Dear Stephen and friends,

I wouldn't say that consciousness is a purely spiritual matter. What
you have discussed are interesting, but can you give a description of
consciousness and mind from your point of view? Thanks.

metta,
Yong Peng

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Stephen Hodge wrote:
Anyway, even if there is not yet a standardized scientific theory out
yet, this does not mean that consciousness is not an intractable
problem. Since it is part of the physical universe, it should
eventually be amenable to explanation -- it may be mysterious but not
mystical. Note here that I am not taking a reductionist view with
regards to what I would consider to be purely spiritual matters.

That the mind is dependent upon the brain seems to be corroborated by
the evidence that can be garnered from people with brain disorders,
whether due to accident or congenital. One analogy that seems
fitting is the idea that the brain is like a radio transmitter-
receiver. That is to say, it can generate radio waves and receive
them, but the waves themselves can survive for great lengths of time
outside the equipment although probably degrading into an eventual
state of entropy. Perhaps that is what Nirvana is -- entropy :)