Skip to main content

Ask ChatGPT

In this episode - ChatCPT . . .

 

As children, we learn by asking questions and relying on our parents to answer them. As we mature in our conscience thinking, we begin to explore the existence of a higher being, and through prayer, meditation, or quiet contemplation, we ask much larger philosophical questions. Answers to those questions are synthesized based on experiences accumulated over a lifetime from our education, experiences, and creative thinking.

However, today’s world has a cloud-based computer system that can consolidate knowledge and provide answers to just about anything you choose to ask.

So, the question is, what do you ask? Like many, I’ve been exploring the power of ChatGPT and some of its practical uses. So, I asked, “What are the three most common questions people ask you?”

Chat GPT:

  1. "What is the meaning of life?" or similar philosophical inquiries: People often ask deep existential questions, seeking insights into the purpose and meaning of life, the universe, and our existence.
  2. "How does AI work?" or technology-related questions: Users frequently inquire about artificial intelligence, its capabilities, limitations, and how it functions. They may also ask about specific technologies and programming languages or seek advice on using various software tools.
  3. "Can you help me with my homework?" or educational assistance requests: Students and learners of all ages often seek help with their homework, assignments, or understanding complex concepts like mathematics, science, literature, and more.

    Chat GPT - “While these questions may not cover every user inquiry, they represent some of the most recurrent and notable questions I encounter.” Recently during a lunch discussion with my good friend Dr. Hanley, we discussed this very subject, and he asked me to set up his computer to make it easy for him to log in to Chat GPT so he could challenge the AI with questions he has been considering in the writing of his latest book. He became curious after one of his friends mentioned how he had used the AI based on the following request.

 “Act as if you are Zen Roshi teaching a Catholic priest about emptiness.” His response was as follows:

 

Roshi: Good morning, Father. I am honored to share some teachings with you from Zen Buddhism, particularly the concept of emptiness or "Sunyata."

 

Priest: Good morning, Roshi. I'm curious to understand this concept.

 

Roshi: It is truly a profound concept. In Zen Buddhism, emptiness does not mean nothingness; it refers to the inherent lack of independent existence or separate self in all phenomena. To understand emptiness, we need to perceive reality without the filters of our preconceptions, biases, and assumptions.

 

Priest: How is this related to the idea of God?

 

Roshi: It's not about denying the existence of things, or God, for that matter. Emptiness doesn't mean "without God" or "without existence." The concept aligns with interconnectedness, somewhat similar to the Catholic belief in the interconnectedness of all creatures under God.

 

In Zen, when we look at an object, let's say a flower, we don't see it as an isolated entity but as a result of a myriad of causes and conditions. We see the sunlight, the rain, the soil – all the elements that have come together to give rise to the flower. We see the flower is empty of a separate self, full of everything else.

 

Priest: So it's not negating reality, but seeing things in their true relations and dependencies?

 

Roshi: Precisely. We are part of a vast interrelated process. Everything is connected in such a way that everything else is reflected in it, and it is reflected in everything else. Just like St. Paul once said, "We are all parts of the body of Christ," this is not too different from the understanding of emptiness in Buddhism.

 

The key difference, perhaps, is that while in Catholicism, the concept of the individual soul is central, in Buddhism, we speak of "anatta," or no-self, which is not the same as nonexistence, but rather an absence of a separate permanent self. Through this understanding, we can appreciate the true value of emptiness, a state of awareness that frees us from attachments and aversions, offering deep insight into the nature of things.

 

Priest: I see; it’s a profound concept indeed. It's going to take some time for me to comprehend fully.

 

Roshi: Yes, Father, it is the work of a lifetime, or perhaps, many lifetimes. The experience of emptiness is often beyond words, beyond concepts. It's a deeply intuitive understanding. But even as we struggle to express it in words, it brings us closer to the wisdom of emptiness.

 

Remember, Father, the essence of the practice is not to eliminate all thoughts or feelings but to understand their nature. It's like watching a river flow - the water always changes, yet the river remains. Emptiness is the river; our thoughts and feelings are the water. We are both the river and the water, changing and yet unchanging. This understanding brings compassion, peace, and wisdom. It's the heart of the Zen practice.


My listening friends, the question remains, “What would you ask?”


I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

When Fear Becomes the Default

In this special episode, When Fear Becomes the Default. Early Sunday morning, I was cycling past a small veterans’ pocket park in San Marcos. The air was still, the streets nearly empty. On one corner stood a young woman, alone, holding a hand-painted sign that read: “Be ANGRY. ICE agents are murdering people.” I pedaled past, but the words stayed with me. I knew the context—the footage and headlines from Minneapolis the day before, already ricocheting through the country and hardening opinions. Even in the quiet of the ride, the noise followed. Two miles later, I stopped at a red light. A black car with dark windows pulled up inches from my bike. My heart jumped. My first instinct wasn’t neighbor —it was threat . I found myself bracing, scanning, and wondering if the person inside was angry, armed, or looking for trouble. Then the door opened. A well-dressed young woman stepped out, walked to the trunk, and pulled out a sign that read “Open House.” She turned, smiled brightly, and sa...
2 comments
Read more

The Language of Home: Building a Sanctuary

This episode is  for anyone trying to find their footing in a new place—whether it’s a new city, a new job, or a new country. The light in Florence, Italy, has a way of making everything feel like a Renaissance painting—the golden hue on the stone, the steady rhythm of the Arno River, and the feeling that you are walking through a history much larger than yourself. I was there to give a presentation to a class of Gemology students. I was prepared to discuss color grading and refractive indices, but not to be outed as a language tutor . Feeling very much like a guest in a storied land, a hand shot up enthusiastically. "You’re the guy on the podcasts," the young woman said, her eyes bright with recognition. "You’re the one teaching us English." I laughed nervously. If you know my flat Midwestern accent, you know the irony here. I am hardly an Oxford professor. But later, as I wandered the cobblestone streets beneath the shadow of the Duomo, the humor faded into a powe...
Post a Comment
Read more

Practiced Hands: The 50-Year Warranty

What Doc Burch Taught Me About Staying Active. We talk a lot about "life hacks" these days, but most of them don’t have a very long shelf life. Usually, they’re forgotten by the next app update. But back in 1972, I received a piece of advice that came with a 50-year warranty. It’s the reason I’m still on my bike today, still chasing a golf ball around Carlsbad, and still—mostly—in one piece. The Kick That Changed Everything It started with a literal kick in the pants. A kid at school in Cuba, Illinois, was joking around and caught me just right. By the next morning, my lower back was screaming. My mom didn’t reach for the Tylenol; she reached for her car keys. "Let’s go see Doc Burch," she said. "He’ll fix you right up." Harry E. Burch, D.C., was a fixture in Lewistown. He’d graduated from Palmer College in ’59 and had been our family’s go-to for years. He was a man of practiced hands and steady eyes. After a quick exam and an X-ray, the mood in the room s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sweden Called . . . They Said No.

Have you ever wondered about  the Nobel Prize? Let's look at Where Genius Meets “Wait—Where’s My Medal?” Every October, the Nobel Prizes are announced, and humanity pauses to celebrate the "greatest benefit to mankind." And every year, like clockwork, a specific type of person appears online to complain—at length—that they were robbed. (Well, maybe this year more than most.) The Origin: A Legacy of Guilt The prize exists because Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor, had a crisis of conscience. Nobel held 355 patents, but he was most famous for inventing dynamite. When a French newspaper mistakenly published his obituary, calling him the " Merchant of Death, " he decided to buy a better legacy. In his 1895 will, he left the bulk of his massive fortune to establish five prizes (Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, and Peace). Because he was Swedish, he entrusted the selection to Swedish institutions, such as the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The only outlier...
1 comment
Read more