[Buddha-l] A question for Jewish Buddhists

[Ashok Aklujkar]

On 10/23/08 12:40 PM, "Richard P. Hayes" <rhayes at unm.edu> wrote:

 > David
 > Kalupahana's book "Causality". ... (p. 131) ... in the Buddhist  
view of moral responsibility, "the effect of
 > a deed is not determined solely by the deed itself but also by the  
nature of
 > the person who commits the deed.".
 >
 > ... in Judaism the exact opposite is
 > said. She reports that in Jewish thought, the greater a person, the  
more
 > damage is done by an indiscretion that the person commits.

I think the perceived conflict is superficial. It probably depends on  
what one means by "effect" in a given context. Consider, for example,  
how one could argue for lenient or harsh treatment of a Brahmin in  
Brahmanism/Old Hinduism:

A Brahmin is to be given a less severe punishment than, say, a ;Suudra  
in some transgressions (because if he is a true Brahmin -- a Brahmin  
according to the understanding of the Dharma-;saastra authors -- he  
is, in a way, suffering every day through his highly demanding,  
asceticism-leaning life style; he already has some sacrificing to his  
credit; compare a modern judge's reducing  of the sentence in the case  
of a person who has been a good citizen until the time of his/her  
offence).

On the other hand, (if a Brahmin's offence or crime is likely to set a  
bad example for the society -- is likely to have a far-reaching  
negative effect on the basic norms of the society), he not only has to  
inflict a severe punishment upon himself but also to make it known  
publicly.

ashok aklujkar