Schrodinger's Cat, Nansen's Cat

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  • Nengei
    Member
    • Dec 2016
    • 1697

    #16
    I have a few years of undergrad and graduate training in quantum chemistry (that is really intro-level only), and what I learned in that time greatly informs how I see the universe, and how I understand Zen (if I do at all). It may be that people who are real quantum physicists and chemists might see divergence between Zen philosophy, but to me it as though the two fields (Zen and quantum physics) invented each other. Forming a model of the particle nature of things, seeing all that exists awash in an endless sea of subatomic liquid, feeds my understanding greatly.

    Thank you, Jundo, for your teaching.

    Gassho,
    Nengei
    Sat today. LAH.

    edit: I wonder whether anyone here has read the book Cosmological Koans by theoretical physicist Anthony Aguirre? Here is a description.
    Last edited by Nengei; 01-18-2024, 01:35 AM.
    遜道念芸 Sondō Nengei (he/him)

    Please excuse any indication that I am trying to teach anything. I am a priest in training and have no qualifications or credentials to teach Zen practice or the Dharma.

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    • Risho
      Member
      • May 2010
      • 3179

      #17
      I find these things fascinating, but there's not much I can do with the information.

      What can I do? How can I help or at least help not increase suffering/chaos/confusion with myself and others directly in my life here and now. Way easier said than done, which is why we practice.

      Basically what Jundo more eloquently said

      Gassho

      Rish
      -stlah
      Email: risho.treeleaf@gmail.com

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      • Jundo
        Treeleaf Founder and Priest
        • Apr 2006
        • 39490

        #18
        Originally posted by Risho
        ...
        What can I do? How can I help or at least help not increase suffering/chaos/confusion with myself and others directly in my life here and now. ...
        Knowing, profoundly, from skin to marrow, that we are the world and all things and moments, and all is us, is the traditional medicine for our most basic human alienation and suffering.

        Gassho, J

        satlah
        ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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        • Risho
          Member
          • May 2010
          • 3179

          #19
          Originally posted by Jundo
          Knowing, profoundly, from skin to marrow, that we are the world and all things and moments, and all is us, is the traditional medicine for our most basic human alienation and suffering.

          Gassho, J

          satlah


          rish
          -stlah
          Email: risho.treeleaf@gmail.com

          Comment

          • Jundo
            Treeleaf Founder and Priest
            • Apr 2006
            • 39490

            #20
            Dear All,

            I was just informed that Tricycle Magazine will be publishing a version of this essay, although I don't have details on exactly when, online or in print.

            Or, at least they will be in this universe, maybe not in one of the alternative quantum-verses!

            Gassho, Jundo

            stlah
            ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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            • Hōzan
              Member
              • Dec 2022
              • 431

              #21
              Schrödinger's Cat, Nansen's Cat

              Look forward to reading it on tricycle!
              Found this nugget that fits in smoothly with the theme here [emoji38]
              Even simple plates exist yet doesn’t.



              Gassho, Hōzan
              Satlah
              Last edited by Hōzan; 02-02-2024, 03:28 PM.

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              • Bruno
                Member
                • Aug 2022
                • 1

                #22
                The poor cat IS a sentient being

                I've been thinking a lot about this experience (and all the fascinating findings in quantum physics) and their implications for Buddhism (and all the "mystical" traditions of other religions). I even think it was these discoveries that gave me the final push towards Buddhism.

                That said, to be a little quibbling, the hypothetical experience of the cat in the box is interesting, but it seems very anthropocentric to me. The cat IS itself a sentient being that observes the quantum field and causes particles such as photons and electrons to take the form of particles rather than waves (is this a bit what Dogen meant by actualizing the universe, haha!). The cat would therefore be dead OR alive before we even open the box. RIP cat (or not)

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                • AbokinDuka
                  Member
                  • Jan 2024
                  • 9

                  #23
                  Thanks for publishing this Jundo, and looking forward to seeing it in Tricycle.

                  I suppose the safest thing for all of us, other than the cat, would be to give up attachment to the idea of ever opening the box in the first place.

                  Gassho

                  Satlah

                  Comment

                  • Jundo
                    Treeleaf Founder and Priest
                    • Apr 2006
                    • 39490

                    #24
                    Originally posted by AbokinDuka
                    Thanks for publishing this Jundo, and looking forward to seeing it in Tricycle.

                    I suppose the safest thing for all of us, other than the cat, would be to give up attachment to the idea of ever opening the box in the first place.

                    Gassho

                    Satlah
                    Oh, Tricycle was nice to publish it some weeks ago ...

                    Consoling a sick friend, a Zen teacher untangles our separate self-existence.


                    At least, they published it in this universe. I am not sure about in the quantum alternative universes.

                    Gassho, J

                    stlah
                    Last edited by Jundo; 04-04-2024, 11:58 PM.
                    ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLE

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                    • AbokinDuka
                      Member
                      • Jan 2024
                      • 9

                      #25
                      Until I clicked on the link, it remained both published and unpublished at the same time!

                      Gassho, G

                      Stlah

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