[Buddha-l] Batchelor

[Franz Metcalf]

Joy et al.,

Merci, Joy, pour les mots (j'ai presque écrit "pensées") de Voltaire  
et Pascal. Comme c'est belle et moderne (au moins à mes oreilles), la  
phrase "Joie, Joie, Joie, pleurs de joie."

Joy also wrote, of Pascal,

> Of course he has his beliefs, but who hasn't.


No one, of course. Since we were discussing the Kalama Sutta, I would  
mention its most frequently quoted bit (perhaps the most frequently  
quoted of all Buddhist bits), where the Buddha tells us not to believe  
based on various proofs. But how can he do this? Precisely because he  
*does* believe based on experience. We all have our beliefs, even  
Buddhas. I, for instance, believe that the Buddha believed

     All things come at first from mind.
     Mind creates them, mind fulfills them.
     Speak or act with tainted mind,
     You'll drag around a cart of pain.
     (Dhammapada 1-4)

Heck, even Nagarjuna might believe that much. Pascal clearly did.

Franz