[Buddha-l] The arrow: its removal and examination

[Chan Fu]

On 6/24/07, Katherine Masis <twin_oceans at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi, Richard
>
> In a recent post you said:
>
> "As Buddhists we might do well to recall that the
> business of Buddhism is not at all the same as the
> business of science and philosophy. Our task is not to
> explain how the world works--indeed, the Buddha warned
> against that temptation. Rather, our task as Buddhists
> is to reduce (even eliminate, if one feels especially
> heroic) pain and turmoil."
>
> I for one don't know what business, if any, is the
> proper Buddhist one, but if no Buddhist had ever had
> the inclination to lead the examined life, no Buddhist
> cosmology, no Buddhist epistemology and no Buddhist
> psychology would ever have developed.
>
> I bring this up because for 15-plus years I was a
> member of a very harsh, anti-intellectual and
> hierarchical Zen group based in the U.S.  To quash
> sincere inquiry, intellectual or otherwise, was
> standard fare at that place.  The justification given
> was precisely the proverbial removal-of-the-arrow
> versus examining it.  So whenever I hear that, I feel
> wary.
>
> For some of us, removing the arrow is the work of a
> lifetime (if not myriads of lifetimes).  While we're
> at it, I see no problem with inquiring about the
> nature of the arrow, where it came from and why it was
> shot.  Must its removal and examination be exclusive
> of each other?
>
> Katherine Masis
> Professor of Philosophy
> Universidad de Costa Rica
> San Jose, Costa Rica

Good for you, Katherine.

Isn't "buddhism" simply the practice of science, even if it's
based upon our own empirical discoveries? Why should we make our
investigation into our own minds into something dogmatic
and mystical, no matter how the experiences seem, subjectively?

There are many 'buddhists' who decry intellect as though they
were still speculating 2500-yr-old savages. We might consider
that Sid actually discovered science, if the greeks hadn't beaten
him to it (credit to the Egyptians and Mayans for getting close).

Removing the arrow isn't as important as not picking it up and
stabbing oneself with it in the first place. The cosmology and
epistimology questions have been pretty much resolved. We're
finally working on the last one, and we'll be able to finish the job.

Congratulations, btw.