[Buddha-l] Aung San Suu Kyi and the latest Burmese prosecutions

[Ben Carral]

On Monday, May 18, 2009, 20:42, Richard wrote:

>> It   doesn't   matter  if  authority  claims  to  be
>> rational, what matters if it is or not [...]

> Why  should  one accept Fromm as an authority? All of
> his  criteria  for  rationality  are  arbitrary.  How
> rational is that?

   What  I  said has nothing to do with accepting Fromm
as  an  authority.  What I said is that it is useful to
distinguish between rational and irrational authority.

   Rational  authority  is based on competence, helping
others to become authorities by themselves, and liberty
in order to follow or abandon it. "If you do as I teach
you, you will be able to become as competent as myself.
(I consider you as a human being by yourself and I will
try  to  help you. You are free to decide.)" That's how
one can learn martial arts, Zen, and many other things.

   Irrational  authority  is  based on power, serves to
explote  others,  and it's not free. "Do as I teach you
because  I  say  so. You should not expect to become as
competent  as  myself. (I don't consider you as a human
being  by  yourself,  but  as  a mean to achieve my own
goals. You can't not quit, you must obey my.)"

   What  it  seems  irrational  to me is, for instance,
that a group of Zen students democratically decide what
the  Mu  koam means, or that a group of karate students
democraticaly decide how a specific technique should be
applied.

   I  remember  when I first learned to use a Chan mala
in  order to practice "Namo Amitofo" repetition. When I
asked  my  master  how to do it, he just replied: "Just
repeat  'Namo  Amitofo' with all of your being." I knew
my master and I knew he was a good person who wanted to
help  me,  so after many repetitions, I finally learned
how  it  works. I'm glad that I didn't decide by myself
how to practice it, what technique to use at that time,
or   insisted   to   receive   a   priori  intellectual
explanation.

   If  the  Buddha,  or  the good Zen masters, were not
rational authorities, they would not be masters at all.

   Best wishes,

   Ben (Oviedo, Asturias, Spain)