Inside and Outside - Duality or Not?

"You made your bias quite clear, and so you don't have to use science to back yourself up, but if you do, please provide real references to back up these statements." -- Yadid

That was just my opinion so you are certainly free to disagree. Also, I'm not using science to back it up rather just explaining how I get to my opinion. Fair?

Very fair indeed,
I know of your opinion and I respect it, I also thought today that its not just a matter of choice, but more a matter of inclination. I find myself inclined towards one way and I can explain it in several ways, but the inclination came before all the explanations.
What do you think?

In regards to the science thing - basically I guess I was asking you to tell me more about that (what scientific basis lead you to that conclusion)

Yes, I'm a product of my upbringing, my native culture, my education, and all kinds of influences. So inclination is a good way to put it. Sure.

"... what scientific basis lead you to that conclusion."

Yadid, I was thinking of things like mirror neurons, which are known to cause empathy in human beings - a feeling that we can feel another person's pain, joy, etc. I was thinking of the medical research I've read in regard to how the human mind/brain complex is a whole series of capabilities that are not just centered in one place in the brain but seem to be almost chaotically distributed all over. Evolution has produced a really complex, interconnected organism that I suspect changes and behaves in such a complex way that even with present technology we can only surmise, not neatly define, what's going on with people, let alone people who meditate. I'm open to, and very anxious to see, what comes up as all of this "stuff" is investigated by science.

In these forums we tend to talk about stark differences. I do it, too. But that's not what really happens in my experience. Things seem to happen more slowly, over time, and in shades of gray, not in a black and white, more binary manner.

Again, JMHO.

"In these forums we tend to talk about stark differences. I do it, too. But that's not what really happens in my experience. Things seem to happen more slowly, over time, and in shades of gray, not in a black and white, more binary manner.

"

I suppose its like pushing a rock uphill, slowly, slowly, and you are making progress all the way, but when the rock finally falls over from the cliff, Ahh, thats when when we feel victorious.
Or in your analogy: shades. from black to white it goes through many shades of grey, but when it finally reaches white, you can see the stark difference from the beginning color to what it has now become.

Yeah. My version would be that it never actually reaches absolute white (or black) but it can come close