[Buddha-l] 9. Attadiipaa Sutta (Joy Vriens)

[Joy Vriens]

Richard wrote:
 > All the instances you cite make a great deal of sense to me when
'dīpa' is interpreted as island. They pose no problems whatsoever.
What I recommend is that, since the text is ambiguous and thus allows
for more than one interpretation, choose the interpretation that works
for you, and don't worry about whether another interpretation works
better for someone else.

They don't work for me *as such* and I am curious to find out how it
can be meaningful to others *as such*. I have always learned a lot
from trying make sense of different points of view, different
opinions. After Lance's explanation it is clear to me that the image
of an "island" is supposed to evoke the idea of refuge and safety. My
mother is not reassured as long as she is on a boat or even on an
island because she doesn't feel safe there. I love islands, but they
have absolutely no connotation of a refuge or of safety for me.
Somehow, in the days of the Buddha an "island" stood for refuge and
safety. I just wonder why.

Using Eric's goat expression example, suppose in 2000 years an
enigmatic Christian text will be discovered, recommending to become a
"high building with a steeple" to oneself. Without knowing the
function of that high building and all the connotations of a community
coming together there and helping each other out, sharing warmth etc.
etc., in short a church, the people living then wont get the right
idea and image. For me the same thing goes when I read "Make yourself
into a ground which is not submerged by floodwaters coming from two
sides". Even when it says "Make yourself into an island" it doesn't
evoke any particular images except isolation, certainly not of a
refuge and of a safe place which it is supposed to evoke. I don't even
understand how it can work for you :-) But it certainly seemed to have
worked in the days of the Buddha. Hence my asylum idea. For India a
ford (tirtha), evoking the idea of a sanctuary and asylum,
incidentally a bridge. That would explain how from that ford, one
could cross over to nirvana or how one could get from there to "to the
glorious land of the great".

Joy

>> Please save me from heresy.

> Why?

To draw attention.