[Buddha-l] Lamas and such

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Dan Lusthaus schreef:
> Xiao can indeed be used in a variety of ways, including as a diminuitive 
> with affectionate overtones, but that is *not* what is occurring with 
> xiaosheng (hinayana), xiaoren (petty person), xiaoxin (small minded), etc.
>   
OK, now we're getting somewhere. There is an interpretation in which 
xiao is more positive than hina, well that is simply my point. No more. 
I like to keep discussions xiao (like in names as Deng Xiao Ping and Lee 
Xiao Long) and not develop them into hina vacana. As I said it all 
depends on context.
I could also refer to xiao xue (primary school) versus da xue 
(university) in present daily discourse. There's nothing mean about 
primary school. And it's quite common in mahayana to see the Nikaya 
schools as the primary phase in Buddhism, the first turning of the 
wheel. It would be very strange indeed if a follower of the mahayana 
would refer to his own kind of practice as a going astray from the right 
path, as a Theravadin would call it. So being human goes along with 
having a point of view, but this doesn't have to be without respect.
> Again, consult dictionaries (or include them in your sources). The better 
> the dictionary, the more compounds containing xiao you will find.
>   
I use Matthews, perhaps it doesn't have enough negative compounds with 
xiao, but it has more than 150, perhaps 30 or 40 % is negative.

Erik

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