[Buddha-l] Re: The Buddha, an 'emotional weakling'? What are the "joys of living"?

[Stefan Detrez]

2006/6/24, Benito Carral <bcarral at kungzhi.org>:
>
> On Saturday, June 24, 2006, Stefan wrote:
>
> > You  sound  like  some  sort  of Born Again Buddhist:
> > fanatically attached to precepts, yet too ignorant to
> > become released from them.
>
>    So  if  someone  doesn't  want to indulge in popular
> attachments--as the Dharma advises, you define him as a
> stupid  fanatically attached to precepts--that has been
> a  perfect  example of the best absurd tradition, thank
> you.
>
>    Oh,  Buddha,  let  me  stay ignorant of that kind of
> wisdom.


Well, my wisdom is that people who become too entangled in a belief system
do not contribute socially or on a personal level have a kind of pedantry,
which fills both friends and especially lovers-in-spe with a revulsion for
the egocentrism and selfrighteousness, is illustrative of deep belief. I can
say the Dalai Lama is more relaxed than you are and you don't hear him
complaining, like 'don't eat that lollipop, because you'll be reborn in the
lower realms!' or, 'you know where dancing the merengue will bring you!'
Now, you can say this is all illusion and an abusive ad hominem, but there's
one thing which history has taught (a.o.): frantically following precepts of
any kind has left complete  societies with intolerance. A touch of hedonism
can make very nice illusions, for that matter.
And what you call popular attachments seems to smell of a disgust from
everything related to Western society and culture and consumerism. If that
has been you motive for becoming a Buddhist, the largest contribution you
can make to society, and by extension to Western civilisation, is become an
aranyaka or maybe even a Jaina saint, for culinary reasons.

Relax, it's only life.

Stefan
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/private/buddha-l/attachments/20060625/59533e21/attachment-0001.html