Sandy: But does a dog have Buddha nature?
I reply: Of course they do!
If you'll just remind me of exactly what a Buddha Nature is, I'll tell you how dogs have it...
ILLUMINATION
>This balance can be understood in a pretty straightforward way, so
I don't see why the mysticism of illumination is neccessary.
This query sparked many excellent responses about Gloranthan illumination. I would like to add one more:
Modern, highly educated, first world earthlings like us would all likely be classified as "illuminates". We have been educated to think about topics from different points of view, to search for connections between seemingly unrelated things, and to overcome (hopefully) many predjudices. To us, illuminated thought seems obvious and easily obtained.
To Gloranthans, illumination flies in the face of how the world works. It allows a person to "outhink the myth". To act as an illuminate is to break all the rules, and to become unpredictable.
Examples of Illuminated behavior in our logical, scientific world would be:
1) someone who stands on the "hot rail" of an electric train track and is
unaffected
2) someone who levitates or spirit-travels,
3) someone who actually dies of a broken heart.
I think a Gloranthan would find those all quite easy to understand.
Pam,
who now knows from _experience_ that gum surgury is easier to endure than another "Total Quality" meeting.
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