[Buddha-l] wiki wiki

[Piya Tan]

For those who need a list of readings on topics off his/her main staple,
Wikipedia provides (sometimes) good reading lists and links. If you move on
from
there, and follow the links, helpful surprises are often found.

I have found many interesting journal papers in particular fields that way.
Of course, I am speaking from this neck of the cyber woods where the
public libraries have more interesting Buddhist books than the universities

The internet connectivity is really nourishing from here (Singapore),
especially
when I cannot find a journal article quoted in my readings. More often than
not
the kind professor or lecturer I email would oblige me with an electronic
copy
of his/her paper.

Rupert Gethin once sent me more than what I asked for. And recently Brian
Black obliged me with his interesting study of the Ambattha Sutta (to be out
soon
in a festshrift for Patrick Olivelle). Such works only confirms how an
understanding
of the other non-buddhist Indian traditions, such as the Upanisads helps us
understand the early texts better.

Okay, so I have said things many of you have taken for granted.

It's great to read clarity and depth esp where we are inundated by vague
Buddhism
and relic worship, and where the monks tell the laity not ever to touch or
discuss
the Vinaya.

The Buddhist sun is now rising in the west, so bask in it. The twilight glow
here
is not too bad either.

Piya Tan

On Nov 3, 2007 6:11 AM, curt <curt at cola.iges.org> wrote:

> Richard Hayes wrote:
> >
> > I guess it goes to show that if you want a good education in
> > Buddhism, you're a lot better off in prison than on the Internet.
> >
>
> that works on so many levels.....
>
> > I'm not sure I would take Wikipedia as a reliable measure of the quality
> > of much of anything;
>
> of course you are right about that. it was a cheap shot. that's the kind
> of guy i am.
>
> > I have hunch there may be a bit more to Western
> > Buddhism than what one finds on Wikipedia. Not that I'm planning to find
> > out. My curiosity about anything in Buddhism anywhere in the world after
>
> > about the second century is pretty feeble.
>
> I can appreciate that - although for some reason I apply that logic to
> western philosophy (I lose almost all interest after Proclus) while
> being much more tolerant of more recent trends in India and China.
>
> > Pretty much all of Buddhism
> > has been moving pretty precipitously downhill since Nagarjuna. (What
> > does Wikipedia say about THAT?)
> >
> >
>
> Actually - I'm pretty sure I read those exact words on Nagarjuna's
> wikipedia entry!
>
> Curt
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