[Buddha-l] Re: New trans. of petry of the Sixth DL

[curt]

Richard P. Hayes wrote:

>I cannot imagine any piece of information that would be less important
>than the author's former or current affiliations. 
>
Hmmm - I find that hard to fathom. I always suspect that people without 
opinions
have nothing interesting to say - but then I always suspect that people 
who do have
opinions are trying to convince me to agree with them. Either way - I 
want to
know where they are coming from. This goes double for Buddhist 
Buddhologists -
whom I always suspect of trying to peddle their own favorite pet 
theories - but
it also applies to Christian Buddhologists whom I always suspect of 
trying to
peddle Christianity. So when a Christian Buddhologist decides to produce yet
another book about the sixth Dalai Lama's drunken womanizing I go "aha!".

>Anyone interested in
>knowing why Paul Williams returned to his childhood religion can find it
>explained in eloquent detail in various writings he has produced. 
>
And anyone who writes a whole book about Buddhism after practicing it 
for 30 years
and then abandoning it should be able to find some way of communicating 
to the
reader (other than assuming that the reader will go and read all of that 
authors other
books) the author's perspective on the subject matter of the book. 
Williams had no
trouble doing that when he was a Buddhist Buddhologist - why can't he do 
it as a
Christian Buddhologist?

>What other word would you use for people who abandon their biological
>families and leave behind all earthly ties? People who renounce the
>world do drop out of mainstream society. What is wrong, then, with
>designating them with a term that accurately describes what they
>advocated doing and did?
>  
>
Oh, I don't know - maybe "renunciate", or "wandering ascetic" or "yogin" or
"bhikkhu". Which, by the way, are all considered to be traditional and 
respectful
ways of referring to someone who has renounced conventional human society in
order to pursue spiritual practice full-time. Of course one can choose 
to use a term
like "dropout" if one wishes - but it is a choice that reveals something 
about the
mindset of the author. This is hardly a major point. Williams can call 
the Buddha
a "dropout" if he chooses to - but I still say it is an interesting and 
revealing choice
of words.

- Curt