[Buddha-l] Dharmapala

[andy]

Sorry, I was trying to be good about citation.  

On Thursday 15 July 2010 03:13:22 pm JKirkpatrick wrote:

> 
> Since I don't have this book, and since I suspect that many of us
> on the list don't have it either-----would you please clarify if
> (and when) you, or the quoted author, is referring to the Pali
> texts, or to Mahayana texts???

As Dan pointed out, Jenkins' article is focused on the  _Ārya-Bodhisattva-
gocara-upāyaviṣaya-vikurvaṇa-nirdeśa Sūtra_,  also known as the Ārya-
Satyakaparivarta,   and Dan has expanded on the source (?) in the Pali Canon, 
the Cūḷasaccaka sutta.   Jenkins makes a case for the Ārya being a translation 
of  a Sanscrit original, while admitting the difficulties of dating Buddhist 
texts.  Definitely Mahayana.    

> 
> Should be obvious but they definitely aren't the same.
> Presupposing that Buddhism is a monolithic entity is simply
> pointless, yet this is the slant that seems to be central in this
> thread (except for Lance's contributions).
> 
> Cheers, JK
> 

I feel that many of us are at cross-purposes on this topic.  My interest is 
philosophical, so I am interested in a consistent Buddhist ethical position on 
violence.  Historical practice does not have much bearing on that, and so the 
charge of "idealist" Buddhism.  So to me there is only one Buddhism, and it is 
just what I say it is .. . . scratch that: It is what the Buddha said it was?  
Nope, that won't work either. Textual scholars won't let me say that, either.  
Well, I still think it is possible to identify certain parts of the diverse 
Buddhist tradition as having sources outside of the original teachings, and 
being logically incompatible with those teachings.   But I think we can get 
more out of the discussion which more clarification of exactly what we are 
saying, 

-- 
James Andy Stroble, PhD
Lecturer in Philosophy
Department of Arts & Humanities
Leeward Community College
University of Hawaii

Adjunct Faculty 
Diplomatic and Military Studies
Hawaii Pacific University 

_________________

"The amount of violence at the disposal of any given country may soon not be a 
reliable indication of the country's strength or a reliable guarantee against 
destruction by a substantially smaller and weaker power."  --Hannah Arendt