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

[Vicente Gonzalez]

Richard Hayes wrote:

RPH> If there are thousands, then you should have no difficulty finding one.
RPH> I would be more than happy to discuss any passage with you to clarify
RPH> any ambiguities that may have caused confusion.

it would be really longer. Your position about rebirth in this list is
clear from years ago. Don't waste energy neither our time. 

RPH> There is a search facility on
RPH> http://home.comcast.net/~dayamati/squibs.html
RPH> Type in the word "rebirth" and you'll get references to passages.

there are only 3 papers in the search. Only one of them, named "Dharma
and science" is related to rebirth. Mostly, here you only express your
own beliefs and wishes. I want to say that in your site one can find
many good papers. But here, there is a concern:

"Let it remain in Asia. It is not a doctrine that will do us North
Americans much good, and it may in fact do us more than a little
harm."

I ignore if in the USA, the academic world is checking today that the
theist dogmatic is more able to provide of a good context to avoid the
social superstitions and falsehoods. Sure you can know this better
than me. 

Personally, I think that rebirth or non-rebirth doesn't have any
relation with the welfare of any country. If we should choose any of
them, personally I think today is better rebirth. Because this world is
not able to digest more of that ethics of conquest provided by such
idea. Although I'm not so ingenuous and I know well that it is not
possible. Then, only we can hope in having a more civilizable
non-rebirth, able to show respect to the animal life, etc..
In fact, in the modern History we check that Ecology appears to cover
such holes in our collective moral, because such simplistic non-sense
was unable to make this.

As everybody knows, the theist non-rebirth many times is easily
manipulated like a type of viking Walhalla. In this way, the religious
fanatism is a main trend in all the religions using non-rebirth.
I ignore if the wild reputation of Vikings and Barbars tribes in
ancient times perhaps was an influence in the early Church hierarchy
to consider his insertion in Christianism. It is just speculation,
Who knows the place from where arises such bizarre thing.

In any way, your country has a strong tradition of civil rights, and
if he is able to resist a governmental device to change some of them,
sure he doesn't need intellectual shamans able to know what is the
better belief for all the heads.

RPH> But not every doctrine taught in the  Buddhist canon is
RPH> necessarily true. Each doctrine requires independent
RPH> verification. Some questions are impossible either to verify or
RPH> to  falsify given the evidence available to us. 

such verifications are another interesting point. Many times, the only
verification available to us, is the authority absence of the
verificators. 

It is as when some people say "I'm using the telescope of my uncle and
I don't see Sumeru mountain, Therefore, the buddhist scriptures are
wrong". Such type of verifications are really funny. Even a children
knows that when we have dreams, our mind can show us a monster because
we don't have any specific image of the "fear". Sumeru Mountain it's
another image to talk about something deeper. That's all.

It is equally surrealistic the people believing in a mountain in the
center of Universe than people checking the existence of such
mountain. Both types of people are not qualified to change even a 
comma of these texts. Frequently, we can see them engaged in endless
discussions. Although of course, the fault is not inside the texts but
in the capacity of these heads to escape of the own fears.

RPH> Rebirth, I believe, is one of those unverifiable and unfalsifiable
RPH> teachings.

as a simple reader and consumer of many scholar books, I think that a
good scholar is very able to verify when some text is a later
addition, who was the author, influences, etc... This honest effort in
clarifying the sources is useful for everybody. With an honest
procedure, oneself can realize that some things really were later
additions and it is of invaluable help. 

Myself I don't have many confidence in a child new born who gives 7
steps to make a discourse. Such phenomena it's an strange thing not
appearing in any other place.  But I don't have any element to think
that relates of Sumeru Mountain, Gods, rebirth, and similar ones,
they are manipulations. I'm not qualified to know is they are part of
a deeper religious experience. And we check as they are a constant in
all the Buddhist world. Manipulation then, becomes very difficult.
One should follow  the Buddha advice about verifying by oneself, but
also it is related with scholar speculations when we are checking that
they are beyond the limits of their own work.
I think that a "modern" (funny word!) Buddhist is not a traditional
fundamentalism neither a protestant edulcoration. And probably,
there are thousand of people in the West sharing (at least) part of my
thoughts.

best regards,