As someone relatively new to both Buddhism and object-oriented programming, please allow me this space in your comments to unpack a few thoughts. The current buzzword in data science is ‘Extract Transform Load’ (ETL) as we move (or maybe transcend?) from one data type to the next.
I find Neo Shakya’s analogy astute and illuminating. The ‘application layer’ is the samsara in which we currently live, the world of appearances. Here are objects and functions that we interact with daily – most of them predefined by society or culture. In programmer speak, we instantiate these classes (calling values that build our roles, our identities, our desires) and operate on them as if they are inherently real and tangible.
In The Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha speaks of the mind’s projections and warns against mistaking the constructed for the real. However, The Dharma, like source code, invites us to look beyond this polished surface layer of compiled illusion. To realize that concepts—“self,” “word,” even “Dharma”—are abstractions, pointers. It’s the same logic as the koan “the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.” In coder-speak, the reference is not the instance.
May we all trace the source code back to the root. Thank you for the exercise in mental cognition.
I also love this metaphor—it’s vivid, direct, and simple, making it easy to grasp the superficial nature of the illusory world and sparking a desire to explore the truth behind it.
Following your words, “May we all trace the source code back to the root.”
As someone relatively new to both Buddhism and object-oriented programming, please allow me this space in your comments to unpack a few thoughts. The current buzzword in data science is ‘Extract Transform Load’ (ETL) as we move (or maybe transcend?) from one data type to the next.
I find Neo Shakya’s analogy astute and illuminating. The ‘application layer’ is the samsara in which we currently live, the world of appearances. Here are objects and functions that we interact with daily – most of them predefined by society or culture. In programmer speak, we instantiate these classes (calling values that build our roles, our identities, our desires) and operate on them as if they are inherently real and tangible.
In The Lankavatara Sutra, the Buddha speaks of the mind’s projections and warns against mistaking the constructed for the real. However, The Dharma, like source code, invites us to look beyond this polished surface layer of compiled illusion. To realize that concepts—“self,” “word,” even “Dharma”—are abstractions, pointers. It’s the same logic as the koan “the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.” In coder-speak, the reference is not the instance.
May we all trace the source code back to the root. Thank you for the exercise in mental cognition.
Namaste 🙏
I also love this metaphor—it’s vivid, direct, and simple, making it easy to grasp the superficial nature of the illusory world and sparking a desire to explore the truth behind it.
Following your words, “May we all trace the source code back to the root.”
Thank you. 🙏🏻