[Buddha-l] Re: Magic

[Vicente Gonzalez]

curt wrote:

c> The kind of syncretism that Vicente described is widespread in Latin 
c> America. It is common for African, Native American, Eastern (Buddhist 
c> and Hindu), and Christian influences to be mixed in a variety of ways. I
c> have never heard of this being done with specifically Tibetan practices
c> as part of the mix - but that fits in perfectly with the general 
c> phenomenon of mixing and matching. Cross-fertilization between Tantric
c> Buddhism and "indigenous" "shamanic" practices and beliefs is actually
c> common in Asia as well - so there is nothing inherently illegitimate 
c> about doing the same thing in Brazil.

yes, although this case is not about somebody who is born in those
countries with some cultural background. It is about western people
with a esoteric and spiritism background who are using a Buddhist
appearance to attract followers, and reserving those strange practices
for "veterans".

In example, Santeria is a common practice in Cuba. Many people put a
glass of rum as an offering to their deities. Then eventually one
can imagine some hypothetical Caribbean Buddhist people putting a
glass of rum to Manjusri or something like that. It would be a very
different case. Here is about some western people who were engaged in
spiritism practices, and in some moment they started to use the
appearance of Buddhism like a mask of their real practices.

And the sad matter is when there are no laws to denounce this.
Sometimes I don't understand the mechanics of the world. We can
protect the Parmigiano cheese but not Buddhism, Islam or Christianity.
It is a complete absurdity. Anyone can invent a new Religion using
things of the existent ones, and there is not an objective way to deny
this using laws. However, if you try to use the word "Parmigiano" to
sell your home-made cheese, then you will be punished, your product
will be blocked in all the world and you will be condemned by
commerce international courts.



best regards,