Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

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bodom
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Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by bodom »

That insoluble problem that people — whether children or adults, intelligent or stupid — argue about uselessly and without ever coming to an agreement, is this: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? For the most part, they argue about this only in jest and can never come to any conclusion. Still, there were people who would bring this question to Luang Pu, thinking that he probably wouldn't answer a question of this sort. But eventually I heard him give an answer like nobody else's when one day Phra Berm came to massage his feet and asked him, "Luang Pu, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

"Luang Pu answered,

"They came at the same time."

http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Books ... Legacy.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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tiltbillings
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by tiltbillings »

I always thought a chicken was an egg's way of having another egg.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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DNS
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by DNS »

There are some interesting and some humorous answers here:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_came_fi ... or_the_egg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think the most factual one from science and evolution is the egg; since the first "chicken" egg came from one or two similar species who mated and produced enough genetic variations to their gene pool to produce a new species which would later be known as the 'chicken.'
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Monkey Mind
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by Monkey Mind »

Ah, but then we'd ask which came first for the "other species", the adult or the egg. It so on it goes...
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.

Sutta Nipāta 3.710
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DNS
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by DNS »

Monkey Mind wrote:Ah, but then we'd ask which came first for the "other species", the adult or the egg. It so on it goes...
It's always the egg.
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Thaibebop
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by Thaibebop »

The mystery of this question is lost on me. Chickens, being birds, are direct decedents of certain dinosaurs, which were reptiles that developed feathers, meaning they laid eggs. Egg came first.
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cooran
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by cooran »

But .... but .... who laid the egg? Not created by G--, was it?

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Ben
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by Ben »

You guys can't see the wood from the trees.

The egg came first.

Eggs Benedict for breakfast followed by chicken at lunch or dinner time.

There's your solution!
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

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cooran
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by cooran »

Oh Ben! You are SUCH a boy! :tongue:

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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mikenz66
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by mikenz66 »

OK, here's some real research... Maybe...

Which Came First — The Chicken Or the Egg?
I tackled the question experimentally, using a chicken, an egg, and the United States Postal Service (USPS).

I mailed the chicken and the egg, each in its own separate packaging, and kept careful track of when each shipment was sent from a post office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and when it subsequently arrived at its intended destination in New York City.
....
http://improbable.com/airchives/paperai ... n_egg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike
Anicca
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by Anicca »

Which came first the chicken or the egg? - Come on youse guys - y'all are all way off base - Da Rooster came first! Get real! Cock-a-doodly-doodle y'all!

?Metta?
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tiltbillings
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by tiltbillings »

Anicca wrote:Which came first the chicken or the egg? - Come on youse guys - y'all are all way off base - Da Rooster came first! Get real! Cock-a-doodly-doodle y'all!

?Metta?
Barnyard humor from Oklahoma.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Which came first, Ignorance (avijjā) or mental formations (kamma/saṅkhārā) ?
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cooran
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by cooran »

Dear Bhante,

Good pointer! I think we recently had a thread on this:

Different causes of sankhara?
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 39&start=0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

with metta and respect,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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acinteyyo
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Post by acinteyyo »

Reminds me of the thread: Can effect arise simulteneously with its cause?.
My favourite answer to "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" is: There's no beginning within a circle.

best wishes, acinteyyo
Thag 1.20. Ajita - I do not fear death; nor do I long for life. I’ll lay down this body, aware and mindful.
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