Burning question regarding upgrading paths


Thanks visiting my thread!

While you are here, please ponder on the following queries and answer to the best of your abilities. Each of these questions is designed to upgrade my state of mind. You ability is timed and will be weighted against the answers given by people who are the same age as you.

1) What is the best way to upgrade existing system "A"?
(upgrade=more clarity, dynamics and better soundstage)
(you only have $2000 to allocate)

A= Cal Audio Delta-AQ Emeralds
Meridian 518-Mapleshade ultrathin
Cal Audio Sigma-AQ Emeralds
Aragon 8002-AQ Argent/Midnight double biwire
KEF 103/4
LAT International on all electronic components

A) Upgrade DAC
A dac with tube output is prefered.
B) Purchase preamp
A tube preamp is prefered.
C) Upgrade cable between amp and speaker
Silver cable is prefered.
D) Digital cable
Make me a believer.
E) None of the above
Sell system A and start over
F) I don't care.

2) What is the fundamental utilitarian purpose of Zen Buddhism for the self and for the masses?

A) By fulfilling nature, man is fulfilled.
B) By acceptance of thought, man becomes congruent.
C) By meditating, man negates yin and yan from consciousness.
D) Meditation is good cardiovascular exercise.
E) Zen is derived from aryan caste systems designed to enslave the masses.
F) None of the above. (prove short essay answer?)

Stop, your test is finished.

Thanks for helping me sleep easier,
Etane
viggen
Hey Gunbei,

Great response!

It is indeed my wish to partake in a journey.

First, in regards to Mes' response, I have no idea what "dlr" means. However, as Gunbei pointed out, Mu is the concept of emptiness, according to the Dogan school, I think. I am not familiar with Japanese Zen, however, I believe the concept of Mu is derived from the Daoist Wu Wei, and Wu Wei is derived from the Hindu/Buddhist Sunyata. I can be wrong.

Also, as his response points out, the answer to part A is totally related to how one answers part B:

A) Since quality is subjective, should we tune our taste to our existing system accordingly to achieve audio nirvana or,
B) Does audio nirvana arrive only after achieving system synergy?

Back to Gunbei's response, and I do feel his response is a good one if I haven't mentioned it already, eventhough the analogies can be a little contrived. First I want to establish and understanding of he concept of Mu, and I shall use concepts of other disciplines to do so since I know jack sh*t about Japanese philosophy.

The earliest derivation Mu is perhaps Heracletian philosophy where everything in the world is relating and static. He perhaps thought since everything is relative, there are isn't anything that is eternal. In other words, the only truth is "nothingness."

Alexander the Great's conquests which was about 300bc. This is important because perhaps Hercacletian ideologies were spead into Asia through this channel. About 300ad, Nagarjuna thought every human proposition is a contradiction, and the only truth is nothingness.

After the fall of Qin dynasty, Buddhist monks trekked to China and gave the Chinese very bad translation of sutras. During this depressing Chinese medieval age, people thought relief by practicing Buddhism, but they have no previous concept of sunyata, so they adopted Daoist concepts of wu wei in place of sunyata in trying to understand Indian sutras.

Wu wei isn't nothingness as expressed by Heraclitus and Nagarjuna, but it is they way of the Dao, the natural way, the way of spontaneity, non-interference, simplicity and so on and so forth. However, as described in the Dao Teh Jing, the Dao that is named is not the Dao. To make a long story short, to live the Dao you have to be one with the Dao and to be one with the Dao you have to be no-name or no-being or no-thing, nothingness.

Zen, not saying is a concept derived from Daoism and Buddhism, yet it probably borrowed its beliefs from them. As I am writing this, I think Zen have more similarity with European philosophies as well, such as phenomenology and existentialism. I am too tired to explain this, I didn't sleep lastnite. As you know I started this thread because I can't sleep: I have insomnia.

Anyhow, Mu is the concept of this:
1) Nothing is the only eternal truth.
2) The only way to understand Mu is to experience it through personal experience, or as close to it as possible, such as the phenomonologist or existentialist.

What does all this mean? Man does not go off in search of nothingness. The nothingness comes in search of him.

The nothing is personified as the journeyman, the missionaryman, the jingoist, the thing that claims to be the everything by being itself, the nothing. It is an component of the main idea from where it is derived, and it is the component of the main idea where it gives birth to its origin.

It is the nothingness that carries the sword and consumes his enemies with the purity of his mundacity.

It is not I who must find my way, but it is my way that must find me.

But does this mean I will never upgrade? Hellz Nah!!
Viggen, the exploits of Alexander The Great interest me immensely. I never realized such a connection existed to the Far East. Kind of a "6 degrees of Alexander of Macedonia"? It doesn't surprise me though, all these ideas seem to have universal appeal.

Mes, are you saying I'm altering or accelerating the priniciples of Charles Darwin? Cool! So by unsampling and increasing the word length of digital signals with new and improved DACs are we trying to add vinyl legs to CDs? Hahah! Everytime I get a new piece of gear to try out, I can feel extra appendages sprouting from my body.

Viggen, it's all about the journey man! Have fun!
Gunbei - right on, man. I'm one half of a consulting firm dubbed 'Five Rings Consulting.' It's amazing how relevant that stuff is to modern business. Not a bad idea to wipe the slate clean system-wise either...except, I'm starting to shake and cry thinking about it.
Five Rings Consulting? What are the five rings? Five rings of hell from Danta's Inferno? Well that's 9..