[Buddha-l] Being unable to imagine dying and living

[Justin Whitaker]

>
> Dear Richard, et al.

>

> > In addition to that, and since
>
>> > rebirth   is   a   traditional  Buddhist  teaching,  it
>
>> > surprises  me  that  Buddhist  scholars don't show more
>
>> > interest in such phenomena.
>
>>
> There is exactly one legitimate thing for scholars of Buddhism to study:
> texts. We can only go where our texts go. We can report what our texts say,
> no more. Buddhist texts are silent on near-death experiences, so as scholars
> of Buddhism we would be irresponsible to speculate on what Buddhists might
> have to say about such things.
>

My old advisor Paul Williams did some work with Tibetan texts, comparing
them interestingly with Medieval Christian works, that do indeed deal with
near-death experiences. Now his work, I have found, is available FREE (!) in
Pacific World Journal available via this link:
http://www.shin-ibs.edu/academics/_pwj/subscribe.php . See Paul Williams,
"Christina 'the Astonishing' Meets the Tibetans Returning from Beyond: A
Case of Mutual Recognition?" in issue No. 9.

>

> Speaking not as a scholar but as a Buddhist, I see nothing at all in the
> topic of near-death experiences that would make my practice any different
> from what it now is. It is an issue of no significance whatsoever, except as
> a major distraction from Dharma.
>
>  Richard
>

-- 
Justin Whitaker
PhD Candidate, Buddhist Ethics
Goldsmiths, University of London