Thanks for the comment and the link. I do agree with you that that Samsara is the result of greed, hatred and delusion, I believe that these things are a result of our grasping behaviour, our egotistical desire to control and manipulate. I just think that this stems from the desire to divide and classify, so we have to be very careful about our divisions and classifications and how we use them.

I also agree about the way to alleviate Samsara, I just feel that the best way to do this is to see reality as it really is, to try and see through to the underlying form of reality. The view I’m taking is that the underlying reality is the same, our interpretation is what makes it different.

I always liked the example of the electromagnetic spectrum, x-rays, radio, microwaves, light, it’s all the same radiation, the frequency just varies. Same with carbon, it’s one of the most common things in the universe and forms no end of substances from graphite (one of the softest) to diamond (one of the hardest); the properties may change (you can burn coal, but not diamond), but at the end of the day, despite the form, it’s still carbon.

This probably isn’t the best way of me explaining it, hope I’m making sense.

Rich.

I agree that dualistic thought is necessary in day-to-day activities and communication. And I agree that many dualities are relative. Your hot/cold example is one. What is cold to one person may be warm to another. Yet at their extremes they are not relative to a perceiver. Heat requires energy. Cold is the absence of heat. This is the principle behind air conditioning and refrigeration. To make your house cool in the summer or keep your meat frozen for weeks, you don’t “create” cold air. You remove the warm air. What’s left over is cold. Cold and hot are not one.

Where we disagree is around your assertion that duality is illusion. If I understand things correctly, this is one of the major distinctions between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. The Mahayanist will say, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” More the point, “Samsara is Nirvana, Nirvana is Samsara.” In other words. What is good is the same as what is evil. This is the ultimate realization.

The Theravadist, on the other hand, would say, “Samsara is the result of greed, hatred, and delusion. By eradicating greed, hatred, and delusion one realizes Nibanna.” Remove the causes of suffering and suffering ends. Suffering and no-suffering are not one.

Bhikkhu Bodhi , a Tharavada monk, has an essay about this on Access to Insight here: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_27.html

PaulG