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

[Benito Carral]

On Saturday, January 28, 2006, Erik Hoogcarspel wrote:

> Do we want a reasonable Buddhism or a beliefsystem?

   I  think  that it is not a question of what we want.
Buddhism is as it is. If we don't like Buddhism, we can
follow the teachings that we find interesting.

> Can  the  concept  [rebirth]  still  have meaning and
> function  in  our  discourse,  which  is dominated by
> science?

   I  suppose that by "our discourse" you are referring
to the mainstream Euro-American discourse. I think that
what  we need is to understand that science and beliefs
are  two  different  ways of understanding/constructing
the  world.  I really think that our science-domintated
society  has lost its mind (I also think that we are in
the  Dharma-Ending  Age  and  that we are close to some
kind of global cataclysm). Buddhism and other religions
seem  to  me  a  very good counterbalance. For example,
when  I  read the divorce or abortion rates, I can only
give   thanks  for  Buddhism  and  other  religions  as
Christianism or Judaism.

   Rebirth  has  the same meaning that it has ever had,
but only for them who use it.

   Best wishes,

   Beni