[Buddha-l] Where does authority for "true" Buddhism come from?

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Fri, 2006-01-27 at 10:07 +0100, Joy Vriens wrote:

> Didn't astronomy start as astrology, physics as technology etc.?

I'm not sure. I wasn't there when they started.

> I do not entirely agree with Emerson's observation and probably don't 
> agree at all.

I misquoted him. His actual statement (which I sent in a subsequent
post) was milder than mine---and much better written, of course.

> But putting my mauvaise foi aside I think I do see what Emerson, Bhikkhu 
> Buddhadasa and you meant. It's about detachment isn't it?

Bingo!

> I guess what bothers me about Emerson and your rendering of Buddhadasa 
> (although he could have probably said so himself), is that I feel some 
> sort of judgement implied in the statement.

Do you have something against judgement? Do you judge it negatively?

> But I guess it would be fair I build a proper idea about Emerson by 
> having a look at the website you indicated.

Not only would that be fair, it would be a source of great pleasure, I
think. Few writers could match his style. Sometimes he waxes a bit
euphuistic for modern tastes, and he is given to vaticinations that may
irritate some and strike others as plain nonsense, but in general I find
that even when I disagree with Emerson, I love savoring his manner of
expression. 

Emerson, of course, was a Unitarian, as am I, so he "speaks to my
condition" (if I may use the wonderful expression of George Fox, who was
a Quaker, as am I). Unlike our friend Benito, who is quite sure one
cannot be a Buddhist and a Christian at the same time, I have never had
any problem being in the very same moment a Buddhist, a Unitarian and a
Quaker. (I guess it might be harder to be a Nichiren Buddhist and a
Jehovah's Witness in the same moment, or a Theravadin and a Pentecostal,
but I am not going to test that hypothesis by trying to be both myself.)

-- 
Richard
***
"Books are useless to us until our inner book opens; then all other
books are good so far as they confirm our book."
        (Swami Vivekananda)