[Buddha-l] flat earth?

[curt]

Stephen Hodge wrote:
>
> Sorry to say, but I'm another one of those people who really, really 
> dislike Batchelor.  He should go off and start his own religion 
> instead of bowdlerizing Buddhism.  I personally find his approach 
> totally uninspiring and  not a tad destructive of spirituality. But as 
> RH says, leave him to those who find his work of interest.
>
>
There are at least three good reasons for critiquing Batchelor, as 
opposed to simply agreeing to disagree (silently).
(1) A great many people have similar feelings and thoughts, but 
Batchelor is one of the few people who really tries to articulate this 
perspective.
(2) Close inspection of what Batchelor actually says is quite revealing. 
Mostly it is just a rehash of Herman Hesse's "Siddhartha". The main 
difference being that Batchelor apparently wants people to seriously 
believe that what he is presenting is the original, true, pure teachings 
of the Buddha - whereas Hesse had no such grandiose delusions.
(3) Buddhism, like most "Asian" religions, has always been the subject 
of lively debate - and that is putting it mildly. It is, in fact, a very 
healthy thing to engage in vigorous debate - if only to demonstrate that 
strong disagreements about religion do not lead to (and historically 
have not led to) bloodshed or anything of the sort. This is an 
especially important lesson for people of European descent - whose 
recent history has tended to make them think (erroneously) that 
religious debate must always be associated with horrific violence.

- Curt