Thanks so much for the article. I have been getting into the metaphor of the
Jeweled Net of Indra lately, and this article reminded me in many ways about
this amazing concept. It also echoed in many ways the teachings of the Buddha
I've been reading in "Old Path White Cloud" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Here's a quote
I found particularly striking, simple and profound at once:

"Bhikkhus, this bowl cannot exist independently. It is here thanks to all the
things we consider non-bowl entities such as earth, water, fire, air, the
potter, and so forth. It is the same for all dharmas. Every dharma exists in
interdependent relation to all other dharmas. All dharmas exist by the
principles of interpenetration and interbeing.

"Bhikkhus, look deeply at this bowl, and you can see the entire universe.
This bowl contains the entire universe. There is only one thing the bowl is
empty of and that is a separate, individual self. What is a separate,
individual self? It is a self which exists completely on its own, independent
of all other elements. No dharma can exist independently from other dharmas.
No dharma posesses a separate, essential self. That is the meaning of
emptiness. Empty means empty of self."

Here's some links to stuff on the Jeweled Net of Indra, for those interested:

Scroll down on this page for a short article on it:

http://c1.zedo.com/jsc/c1/ff2.html?n=162;c=1963/1;s=797;d=16;w=720;h=300;t=Adver\
tisement

This is a list of all the implications of the Jeweled Net:
http://www.heartspace.org/misc/IndraNet.html

a short wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra's_Net

These articles talks about the Jeweled Net in relation to the internet:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2000/12/03/stories/1303076i.htm
http://www.techgnosis.com/indranet.html - the first half of the page (the
writer's snarky, the but guy he interviews is interesting)

an article on Indra's Net and the law:
http://a2j.kentlaw.edu/Insights/1999/Indras/

Here's a graphic version:
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/bodhisattva/indras-net.html

Indra's Net animations:
http://ioannis.virtualcomposer2000.com/optics/indra.html (I found this to be a
particularly evocative quote from the site: A completely reflective sphere in
void space is basically invisible in the absence of any external objects. In
other words what the viewer sees on its surface, is only what gets reflected
against it. But on every surface are reflected other such spheres, for which the
same assumption holds (i.e. they are invisible).

a fractle of it:

http://www.jackhaas.net/art_Digital_Fractal_art_mandala_Jeweled_Web_of_Indra_Hin\
du_art.htm

The Jeweled Net and the Glass Bead Game:
http://www.glassbeadgame.com/GBG.htm

Have Fun!
:) Sean

SNIPPED BY MODERATOR--PLEASE NOTE




"All composed things are like a dream,
an illusion, a bubble, or a shadow,
Like dew or like a lightning flash,
Meditate on them in this way."

The Diamond Sutra, a Prajnaparamita text




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