Dear Usrabbit:
Thank you for taking your time to write and offer your views.
I fully understand your good intention and your logic.
Your reasoning reminded me of a very interesting piece in the Lankavatara Sutra (maybe also interesting for some to read). A Brahman Lokayatika brought many questions to the Buddha, including: is all created or is all uncreated, is all non-eternal, or that all is eternal, or that all is born, or that all is unborn, and is all one or is all different, etc. , dozens of philosophical questions.
The Buddha’s reply is excerpted as “Brahman, whatever said are the worldly phenomena; these are not my teachings, and these are your worldly philosophy. I only state that the existence of the three realms has its cause in the habitual illusory thinking going on since beginningless time on account of error reasoning: for discerning takes place. Brahman, it is because beings do not realize the fact that there is no external world but the Citta itself and are deluded and cling to a seemingly external world.
The Braham did ask a good question though, he asks the Buddha “Gautama, is there anything beyond the worldly phenomenon? All the truth that is taught by all the philosophers by means of varieties of words and phrases, by means of reasons, examples, and conclusions, by general consent, Gautama, belongs to me.”
“There is something that does not belong to your understanding … Brahman, if there is any coming-and-going of the vijnanas, a vanishing-and-appearing, an attachment, an intense affection, a philosophical view …these are all worldly phenomena of yours but not my teachings,” the Buddha replies.
《楞伽阿跋多羅寶經》卷3〈一切佛語心品〉:「我時報言:『婆羅門!如是說者,悉是世論。非我所說,是汝世論。我唯說無始虛偽妄想習氣種種諸惡,三有之因,不能覺知自心現量而生妄想,攀緣外性」(CBETA, T16, no. 670, p. 503, c23-27)
In brief, [color=#0000FF]whatever worldly arguments brought forth are all within the state of our physical body and the perceptive mind.[/color] All your logic are reasonable, of course; those are what we have studied during this lifetime.
As I stated from the start, [color=#0000FF]Buddhist teachings focus on transcending the three realms [/color](to break free from the cyclic births and deaths), and the key issue relies on [color=#0000FF]the Citta which is beyond worldly phenomena and objects[/color]. The Citta (Alayavijnana/Buddha nature/True Reality) is too profound to explain in a few lines here (please refer to my other posts, if possible)
Buddhist Chan Ko’an are the vivid examples to demonstrate the successful empirical Buddhist cultivation; the Chan masters who personally achieved direct perception of enlightenment. For the general public, their dialogues are weird or insane because those do not belong to the worldly common sense, however, the ones with wisdom- eye are able to comprehend their messages. (I will elaborate more on the ko’an subject on the other thread).
Again, I respect your viewpoints.
Just to remind you, I am stating from a Buddhist practitioner’s standpoint, and I am writing about my personal experiences.
For your information, your posts here are new to me, so I simply reply to the parts I know about. Thank you.