[Buddha-l] Views of morality, culture, and religion

[Malcolm Dean]

Re: Buddha-l Digest, Vol 19, Issue 2, Message: 2

Richard Nance responds:
RN>When you go on to say that "calling Buddhism a "moral goal" is to
RN>diminish it," you seem to be aspiring toward a Buddhism that is
RN>ideally free of such "should-s," insofar as they impede the pursuit of
RN>what Buddhism is really all about. But if this picture of Buddhism is
RN>correct, it's tough to see how could a Buddhist could argue in favor
RN>of it without risking performative self-contradiction.

If you believe in Buddhism as a system of morality, or as a religion,
the contradiction you point out would hold. If you believe in Buddhism
as a form of scientific endeavour, then it does not.

Buddha typically says something like "the end of suffering is
(specific actions or thoughts)." He does not say something like "to
end suffering you *should*..."

Liberation is described as a step-wise path of awareness of cause and
result in the deep nature of the Universe, not as adherence to a moral
system in the hope of contemporary approval from others or future
rewards in Paradise. This is why to describe Buddhism as yet another
moral system is to diminish it.

You appear to hold some form of Post-modern view of normativity, such
that anyone's ideas can be called normative, with no hope of
experimental results which would support one hypothesis over others. I
would hardly describe that as an "insight," more like a hall of
mirrors.

I think the thrust of Buddhism is that there is, at last, a
fundamental nature to the Universe, and it is accessible given effort
and guidance. Is that simply normative belief, or is that reality?
When students bring their normative moralities, their
shoulda-woulda-coulda's, do Buddhist teachers respond by advising them
against performative contradiction? Maybe Post-modern Buddhists do, I
don't know. More likely the students will be advised that there is a
deeper, lawful universal nature which can be personally realized.

Ah! Please excuse. I must go. Can you hear the religious music? I must
attend today's highly moral ritual killing and heart removal at the
local mesoamerican pyramid. It's so exciting. Everyone *should*
attend.

Malcolm