am fully able to imagine a sentient state unaffected by consciousness. Whether or not this is the Nirvana spoken of by Hindus would be better posed to someone else, but I would think very little of an entire culture so fearful of life that they wish to die. That is the same cowardice that drives people to suicide, they would just happen to think that was only a temporary solution.

 

Maybe you're pregnant with her child.

 

Thank you for that revelation. I had envisioned some kind of pan galactic uber demon, called Jim, editing the Oxford English Dictionary but now I know better.
To keep an argument on track I think we need to stick to the human definition of human words as we only have human brains to process them.

Then you are admitting that you are not human?

They don't fear life (and when I make that sweeping statement I mean that their doctrine is not one of fear. I'm sure there are some maladjusted buddhists who fear life just as there are atheists, wicca, flying spaghetti monsterists who do).
Life is a treadmill. They know how to get off it. They try to do so. There is no fear of life or love of death involved.

 

As I've said, I don't believe this to be the Hindu idea. However, if their doctrine is as you were implying it was, then it would be. Any belief system which would equate heaven with merely a place of lifelessness must then aspire to lifelessness. Just like little emo chicks who cut thier wrists. Hindus, however, believe in reincarnation also, thus making such an escape an impossibility.

I wasn't trying to imply it's impossible for people to envision what I do when I think of Hindu Nirvana, I was merely making the observation that such an image is outside of the scope of normal human dialogue. The dictionary is not intended to define a word in every possible context, merely explain the meaning of a grouping of letters as is most commonly required by people.

The definitions in Webster's are the ones most useful for people, and I do stipulate that those definitions are important, but, for the purposes of this quasi-religious debate, I think a dictionary focused more on the religious and philosophical context of a word would be more appropriate.

 

I have been talking about buddhism in all my posts.

Emo chicks want attention. Buddhists want to escape the prison of consciousness.

Is there any reason that you have changed from buddhist to hindu or is it just a mistake? It makes a difference to the argument since hindus believe that they become incorporated into their god. Therefore hindus really do want to die (in the same way that christians want to die because heaven is a super happy funland a million times better than life).

I was talking about buddhism. This is very different as they don't have a god (apart from some minor sects but there is variation in all religions).
The Kerghan analogy applies only to buddhism and not to hinduism.