[Buddha-l] Buddha's Meditation

[Franz Metcalf]

Dan et al.,

(Now I really *have* set my personal record. Thanks, Dan, for the  
final push.)

You know that scene in "Finding Nemo" where Dorrie calls Marlin a  
"Gloomy Gus"? (But also note <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 
Gus_Henderson> which I was not aware of until just this minute.)  
That's what I thought of when I read your post. Still, you raise vital  
questions. I think that, as Bruce Burrill points out, The Lotus Sutra  
is triumphalist. But is the early layer of the suttas? Perhaps not in  
the sense that the Abrahamic scriptures demand followers to be. So  
should employ a different word for Buddhist self-pride? In the face of  
real relativist/universalist views, I don't think we can simply say  
such pride is "normal." Can we find a middle word here?

Or, with a bit more nuance, wouldn't you agree that the point of the  
repeated mentions of "Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas" is  
to praise those beings (and Buddhas) who have *got it* when one else  
does? So perhaps we're talking about a kind of triumphalism not of  
Buddhism, but of awakening. That distinction might help.

Oh, and I don't know about others, but, Dan, I promise that though I  
am aware that stars don't give a damn about me, and that the planet is  
doomed, I shall still try to be the more loving one. And that is, I  
hope, moral.

So cheer up, Gloomy Gus!

Franz