[Buddha-l] Doxastic minimalism (was: flat earth?)

[Vera, Pedro L.]

Richard Hayes wrote:



>I am inclined to agree with Erik on this. So that makes two of us. And Erik 
>and I both admire Stephen Batchelor, so Stephen makes three. And I suppose 
>Joanna Kirkpatrick may be with us, since she also claims to like Stephen 
>Batchelor. So if George Gamow was right when he wrote that some primitive 
>cultures had words only for four numbers ("one", "two", "three", and "many"), 
>then I guess there really are many Buddhists who like the idea of a 
>non-sacred (or at least not especially sacred) and this-worldly approach to 
>Buddhism.....
...

>While rebirth (and perhaps other metaphysical narratives) may be dispensable 
>to many of us, my guess is that none of the four noble truths is dispensable. 
>We all, I am assuming, believe that distress exists, that it has causes, that 
>its causes can be eliminated (or at least palpably reduced) with the result 
>of a palpable reduction of distress, and that there are reliable ways of 
>reducing the causes of distress. And I also assume that all of us who call 
>ourselves Buddhists see observance of the precepts as a core component of the 
>way of reducing the causes of distress. What more than what I have said here 
>is indispensable to the successful practice of Buddhism? To "many" (that is, 
>about four--Erik, Stephen, Joanna and me, and I'll bet even Doc Peavler as a 
>fifth) of us, nothing more is needed. Everything else is bells and whistles, 
>or (to use the more traditional Buddhist and Daoist phrase) feet added to the 
>snake.


Well, Richard, I'm not much for joining groups. Rather, (to paraphrase Groucho Marx slightly), I don't want to belong to any group that would have me as a member. However, in this case, you might as well add me to the list, so that makes possibly 6 of us.

We have practically enough people to form committees and create a movement. We should probably settle on a name. "Buddhists for Batchelor" sounds too militant for my taste. However, based on the suggestion from a previous post, I propose: "Batchelorian Buddhist Bowdlerizers", or B^3 for short.

Who wants to chair the first organizational meeting??

Regards,

Pedro
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