[Buddha-l] Dependent arising variants

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Thu, 2006-02-02 at 23:36 +0000, Mike Austin wrote:

> So is birth sufficient for death? Only if we extend our meaning of the 
> word 'birth' to include conditioning factors that link it to death.

Exactly so. If we are speaking of birth and death in the conventional
sense, not of dharmas but of blokes and birds, then it is ridiculous to
say that birth is a sufficient condition for death. As has already been
pointed out, while it is true that the birth of a murder victim is one
of the innumerable casual factors that were necessary for his eventual
death, it would strike us as an odd misunderstanding of conventional
reality if an autopsy report were to say "Cause of death: birth" or
"Cause of traffic accident: properly inflated tires."

Speaking of bumper stickers, I saw two today that made me giggle.

IF THE GODS HAD WANTED US TO VOTE, THEY WOULD HAVE GIVEN US CANDIDATES. 

(Attributed to Jim Hightower, the other sane Texan besides our own Andy
Fort.)

GUNS DON'T KILL PEOPLE. PEOPLE DRIVING WHILE TALKING ON CELL PHONES KILL
PEOPLE. 

(This may not seem amusing to people not living in a country in which
the right to own a gun is considered even more important than the right
to throw good tea into a harbor. Moreover, I think most civilized
countries have outlawed driving while speaking on mobile telephones, but
in the USA hardly anyone gets behind the wheel of an oversized fast-
moving vehicle without first holding a telephone up to his ear with one
hand and fiddling with the controls of a CD player with the other. Even
though most people here don't believe in evolution, many leading
scientists believe that human beings here will soon either evolve into
having at least four hands or die out.)

-- 
Richard