[Buddha-l] Re: Jesus is Buddha?

[Benito Carral]

On Tuesday, January 24, 2006, Richard P. Hayes wrote:

> I  don't  think  there is anything wrong in principle
> with  redefining  the  Buddha  in  whatever  way  one
> wishes.

   Yes,  I know, and I don't agree with you. The Buddha
taught a path to a particular goal. If one rewrites the
path,  he  will  probably end in a different place than
the  intended one. As far as I'm concerned, that's fine
while   one   doesn't  try  convince  others  that  his
interpretation of the path is the original one.


> As  I  have  said,  every  picture of the Buddha, bar
> none,  is  a  deliberate  construction put forward by
> someone   who   has  a  vested  interest  in  (or  an
> attachment to) a particular view of practice.

   That's  your  belief.  As  far  as  I'm concerned, I
prefer  to  believe  that  the  good monks and nuns who
wrote  down  the  canon  did  it out of respect for the
Dhamma and love for us.


> [...]  I  tend to resist attempts to define "correct"
> Buddhism by defining a set of beliefs or dogmas (such
> as   rebirth)   or   a  set  of  practices  (such  as
> vegetarianism [...]) as normative.

   Then  you are lucky because you don't need to define
anything since the canon and the tradition have already
done it for you.

   If one doesn't want to believe in rebirth, that's OK
for  me.  As  far  as I'm concerned, the problem arises
when one teachs that Buddhism is without rebirth.

   Rebirth  is  a  key  teaching and meaning-giver. The
Buddha  and  every  traditional  Buddhist since him can
tell  where  they  come from and where they will go. In
few  words,  the meaning of life is that we are born in
this world full of dukkha due to our karma and our goal
is to stop the rebirth cycle. Take away rebirth and you
have  also taken away the meaning of life that Buddhism
(as  a sprout of the larger Indian tradition) provides.
And  this  is not a secondary factor. Take away rebirth
and,  instead  of  a powerful religion, you will have a
quite simplistic psychotherapy.

   Best wishes,

   Beni