[Buddha-l] Swearing

[Mike Austin]

In message <200609261043.41729.rhayes at unm.edu>, Richard Hayes 
<rhayes at unm.edu> writes
>
>In Buddhist cultures, probably nothing is considered sacred enough to create a
>linguistic taboo that would be the equivalent of blasphemy. Can you imagine
>something hitting his nail with a hammer and saying "Four Noble Truths!" (Or
>was that the f-word you were referring to, Mike?) Or "Oh, for arhant's sake!"

I heard a Tibetan monk exclaim 'konchog sum', which I think means 'Three 
Jewels'.


>I have just the opposite tendency. Although I attend Quaker meetings and have
>become accustomed to people using God-talk, I myself can never use it in any
>kind of sincerity.

When receiving letters from the monastery, they often say something like 
'...by the grace of God'. Maybe they think it is a common turn of phrase 
here. It does seem strange.


>My only motivation for using Buddhist swear words was to try to accommodate
>the theory of the Indian filmmaker who told me that one's ways of swearing
>indicate one's true religion.

I never expected you to be quite so accommodating.


>I'm all for calling oneself an idiot. For one thing, it's usually true. For
>another thing, it's healthy to laugh at one's own folly.

Yes, me too. I find plenty of scope for laughter.

-- 
Metta
Mike Austin