[Buddha-l] Seduction of a holy man

[Stanley J. Ziobro II]

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006, jkirk wrote:

> Hey Stan
> Thanks for appearing outside the cave-----any ideas about my post?

I saw my shadow and beat a hasty retreat.

I found the ethos of your post refreshing.  What seems normative in these
types of seductions is a) the holy man either successfully resists the
advances of the seductress or b) succumbs.  A has two subsets, namely,
a.1) the holy man uses harsh means to rebuff the seductress or a.2) the
holy man treats the seductress with gentleness, honesty, and compassion
and either converts her or gives her pause for thought.  Often b has
subsets, namely b.1) the holy man repents and learns something more about
mercy, or b.2) the holy man is lost (which brings into stark relief the
nature of his purported holiness.  Your story, on the other hand, fits
neatly into none of the above.  It respects the weakness and uncertainty
of the humanity of the holy man and gives (to my mind anyway) insight into
the nature of mercy that emphasizes its pervasiveness in hiddeness.  I
would like to write a bit more, but I'm pressed for time.  What were more
of your thoughts, Joanna?

Stan