[Buddha-l] Brahma & Abraham

[Joy Vriens]

Hi Dee,

This list started as a purely academic list if I am not mistaken. At one
point the more general discussion list Buddhist-l was integrated into
Buddha-L and as a result we had some very lively discussions here. It was
presented as a new list that could benefit both academics and "practising"
Buddhists, the one not excluding the other obviously. There were times the
exchanges were very playful, mainly due to Richard Hayes, who from time to
time had to slam his fist on the table to call himself and others to order.
In recent years the list has perhaps grown more serious again. I always
assumed that the academics that post to this list do so to let off steam
after publishing another article, monograph etc. I have always esteemed
myself lucky to have this opportunity and try to show my gratitude in
serving as an enthusiastic sparring partner doing my utmost best to punch
them where I can in order to keep them as sharp as possible. Sometimes they
get a bit tired which is understandable or they have another article to
write or copies to correct.

Joy

On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 1:05 AM, Dee <dee.kaye at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I've been 'lurking' on this list for some little while and it 'seems' that
> hardly anyone is willing to engage in discussion on a topic that does not
> fall into their own comfort zone. I personally find this quite perplexing
> for an academic forum. My peception of 'academic' is that of open-minded
> enquiry that does not necessarily agree with, but is willing to debate, any
> resonable hypothesis on a given topic. Perhaps I have not understood the
> rules of engagement. I sincerely invite somebody to explain them to me.
> Please bear in mind that i may not be very bright and would appreciate
> someone taking the time to explain them with transparency.
>