Real Life Dharma

Quite a while ago at a Dharma session, Geshe talked about something called false logic. Having never taken a philosophy course I paid close attention but when all was said and done, I felt like I missed something.

He gave the example of false logic by talking about a roadside fruit stand owner; imagine yourself driving along, seeing the fruit stand and deciding to stop and get some fresh and presumably delicious fruit. So you pull in, get out of the car and walk over to the stand whereupon the owner of the stand picks up a peach slices it and offers you half...all juicy and sweet. One bite and your senses are heaven bound and you need more of this! So you buy a half bushel, put it in the car and drive off...dreaming about a half bushel of delicious peaches. Here is the part I don't get. He says, just because you ate half a peach and it was good, does NOT mean the half bushel that you bought will be the same as the sample you had. OK, I know that the peaches probably come from different trees, and maybe some had more or less sun than the one I tasted, but still...they should be good. Geshe says, false logic. Each peach stands on its own. Well, I am still growing and so I keep thinking about this every once in a while.

Here is perhaps another example. This one I can fully understand....now.

Wednesday is garbage and recycling day for me. I always put both the trash can and the recycle box out the night before, since they have been known to pick up at 6 AM. Today, (Wednesday) I went about my morning business then went out to do errands at 8:30. Before leaving I put something in the mailbox and raised the red flag so the postal worker would pick it up when my mail was delivered. Making a mental note to check the flag when I returned indicating whether or not the mail had come.

I returned at about 12:15. As I entered my development area I noted that trash cans and recycle bins of my neighbors up the block were in disarray and empty. OK, as I drive down my street I am looking at the mail box flag and it too is down. So when I pulled in the garage, I went out and got the mail, got the recycle bin, placed it on top of the trash can and wheeled it in the garage. I took the bin and placed it on the floor and went in the house.

Moments later I heard a very loud truck. It sounded like a tractor trailer, but my street is really not big enough for one of those. The noise got louder and I went to see what it was...
Sure enough it was the trash man, picking up trash. And since I was watching him pick up my neighbors trash that means he has already passed me...and that must mean....

YUP, I brought the trash back in the house. What were the odds of my coming home just when he was a few houses away and around the corner? Pretty slim I'd say. So now I have trash for next week! It just never occurred to me to look in the trash can...everybody elses' was empty! False Logic!