[Buddha-l] Re: there he goes again (sam harris)

[Joy Vriens]

Hi Mitchell,

>I am not famliar with this a general belief (or 
>assumption, etc.), that the four applications (or 
>foundations) of mindfulness are taken to be the only 
>way for .... Well, there is a translation of part of 
>the beginning passages in the Satipatthana Sutta that 
>suggests this, so perhaps some people who read that 
>and believe what they read (there) come to hold that 
>position.  

Yes.
"The Blessed One pointed out the teaching thus: "Bhikkhus, my Dispensation leads to Deliverance in this way," closed the instruction that is crowned with arahantship in twenty-one places and uttered the following words: "This is the only way, o bhikkhus, for the purification of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the destruction of suffering and grief, for reaching the right path, for the attainment of Nibbana, namely the Four Arousings of Mindfulness.""
These are said to be the words of the Buddha and they can be found in the opening of the Satipatthana Sutta.

>If I may ask a question in reply, your question begins 
>"Don't they..." and I wonder what the background (or 
>subtext?) is here. Is there a criticism waiting in the 
>wings if this is answered with the Yes that is 
>implied? I can't tell. What would that be about I find 
>myself asking.  

I don't know what you understand by criticism, but it is the sort of questions I ask myself al the time. I came to the world with this terrible flaw of wanting to pry open anything given as an answer, including those I give to myself. If I see an answer anywhere, I feel this irresistible urge to look for what it hides. Because answers always hide something, don't they? They want to hide the question to start with. I have no other agenda than that. I believe that everything intelligible is a belief and that there is nothing wrong with that. If I go into certainty mode and I notice it, then I will try to correct that. And I would bo grateful for others if they correct me if I don't notice it. I would have loved to be there when the Buddha spoke the opening words of the Satipatthana Sutta. Perhaps I could have been of some help to him.   :-)