[Buddha-l] Buddhism in Israel

[Richard Hayes]

On Tuesday 12 February 2008 11:28, Jim Peavler wrote:

> I doubt that it is possible for some of the Islamic, or the Baptist,
> faiths to express an interest in Buddhism in public.

Several of my classes on Buddhism at McGill had several Muslim students in 
them, some of them from Indonesia and others from Iran. One of the people who 
regularly attended Buddhist meditation sessions in my home was a Muslim from 
Saudi Arabia. In my Buddhist classes at UNM I have had Muslim students from 
Afghanistan. There may be fewer obstacles to Muslims showing an open interest 
in Buddhism than one might imagine. (It is worth bearing in mind than in 
America, just about the only thing we ever hear about Muslims is that they 
are allegedly fascists.)

One of the most highly respected scholars of Buddhism in the United States is 
a Baptist named Frank E. Reynolds. (Of course he has a beard, which is mighty 
suspicious,) I can also think of a couple of clean-shaved Methodists who have 
made excellent contributions to the study of Buddhism and who even admired 
Buddhism right out loud in public.

But your point is only that SOME Muslims and Baptists might have a hard time 
openly expressing an interest in Buddhism. That is no doubt true. But then it 
would probably be true no matter what affiliation you put after the 
word "some." Hell, within the past week I have read about a Quaker in New 
England getting into serious trouble (if you consider excommunication serious 
trouble) for exploring Asian religions with a little too much enthusiasm.

All this goes to support my contention that all generalizations are always 
absolutely useless. 

-- 
Richard P. Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes