[Buddha-l] Prominent Neobuddhist proposes religionbasedblacklisting for government jobs

[Richard Hayes]

On Jul 30, 2009, at 4:40 PM, Dan Lusthaus wrote:

>> The only well-established Buddhist doctrines that Dharmakīrti dealt
>> with were the four noble truths and the doctrine of karma and  
>> rebirth.
>> He claimed that the four noble truths could all be established
>> empirically, and he said that arguments against rebirth are not
>> compelling.
>
> Well, I can think of a few more. His rejection of attributing  
> omniscience to
> Buddha was courageous -- even if rooted in Agama (if not Mahayana).  
> That is
> one of the things I admire him for.

The rejection of the Buddha's omniscience is not based in āgama (even  
if it agrees with āgama). It is based on the notion that attributing  
omniscience to anyone is a silly and stupid thing to do. Like you, I  
admire Dharmakīrti for pointing that out (thus beating both Hume and  
Sam Harris to the punch bowl).

>> The side of Dharmakīrti that I find less than compelling is  
>> manifested
>> in 1) his attempt to show that external objects do not exist, a topic
>> to which he devotes quite a lot of space in his chapter on  
>> pratyakṣa,
>> and 2) his defense of yogi-pratyakṣa in that same chapter.
>
> Hmmm. If that's all you find disturbing, you could always become a
> Naiyayika. (Maybe you already are? They believe in afterlife,  
> however.)

I guess you were taking a nap all the times I have said that in most  
matters I find the Nyāya position more satisfactory and nuanced than  
the Buddhist position. No doubt the impressions made on me by my  
thesis supervisor were quite strong.

> More high praise. Wily coyote setting bait or are his whiskers  
> turning grey
> and soft?


You should know by now that Coyote has always been a pussy cat.

Richard


P.S. I learned in my Nahuatl lesson today that the plural of kojotl,  
whence the Spanish word coyote, is kojomeh. In Esperanto, of course,  
the plural of kojoto is kojotoj. This information will come in handy  
when I have time to translate Dharmakīrti into Nahuatl or Esperanto.