[Buddha-l] the 22 vows

[Richard Hayes]

On Thursday 21 June 2007 23:22, Christopher Fynn wrote:

> "That is why Dr. Ambedkar was of the firm opinion that until or unless, by
> applying dynamite, the Hindu Dharma-shastras are not blown up, nothing is
> going to happen." <http://www.ambedkar.org/bss/Towardsthe.htm>

Hell hath no fury like a people systematically oppressed for several thousand 
years. For years I used to accept invitations to speak to Ambedkarite 
Buddhists groups, but my dedication to pacificism repeatedly came into 
conflict with the (understandable) pent up rage of former untouchables whose 
understanding of Buddhism cam exclusively from Ambedkar's <cite>The Buddha 
and His Dhamma</cite>. Whenever I cited the first ten verses or so of the 
Dhammapada, the crowd would hiss with disapproval, thus proving to my 
satisfaction, but not theirs, that those who think "He abused me! He hurt 
me!" will never get beyond the anger that causes so much suffering in this 
world. 

Being a man of limited imagination (and perhaps a bit of a wimp), I can very 
easily understand the anger of people who have been wronged, but I have never 
been able to condone the violence that so often pours out of their rage.

Thanks for sharing those links, Chris. They made me feel very sad.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico