[Buddha-l] Being unable to imagine dying [confused]

[lemmett at talk21.com]

I meant after death if that changes your (kind) reply at all|?

>> I really don't understand what problem I have been in asking these questions. >>Maybe if I was trying to prove to the list that the tathagata did not exist and >>merely shouted down anyone who gave reason to believe that my opinion was ?>>wrong.

>Whether the tathāgata exists or not is a red herring thrown on the path by Dr >Funhouse. No Buddhist would ever deny that. What a Buddhist might ask, >however, is in what sense a Tathāgata can be said to exist. Specifically, >Buddhists would be inclined to ask whether a Tathāgata has an eternal essence >or is some kind of abiding and unchanging self. And most Buddhists (in fact, all >that I am aware of) would say that there cannot be such a thing as a tathāgata in >THAT sense. So the tathāgata, like any other proper name or rigid designator, is >a conventional term of convenience that has no unique referent. Therefore, any >question based on the supposition that a tathāgata (or anything else you can >name) has an abiding essence goes unanswered (avyākṛta).

Sorry about the inability, to format.