[Buddha-l] Re: flat earth?

[Vicente Gonzalez]

Richard Hayes wrote:

RH> Many? I can't think of even one, with the possible exception of Toni Packer.
RH> When thinking about "reform" and "redefinition" I always find it useful to
RH> remember the Kathavatthu, which says, in effect, that unless someone says
RH> there are only three noble truths or that there are five, and unless someone
RH> says that murder, theft, promiscuity, deception and intoxication are healthy
RH> and conducive to well-being, then one is not reform Buddhism at all. What
RH> seems to follow from this is that as long as a person keeps a focus on
RH> cultivating good character and on helping eliminate sources of pain, then one
RH> can hardly be said to being doing "without Buddhism."

are not my words:
http://www.thinkbuddha.org/article/3/buddhism-without-buddhism 

"Buddhism Without Buddhism: a resolutely irreligious Buddhism; a
Buddhism that is rooted in human meanings rather than in fantasies of
the sacred; a Buddhism that is pervaded by a thoroughgoing
this-wordliness: it is, perhaps, an impossible thing to hope for. But
at the same time, I find the idea extraordinarily attractive, it has
become a touch-stone for how I think about Buddhism. But with a
question mark at the end, just for good measure
"

And I think it's ok; and the same with the people using ritual in a
right way. Just I point the fantasies of the sacred are not worse
than fantasies of the reason. Dreams of reason also produce monsters
already well known.
Both things are part of us and nobody can extirpate none of them.


RH> Who was it who said that the vast majority of human beings are so mired in
RH> greed, hatred and delusion that there was almost no point in trying to teach
RH> them? I forget his name, but I have yet to see much evidence that he was
RH> wrong about this.

He was right. And after the atomic bomb and planetary devastation,
a question is where we can fit the blind cult to Reason; inside greed,
delusion, or maybe in other place.
S.Hawking says our only solution is exporting the human virus to other
planets to continue the actual wonderful project of Reason and knowledge.
Great idea.
But first of all, Where can we put our scientific minds and the fiscal
paradises before design the next genocide?



best regards,