On Feb 9, 5:28 pm, oxtail <oxt...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Tang Huyen wrote:
>
> > Awaken21 wrote:
>
> >> "L. Raymond":
>
> >>> You are trying to complicate a very simple matter.
>
> >>> You ask, "Do you believe that gods exist?"
> >>> Answer "Yes": Respondent is a theist.
> >>> Answer "No": Respondent is an atheist.
>
> >>> You then ask, "Do you think it's possible to
> >>> know for sure one way or another?"
>
> >>> Answer "No": Respondent is agnostic.
> >>> Answer "Yes": Respondent isn't agnostic.
> >> A few other possibilities come to mind
>
> >> "I don't know"
> >> "Yes and No"
> >> "Niether Yes nor No"
> >> "How much does it really matter?"
> >> "Are you a happy peaceful person leading a
> >> fulfilling life, or not?"
>
> >> Wow, staggering number of other possibly
> >> constructive questions one could be asking or
> >> persuing instead just hit me. Just, Wow!
>
> > The trick here is to frame the issue ahead of time
> > so that your interlocutors are railroaded into a few
> > options, none of which is palatable to them. The
> > answer is to back up and look at the
> > presuppositions afresh and not let ourselves be
> > framed (straightjacketed) into just a few absurb,
> > fruitless options.
>
> > This rising to the level of protocol is what
> > Buddhism is all about, regardless of specifics.
> > We bounce around in life thoughtlessly, without
> > stopping and reconsidering our basic options, and
> > in this process create suffering for ourselves, for
> > nothing. Buddhism teaches us to stop and
> > reconsider, and one tool that is immensely useful
> > is mindfulness, which helps us become aware of
> > the choices that we have unconsciously made
> > and that we have followed unawares. Once we
> > become aware of our basic options, we can
> > rearrange them, readjust them, or choose other
> > options altogether, so as not to create suffering
> > for ourselves. This stopping and reconsidering at
> > the basic level opens up unexpected perspectives
> > that would otherwise be unavailable.
>
> > Contrariwise if we take Buddhism to be a set of
> > beliefs and rituals, to be followed mindlessly, like
> > in other religions, we have failed at this
> > fundamental rearrangement and therefore we
> > have failed Buddhism.
>
> > Tang Huyen
>
> "To be followed mindlessly,
> like in other religions"?
>
> You probably don't understand
> the other religions either.
>
> What makes you think
> you can be faithful to anything
> by following it mindlessly?
>
> --
> ~Oxtail
Questioning statements - good.
Missing the point of the statement - ....
- n.
|
