[Buddha-l] Dependent arising variants

Gad Horowitz horowitz at chass.utoronto.ca
Wed Feb 1 13:09:11 MST 2006


T.S.Eliot:  "birth, that was the death of him"
G.F.W.Hegel: "midnight begins at noon"



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Lusthaus" <dlusthau at mailer.fsu.edu>
To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 5:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Dependent arising variants


> Stephen,
>
> > Well, take two nidanas at random.  Old age and death are said to arise
in
> > dependence upon birth.  Obviously, one will not get old and die without
> > having been born, but for me it sounds rather odd to say that birth
causes
> > old age and death.  There is no causality here in the scientific, or
even
> > everyday, sense.
>
> So you are disputing that birth is both a necessary and sufficient cause
of
> death? Does anything that hasn't been born die? Does anything that is born
> not die (much as many hope)? So, rather than cancer, war, cardiovascular
> conditions, car accidents, and whatever other thing one can point to,
> "birth" is indeed the number one cause of death. Death follows birth
> ineluctably and necessarily. Even Mark Twain admitted that.
>
> cheers,
> Dan
>
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