[Buddha-l] Buddhists taking a stand against Islamaphobia

[James A Stroble]

On Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:37:57 -0600
Richard Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu> wrote:

> On Aug 4, 2012, at 6:23 PM, James A Stroble <stroble at hawaii.edu>
> wrote:
> 
> > Destruction of
> > physical objects is not directly an attack on the Dharma, is it?
> 
> That seems exactly the right rhetorical question to ask. I also find
> something bizarre in the claim that the destruction of a symbol is
> the same as the destruction of what the symbol represents. Statues,
> buildings, sacred objects and so on simply are not the Dharma.

I take this as sort of a compliment.  Asking is not really a feature of
rhetorical questions, and so, Richard, you are interfering with a
rhetorical question that, as all good rhetorical questions do, denies
that it _is_ a rhetorical question.  (note use of _ in lieu of actual
html markup and attendant rhetorical marketing via email!).


> 
> Sorry to waste everybody's time stating the obvious and
> uncontroversial and distracting you all from saying silly things
> about Islām.
> 
> Richard

And so lately I have developed a taste, yet again, for eschatology.
Some say the world will end in fire, some that it ends with Baldur
getting whacked by his brother, but I say that it will end with people
getting all het up about the end of the world and the importance of
being right when this eventuality eventuates. But for the Buddhist,
there is always another kalpa, or two, and turtles in infinite seas
poking their heads through some circular artifact, so yes, truth is not
equal to falsehood and will alway out in the end (seeing how there is
no end if delusion insists on going on about how other beings have it
all wrong and,  and,  oops.) 

As for Justice:  this is my current interest.  I am thinking that for a
Buddhist, justice is not an issue, since justice is the appropriation
of what properly belongs to each individual.   Truth, a la
pratiya-sammutpada, is not an absolute. And equally, justice is not an
absolute regarding each individual, since there are no individuals.
The only ethical interest of a Buddhist, therefore, is in suffering and
it's reduction, metta and karuna.   Nothing to do with desert,
attribution, justice, or retribution.  

So I applaud the  Letter Gary brought to our attention, since it is
skillful in reducing suffering.  Salem. 

James A. Stroble
University of Hawaii; Leeward Community College