[Buddha-l] buddha-l gathering

[Blezer, H.W.A.]

It is definitely a good thing that Richard finally clarified who was  
the fourth Buddha-l mystery veteran, at the Antwerp gathering. It  
indeed was the Buddha herself, in the form of Saint Josaphat, presumed  
to be present as a pile of dry bones in a silver reliquary, in the St.  
Andrieskerk (emphasis is on "dries").

Pious local Catholics had barely finished cleaning & polishing the  
silverware when we arrived (and, alas, subsequently have had to  
conceal it from sight, to prevent further soiling). A donation by  
wealthy tenured Buddha-l members to the mentioned church for these  
exact purposes (do mention the XXXVI Saints!) will facilitate future  
display in a glass container -- surely of immeasurable benefit to  
later generations of pilgrims!

Unlike the other veterans, I went speechless for most of the day --  
that's what relics do to born Catholics (we don't believe we are born  
again) -- and, hey, since Stefan and Erik were there, it was not  
necessary to say much anyway. So, I didn't; at least not anything that  
made much sense (would that count as "muni" as well??).

I therefore traveled more or less incognito. But Richard seems to have  
sensed the presence of something left unspoken or implied (according  
to some ancient religious doctors, in Buddhist realms, beings are only  
visible to those of one's own class or above).

Instead, I have devoted myself to the more simple practice of  
generating merit. Such as finding *seriously* pink paper cups for  
impromptu libations to the gathered buddhas of the four directions  
(unfortunately, the cups were way too large to cover up the quite  
modestly sculpted nudity of the Antwerp Manneke Peace, at the Tibet  
Instituut in Schoten -- I have a sneeking suspicion that a foresighted  
individual there may have wanted to anticipate on those obnoxiously  
politically hypercorrect individuals who insist on referring to the  
Buddha by female gender).

In that lovely retro Belgian Jazz Café called Muze, which Richard  
mentioned, we were also joined by good local folk & sprite, in varying  
stages of inebriation. I am not sure whether they too once were words  
on Buddha-l (in the beginning there was ...) -- how could one tell if  
their speech was thus affected by locally brewed spirits. But for all  
I know, they may well be the folks on our list who are responsible for  
that occasional, garbled message.

For the next venue, I recommend tar and feathers, as a dressing code,  
or at least carrying an 'serious' umbrella and paper cups.

Namo Josaphato,


Henk


Message: 5
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 09:28:37 +0100
From: Richard Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu>
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] buddha-l gathering
To: Buddhist discussion forum <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Message-ID: <CB13D379-CA09-40A2-877D-DB28073D0B79 at unm.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed; delsp=yes

On Nov 28, 2009, at 7:41 AM, Richard Hayes wrote:

> I know this is short notice, but four buddha-l veterans are meeting in
> the Antwerp train station today at 11:00 am, and we'd be delighted if
> the rest of you could join us. Erik Hoogcarspel and I are easily
> recognized, since we actually do look like the words we write on
> buddha-l. He looks like a verb, and I look like an adjective.

As far as I can tell, only four buddha-l people showed up for the  
buddha-l pilgrimage in Antwerpen/Anvers/Antwerp.

<snip>

I'm not sure where the next gathering of buddha-l denizens will be.
Perhaps Singapore. Hope to see you all there, properly dressed for the  
occasion.

yours in denizenship,
Richard