[Buddha-l] Core teachings

[Jim Peavler]

On Jan 31, 2006, at 3:15 PM, Richard P. Hayes wrote:

> On Tue, 2006-01-31 at 16:03 -0500, Jamie Hubbard wrote:
>
>> Ah, Richard, methinks you underestimate the degree of the good  
>> Bhante's
>> disagreement. I believe that his point is, in fact, not unlike  
>> Vincente,
>> that without rebirth (and therefore the cessation of rebirth) the  
>> goal
>> becomes "merely" the cessation of suffering. And that "merely," I
>> believe, is a slippery slope that many Buddhists do not wish to get
>> near.
>
> Wilfred Cantwell Smith once observed that there is no greater sign of
> pettiness than using the word "mere" as an adjective to describe
> another's view. It has never been entirely clear to me why anyone  
> would
> regard the cessation of suffering (dukkha-nirodha) as a trifling
> achievement, saturated with "mereness", but clearly some do. May  
> they be
> happy. May they be at peace.

Back where my mind lives, in jolly old mediaeval England, "mere"  
meant things like
"absolutely pure", "totally", and things like that. When the great  
Irish Poet Bill Yates
used the phrase "mere anarchy is loosed upon the world" he was not  
saying that
anarchy is really not worrying about. Is was a very strong word.

So I like to see someone declare that mere cessation of suffering  
might arise.




Jim Peavler

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

     -- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), reply of the Pennsylvania
     Assembly to the Governor, November 11, 1755