[Buddha-l] Being in Love

[David Webster]

Romantic love - not always pleasant - often leading to illness, shaking,
weeping and moaning - or it's not the real thing?

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Dr David Webster 
Course Leader: Religion, Philosophy & Ethics 
University of Gloucestershire 

01242 71 4778 
e-mail: dwebster at glos.ac.uk 


University Site: http://www.glos.ac.uk

 

Course blog: http://www.r-p-e.blogspot.com  
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-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com
[mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Stefan Detrez
Sent: 19 February 2008 18:44
To: Buddhist discussion forum
Subject: RE: [Buddha-l] Being in Love

Dear readers, 

> Sure, I don't expect the Buddha was much of a fan of possessive love,  
> but then neither am I. Still, that comes with the territory of living  
> with a woman who has given me half of her life, who carried our  
> daughter in her womb, and who breaks the crust of my ego every day. I  
> sure wouldn't trade her for the rhinoceros lifestyle. No doubt Joanna  
> is right that this sort of thing just wasn't part of the emotional/ 
> cultural vocabulary in the Buddha's time and place. He wouldn't have  
> chosen it, anyway. But I am not he. Not by a long shot. So, we all  
> just keep stumbling along.

Let's not make the error of the argumentum ex silentio: just because there's
no similar term in those texts, we cannot conclude that it didn't exist.
Maybe it was a taboo (being in love as a loss of a proper sense of reality
can sound pretty 'crazy'). Maybe the folks back then didn't attach much
importance to it to mention it, just as we nowadays hardly read books where
the characters go to the toilet of pick their nose.
 
If I were the Buddha I'd think I would miss a lot of joy in my life,
eventhough I would run the risk of hitting my head hard. It would make my
skull tougher and I wouldn't miss out the fun.

Stefan

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