[Buddha-l] Re: G-d damn it

[upasaka at optonline.net]

Hi, Beni (and all) -

----- Original Message -----
From: Benito Carral <bcarral at kungzhi.org>
Date: Monday, March 14, 2005 4:10 pm
Subject: [Buddha-l] Re: G-d damn it

> On Monday, March 14, 2005, Michel Clasquin wrote:
> 
> > But  <he said in a stranied effort to move back on topic> then
> > why do we always capitalise the word "buddha"?
> 
>   That's  a  good  question.  In  my  Spanish  translations  or
> Buddhist writings, I only write "el Buda" for Shakuamuni Buddha.
> In  other  cases,  I write, for example, "el buda Shakyamuni" or
> "el  buda Amitabha." From time to time, I have some problems, as
> in  "el recit´o el nombre de buda" (he recited Buddha's name). I
> know  that  it  usually refers to Amitabha Buddha, but... so I'm
> thinking  in translating it as "el recit´o el nombre de un buda"
> (he recited the name of a Buddha).
> 
>   Best wishes,
> 
>   Beni
=====================
     The matter seems simple to me: One writes "a buddha" and "past buddhas", but "the Buddha" is used, and not "the buddha". When we write "the Buddha" we name a particular person. The noun phrase "the Buddha" serves as a name and not just a description, because there is at most one buddha in the world at any time, and being the Buddha is much like being the one and only office holder of a particular sort. Accordingly, with regard to the U.S., for example, one writes "past presidents" but "the President." For the very same reason, one may write "the gods are angry" but "God is one" (or, for those so inclined, "G-d is one").

With metta,
Howard


/Thus is how ye shall see all this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream./            (From the Diamond Sutra)