Tang Huyen wrote:
>
> Robert Epstein wrote:
>
>> Good to see you in any case.
>>
>> If sitting under a tree is the solution,
>> and people are not the problem,
>> where does that leave sangha?
>> where does that leave compassion?
>>
>> I prefer the razor's edge of the Diamond Sutra
>> to an either/or solution:
>>
>> a. "The bodhisattva saves countless beings."
>> b. "The boddhisattva does not allow the thought to arise
>> that he is saving countless beings."
>> c. "Even though countless beings are saved, in truth there are no
>> beings,they are just called such."
>>
>> In other words, he acts without a sense of separate self, he acts
>> without a sense of a separate other, yet he still does act
>> compassionately and does not refrain from acting on behalf of others.
>
> The issue to me is not about self and others,
> separate or not, real or not, but it is how to
> know for sure that what I want to do to
> others is good or bad. Marx was
> unquestionably motivated by humanitarian
> motives, but look at the Communist
> movement that took inspiration from him.
> Pol Pot and Khien Sampan were sure that
> they did good and that they did not do evil.
> How can I be sure that I do good and don't
> do evil? What guarantees to me that my
> motivation is good and not evil and that my
> actions that derive from it are good and not
> evil? How can I set myself up as the model
> for all others to follow, especially if I force
> them to follow me? And if my sangha will
> correct me if I am wrong, why did the
> Japanese sangha not correct the Japanese
> Zen masters who trained the Samurai-s at
> war skills right in the meditation halls and
> who vocally advocated the Japanese side
> of WW II without any hesitation? They
> also quoted Buddhist scriptures in the
> sup****t of their nationatistic ideology. At
> least the Communists did not.
I never know with absolute certainty whether my actions or inactions
with respect to others are helpful or harmful. And yet, it is an
empirical fact that I both act and don't act in each moment. Further, I
appear to be able to use my own sense and reflection to make tentative
judgments about the skillfulness or unskillfulness or my actions and
intentions. And so, I move forward, making choices that sometimes help,
sometimes not, but generally looking for the small ways I can help.
So far, the balance seems to favor the help column.
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