[topicmapmail] Identities and names (WAS - A somewhat new topicmaps format)

[Murray Altheim]

[a bit off-topic, though perhaps not at all...]

Daniel Rivers-Moore wrote:
 > Murray
 >
 > Very interesting, all this. I had been thinking of asking you about your
 > Buddhist experiences and how they might relate to your work on knowledge
 > and computer science. Now you mention Taoism too, and the connections
 > are yet more interesting. As it happens, I'm currently delving into yoga
 > philosophy, and there too I'm finding strong connections back to Taoism
 > and Buddhism (though the yogis themselves would quite likely downplay
 > the Taoist aspect, preferring to say that everything of *real* value
 > comes out of India!)

To clarify, while I did spend a very brief amount of time in a Tibetan
Buddhist monastery in India and dabbled in Zen while in California, I've
never come to consider myself a Buddhist, as to my mind some of its basic
premises bear too many similarities to any organized religion, like the
ideas of samsara or karma. I prefer joy and continuous rebirth (i.e., only
the present truly exists), things like that.

Taoism, as a philosophy, and to a lesser degree as a religion, i.e., as
a spiritual and pragmatic approach to life (okay, a "way"), has always
had great appeal to me. I at one time studied towards getting an MA degree
in eastern philosophy and religion, but decided it was antithetical to
what I'd be studying. Having an advanced degree in Taoism would be like
having a Ph.D. in fishing.

Saying that, Zen still holds a lot of pull, and especially its newer
branch of American Buddhism. I joke sometimes about ending up in a Soto
or Rinzai monastery -- better to be careful about what one asks for!

 > Anyway, the spiritual/religious/cultural aspects of all this are
 > probably best pursued off-list. When I have a little time (probably in a
 > week or so if not sooner), I hope to contribute again to this thread.

So that this message isn't entirely personal, here's references to two
of my favourite books, one Taoist, one Zen:

     The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, trans. Burton Watson
     Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 0-231-03147-5
     http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0231031475/202-9098798-9003008

     The Blue Cliff Record, trans. Thomas and J.C. Cleary
     Shambala, Boston & London. ISBN 0-87773-622-7
     http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0877736227/202-9098798-9003008

These are rather expensive hardcovers, though the Blue Cliff Record is
available in paperback, and I think Columbia also has a smaller,
different edition of Watson on Chuang Tzu in paperback. I've not owned
the latter book that long, but it's one that will take many years to
understand.

Also, I note on the Conceptual Graphs list a mention of a paper

    The Symbol Grounding Problem, Stevan Harnad, Princeton University.
    http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/Papers/Harnad/harnad90.sgproblem.html

that seems pertinent to our discussion.

Murray

...........................................................................
Murray Altheim                         http://kmi.open.ac.uk/people/murray/
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK                    .

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