[Buddha-l] the 22 vows

[jkirk]

Indeed. To broaden the case a bit, compare the anger of African-Americans
over the 200 years of our existence as a nation. Many African-American
leaders and groups in the sixties (the Black Panthers, e.g. to cite only
one) were as expressive of their anger about oppression as the Dalits are
today. 

As dilatory but persistent enforcementof civil rights began to affect most
(if not all of) their lives, the extreme anger has dissipated, many became
open to Dr. King's emulation of Gandhi by excercising passive resistance,
and today a huge number are Republicans--(you will be pleased to notice,
Richard)--a signal developement of a political party that to me has
represented oppression of all but the rich for at least a hundred years. 

The Dalits, too, will eventually get beyond the anger. I predict that
leaders among them will eventually appear who don't countenance the
extremism expressed by Dr. Ambedkar and his followers, to the point where it
might even happen (as it did with Malcolm X, who left the US Black Muslims
and became an orthodox Muslim) that they turn to a more traditional practice
of Buddhism than the one they follow now.

Joanna Kirkpatrick
================================================================ 



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. 

--
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico
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