THE EGO, PERCEPTION AND BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY

According to Buddhist philosophy perception is one of the five aggregates.

The other four are FORM, FEELING, MENTAL FORMATION, AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Below are some thoughts pertaining to perception and the ego.

The eye sees only shape and color, but perception has the conditioning of memory. Somebody who hasn’t got a clock might think, “I want one like that too.” Or somebody who has a better one might think, “Mine is much more valuable.” Ego is arising immediately, asserting its desires or superiority feelings. In reality, all we have seen is a square little box black at the back and white at the front. Because of ego delusion and conditioning, perception creates a thinking process which we, of course, believe. There’s no reason to disbelieve it because we’ve never analyzed it. By believing it, we are perpetuating the ego illusion. We are constantly thinking because we have to support our ego illusion. The ego is so fragile that it will fall apart unless it’s supported. We keep adhering to the demands of the body and we become the feeling to support our ego illusion. If we were only to look at the feeling and say, “It’s just a feeling,” then there would be no ego affirmation.

Ego needs constant support because it isn’t real. We don’t have to keep saying, “This is a house. This is a big house. This is an old house.” It’s obvious. This house exits. But the ego doesn’t and therefore it needs constant confirmation. This support comes from our thinking process and gets additional help from being appreciated and loved and through sense contacts and our perception of them.

READ MORE AT:
http://www.compassiontemple.org/english/basicbuddhism/five_aggregates.htm

Controversy Sells: Witness the Wet-Wine Dress, grown in a Vat, and Woven by Bacteria

By Shaun Stanert

Employing controversy as a marketing and promotional tool to sell products effectively is nothing new. Still, the fact that it does work, and works well, always intrigues me.

Creating a clamor a around an issue also appears to be a popular way to catapult a career. It seems that it does not matter what the ethical content surrounding the issue is, just that it garners publicity and eventually name recognition for those involved. Hence the saying any publicity is better than no publicity.

There are benign uses of this “creating controversy” marketing method. Uses, in which no one gets hurt such as concept cars, made only for attention-getting demonstration purposes at auto shows, which never actually make it to car-dealership showrooms.

There are also not so harmless controversies such as scandals. These negative scenarios often manage to catapult one person’s career while humiliating someone else. In the USA, the Monica Lewinsky- former President Clinton scandal, likely falls into this category.

A recent example of a benign but fascinating product presently creating ripples of admiring turbulence is the “wet wine dress.” I have included an article about it below. Apparently, this dress is grown in a vat of wine, from cellulose woven by bacteria. It also must be kept wet to prevent it from becoming brittle.

The dress design is obviously not practical, at this point, and is presently only an attention grabber for fashion in general. If scientists can someday make the fibers more flexible, the dress may actually be wearable by the public.

This dress certainly caught my eye. The captivating scientific aspects of the dress, particularly the fact that bacteria weave it, lured me in. I was not aware that bacteria could weave, were you? That tidbit of information simultaneously fascinates and repels me. It brings to mind bizarre visions of an army of bacteria weaving a brittle wine-soaked barrier around everyone and everything.

I am also attracted to and respect the marketing brilliance of choosing to use this futuristic dress as a marketing tool.

HERE IS THE ARTICLE:
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Wet wine dress grows as 'cave woman' fashion
POSTED: 12:09 p.m. EDT, March 15, 2007
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters)

-- It's guaranteed to make your head spin.
An Australian scientist has grown a dress from cellulose woven by bacteria in a vat of fermenting wine, saying it is art but could be the future of fashion.

The "cave woman" design dress must be kept wet because the cellulose fibers are not long enough to be flexible and, as it dries, they become brittle and break.

In order to shape the dress, slimy cellulose is scooped off the surface of the fermenting wine and layered around a blow-up doll. It then shrinks, taking the form of the body. The doll is deflated when the dress is in the right shape.

"This is art; it is not meant to be practical," inventor Gary Cass told Reuters on Wednesday.
"It is meant to be a provocative object, to spark debate about future fashion," said Cass, a scientific technician at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

Cass was inspired to create the dress when he was working in a vineyard many years ago, but it was not until he gained funding from an arts group that he was able to produce it.

Cass said fermenting wine produces a slimy, rubbery top layer caused by bacteria which, if left alone, keep spinning cellulose.

"We just took winemaking to the next step," he said.

"But the problem is that the fibers are not long enough to be flexible. The next step is to try and make the fibers longer or join them to get more flexibility."

Cass said that, once the fibers became more pliant, his creation would have a more practical application.

"If you wanted a shirt you could get a cast made of your body and layer the cellulose around it," he said.

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

SAVE KNUT THE ORPHAN POLAR BEAR --- UPDATED

My interaction with animals has taught me that animals are sentient and possess their own unique brand of intelligence. It is an intelligence that may exceed our comprehension but still warrants respect.

Their intellect is in some ways inferior to human intelligence and in other ways far superior, at least by my observation.

When, I look at the architecture of a bird nest, intricately woven and tightly bound to a tree capable of withstanding gale force winds, or the survival skills of animals in extreme elements, elements that may quickly extinguish a human life force, I realize just how unique each animal's own special form of intelligence may be.

As an animal advocate, I believe that we are responsible for any helpless animal, human or otherwise, that crosses our path, and I do not see any issue with trying to learn to live together peaceably with other species.

That is why the seemingly convoluted, cold-hearted logic expressed by one animal rights activist leaves me absolutely befuddled.

Apparently he is quoted in German newspapers as asserting that Knut, an abandoned polar bear cub being raised at a Berlin zoo, would be better off being put to death than raised by humans. I am hoping his quote was out of context and wholly misunderstood, as reported

I am relieved, however to hear that this logic was quickly and loudly condemned by other animal rights organizations, politicians, people, and zoo officials.

I do not see any issue with raising an orphaned animal in a human environment as long as we realize that once tamed the animal must remain with us for life because it has not learned the wisdom of his species and will likely never be able to cope outside a human environment.

I actually do understand, from a theoretical perspective what this seemingly uncaring person is trying to say, given the fate of Bruno another bear mentioned in the news story I have included below. I do not advocate capturing wild animals with the intent to keep them in a zoo. Still, in this case it appears that we had no choice.

Perhaps we could work hard to guarantee that everything humanely possible is done to ensure that Knut does not meet the same fate as Bruno.

Here is the article:

Baby Polar Bear Debate: 'The Zoo Must Kill The Bear!'

Handlers at Berlin Zoo are facing Criticism from Animal Rights Activists for Rearing a Polar Bear Cub

By JOSH WARD

Associated Press

BERLIN, Germany, March 20, 2007 — - The Berlin Zoo's abandoned polar bear cub Knut looks cute, cuddly and has become a front-page media darling, but an animal rights activist insisted Monday he would have been better off dead than raised by humans.
"Feeding by hand is not species-appropriate but a gross violation of animal protection laws," animal rights activist Frank Albrecht was quoted as saying by the mass-circulation Bild daily, which has featured regular photo spreads tracking fuzzy Knut's frolicking.
"The zoo must kill the bear."
When Knut - or "Cute Knut," as the 8.7 kilogram (19 pound) bear has become known - was born last December, his mother ignored him and his brother, who later died. Zoo officials intervened, choosing to raise the cub themselves.
The story prompted quick condemnations from the zoo, politicians and other animal rights groups.
"The killing of an animal has nothing to do with animal protection," said Wolfgang Apel, head of the German Federation for the Protection of Animals.
Greens politician Undine Kurth called the suggestion "fully unacceptable." Petra Pau of the opposition Left Party invoked the widely-reported case of an Italian bear dubbed "Bruno" who wandered last year into southern Germany, only to be killed by hunters at the behest of local authorities worried about residents and livestock.
"Berlin is not Bavaria, therefore it will be better for Knut than Bruno," Pau said.
Albrecht told The Associated Press his beliefs were more nuanced than reported by Bild, though he applauded the debate the article had started. He explained that though he thought it was wrong of the zoo to have saved the cub's life, now that the bear can live on his own, it would be equally wrong to kill him.
"If a polar bear mother rejected the baby, then I believe the zoo must follow the instincts of nature," Albrecht said. "In the wild, it would have been left to die."
The German animal rights organization "Four Paws" argued along similar lines, saying it would not be right to punish the cub for a bad decision made by the zoo.
Other activists have also argued that current treatment of the cub is inhumane and could lead to future difficulties interacting with fellow polar bears.
"They cannot domesticate a wild animal," Ruediger Schmiedel, head of the Foundation for Bears, told Der Spiegel weekly in its Monday edition. Albrecht cited a similar case of a baby sloth bear that was abandoned by its mother last December in the Leipzig city zoo and killed by lethal injection, rather than being kept alive by humans.
But Knut belongs to the Berlin Zoo, and their veterinarian Andre Schuele, charged with caring for him, disagrees.
"These criticisms make me angry, but you can't take them so seriously," Andre Schuele said. "Polar bears live alone in the wild; I see no logical reason why this bear should be killed."
Schuele also argued that given the increased rarity of polar bears in the wild, it makes sense to keep them alive in captivity so that they can be bred.
"Polar bears are under threat of extinction, and if we feed the bear with a bottle, it has a good chance of growing up and perhaps becoming attractive as a stud for other zoos," Schuele said.
Knut, who recently posed for a photo shoot with star-photographer Annie Leibovitz for an environmental protection campaign, is scheduled to make his public debut at the zoo later this week or early next week, according to Schuele.
Until then, Germans can follow the bear's progress in a vast photo spread and videos of Knut drinking from his bottle, bathing and playing with teddy bears and soccer balls, all available on the zoo's Web site.



UPDATE ON KNUT: 

Knut died on March 19, 2011 -- R.I.P. KNUT.
             
                        READ ABOUT IT HERE

                                        and

                                      HERE:

Eight more near galaxies are discovered

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

SEATTLE, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A British astronomer says at least eight more galaxies have been discovered near Earth's home galaxy, the Milky Way, and dozens more are expected to be found.

Daniel Zucker of the University of Cambridge says the discoveries made during the past two years nearly double the number of Milky Way-area galaxies found during the prior 70 years.

"Seven of them are new dwarf galaxies (bound to) the Milky Way, ranging in distance from roughly 100,000 to 700,000 light-years from us," Zucker told a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Seattle.

Zucker said the new dwarf galaxies are extremely faint and diffuse and contain at most a few million stars each, National Geographic News reported. In fact, they are so small he suggests calling them "hobbit galaxies."

In contrast, the Milky Way contains at least 200 billion stars. http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070115-16084900-bc-us-galaxies.xml

Aussie scientist discovers 'dwarf' galaxy

CANBERRA, Australia, March 16 (UPI) -- An Australian scientist says a "giant" galaxy 140 million light years from Earth is actually a much closer "dwarf" galaxy.

Dr. Helmut Jerjen of the Australian National University says the discovery of a dwarf galaxy 10 times closer to earth than previously thought will allow researchers to better understand areas of "dark matter" and the origin of the universe.

Jerjen told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. dwarf galaxies are completely dominated by "dark matter" which poses "one of the most fundamental questions astronomers and physicists have at the moment to solve: what is dark matter?"

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-20070316-22140200-bc-australia-astronomy.xml

MORE BUDDHA BUZZ

A life lived without purpose or value, the kind in which one doesn't know the reason why one was born, is joyless and lackluster:

To just live, eat and die without any real sense of purpose surely represents a life pervaded by animality. On the other hand, to do, create or contribute something that benefits others, society and ourselves and to dedicate ourselves as long as we live to that challenge—that is a life of true satisfaction, a life of value. It is a humanistic and lofty way to live.

The Buddha's objective is to enable every individual to manifest his or her true identity:

In other words, Buddhism lies in respecting yourself to the utmost, revering others to the fullest and making it possible for both you and others to blossom equally as individuals....--- A Buddha said

What is Nirvana, as described by Ghandi

Nirvana is not the utter extinction of death:

Nirvana is the utter extinction of all that is base in us, all that is vicious in us. Nirvana is not like the black dead peace of the grave, but living peace, the living happiness of a soul which is conscious itself and conscious of having its own abode in the heart of the eternal, Ghandi said.

A BUDDHA SAID

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. (Buddha).