[Buddha-l] Re: Magic

[Alberto Todeschini]

Brad Clough wrote:

> I'm writing a piece that is trying to argue that scholarship has not paid enough attention to supernatural concerns in Buddhism because it has been seen as wholly rationalist, and would greatly appreciate any feedback.

Dear Brad,

I just wanted to add my two cents in addition to what Richard Hayes has 
already said in response to your query.
The reason may not be "because it has been seen as wholly rationalist" 
as you claim. It may simply be due to lack of interest. For instance, I 
am not terribly interested in magic, miracles, supernatural phenomena 
and so forth. So I don't look for this kind of things in Buddhism. If I 
am correct in thinking that a fair share of scholars of Buddhism are 
equally uninterested in such matters, this explains why you can read 
thousands of pages on Buddhism without ever coming across anything 
supernatural: the authors you are reading may simply not be interested 
in it, or at least not interested enough to publish about it.

Regards,

Alberto Todeschini