[Buddha-l] Re: Bowl shaped earth

[Richard Hayes]

On Wednesday 16 May 2007 08:37, Jim Peavler wrote:

> Is the obvious bowl-shaped universe somehow tied in with Buddhism? I
> hope so, or this missive is off-topic!

To a hungry bhikkhu the entire universe is shaped like a begging bowl. So your 
missive is on-topic. Moreover, having arrived here by flying saucer, I can 
confirm that the earth is shaped like a cup, which is just a bowl with a 
handle on the side. (Many people are unaware of the earth's handle, because 
it's on the outside, whereas sentient beings live on the inside.) I often ask 
myself: if there weren't a God, why would the earth have a handle? As far as 
I know, Buddhists have no good answer to this important question. It's not 
even addressed in the geography chapter in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosha, 
which aptly describes the earth as a container shaped like a dish (a dish 
being, after all, a shallow bowl).

I'd say more, but I have a date to go bowling.

-- 
Roswell Hayes