[Buddha-l] means of ego-inflation

[Piya Tan]

"Traditionalist" in WBO? This is new, maybe thatr because I lost touch
with it some 2 decades ago. What do you mean by "traditionalist"?

I suppose Sangharakshita also went through a phase like you are doing.
He was disillusioned with traditional Buddhism, but then he started
his own Buddhism, and like Wu Zetian of the Tang/Wu dynasty, tried to
take over the Buddha's place.

But you choose the Middle Way, or perhaps the middle of the Middle Way.

One of the first things I've learned about Buddhism after left
Theravada and then the FWBO, is that no matter how negative these
gurus may be or how misled we have been by their teachings, we should
not let their shadow haunt us too much or too long.

One of the first things I did after I left the FWBO, was to put all
the Sangharakshita books (including the Mitratas) I have in a large
box and threw them into the dumper. It was like a coming of age
passage rite after which to learned to think for myself. That was the
beginning of my rediscovery of Buddhism.

BTW Robert I would love to read your article on
"The Best Thus Far Discovered": The Japanese in the Letters of Francisco Xavier
Hispanic Review, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Spring, 2003), pp. 155-169.
Francus Xavier visited Malacca (my hometown) but found it to be "thge
Babylon of the east." So he took off his sandals and dusted them off
as he was leaving, cursing. The Portuguese fell in Malacca, which was
taken over by the Dutrch, which was then handed over to the British
during the Napoleonic war.
Any hindsight into the above article (I have yet to read it).

I have an ongoing interest in how religions (incl Bsm) colonized Asia
and its aftermath.

To all those who have been through the realms of the asuras and
pretas, and returned.

Piya Tan



On Thu, Mar 5, 2009 at 6:07 AM, Robert Ellis <robertupeksa at talktalk.net> wrote:
> Piya Tan wrote:
> <<So you must be right: calling oneself a Buddhist is one extreme, not
> calling oneself a Buddhist is the other. (I thought you are a
> Dharmachari.)>>
>
> If you mean dharmachari in the specific sense of member of the Western Buddhist Order, then I used to be one but resigned a year ago. I am now a follower of the Middle Way but not a Buddhist, because it became clear to me that most Buddhists do not give priority to the Middle Way, and are not prepared to let go of the many aspects of Buddhist tradition that conflict with it. The label "Buddhist" just became a burden, and I was struggling against the traditionalists in the Order all the time.
>
> Best wishes,
> Robert
>
>
> Robert Ellis
>
> website: www.moralobjectivity.net
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
>



-- 
The Minding Centre
Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
Singapore 650644
Tel: 8211 0879
Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com
Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com