[Buddha-l] Re: Of Buddha, Miracles, and Ferry Rides

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Wed, 2005-11-02 at 22:01 +0100, Joy Vriens wrote:

> I don't mean to rub it in, but you not only failed Vlad's expectations 
> as a professor, but also as a practitioner:
> 
> "A sentence of such anger and bile makes one wonder what it is that 
> Hayes has learned about being a Buddhist."

That sentence did surprise me quite a bit. Anger is something I feel now
and then, but it is not a big part of my life (except when Republicans
are in office). As for the humors, I am much more phlegmatic than
bilious in nature. That is true both in classical Greek humor theory and
in Ayurvedic theory.

> "And for a middle-aged man who at this point in his life had studied 
> Indian philosophy for ten years, earned a PhD from the Department of 
> Sanskrit and Indian Studies at the University of Toronto and was 
> teaching Sanskrit language and Indian Buddhist philosophy, this is one 
> angry, strident writer who seems to have missed some important points 
> about Buddhist practice, such as compassion and understanding for one’s 
> fellow humans and their frailties."

This also surprised me quite a bit. I think he missed the mark, but
people who do not know me often do.

> I don't know how one can conclude from a series of essays that someone 
> lacks "compassion and understanding for one’s fellow humans and their 
> frailties". And I am astonished, though not excessively, that a well 
> schooled Westerner, and a practising Buddhist at that, can feel angry 
> and desperate when reading an essay.

Perhaps he did not feel angry at all. After all, if he missed the mark
in attributing anger and lack of compassion to me, you may be missing
the mark in attributing the same things to him.


-- 
Richard