OT: semiOT/NL: Buddhism, Pali Canon (wasRe: OT More pens)

In a message dated 2003:06:10 03:05:04 PM, stonegordonssen@HOTMAIL.COM writes:

>>And you don't just have a select few who wrote about the events of the
>>gospels to pass it on, there's also the huge number of Christians that
>>popped up about that time.  They didn't become Christians by reading the
>>gospels, but through other evidence - be it eyewitness (as the book of
>Acts
>>reports) or by the testimony of those who were eyewitnesses.  The writings
>>were _not_ the primary source to begin the Christian movement.
>
>Ditto with Siddhartha and BUddhism.
    Try telling that to the very rigorous scientific research that the
Theraveda Buddhists in Thailand and Sri Lanka conduct. They feel it is important to
their worldview to know exactly what was actually said by the very human Great
Teacher Buddha formerly known as Prince/Lord Siddhartha. So they are
constantly looking for the earliest reliable Pali Canon texts.
    These Buddhist experts are always bringing in other experts from other
cultures to act as both colleagues and neutral observers/verifiers of their
scientific procedures. The most famous was the translator and professor of
comparative religion T. W. Rhys Davids (1843-1922), who also founded the Pali Text
Society in 1881. His wife C. A. F. Rhys Davids was also a translator of Pali and
wrote the groundbreaking _Buddhist Psychology_ in 1914. Not surprisingly,
they became Theravedists after in-depth study and translation of the Pali Canon.

    Quite arguably, Theraveda Buddhism is not really totally within the
Western definition of a "religion" and - like philosophical Taoism - is more a
committed ethical way of life and a very defined/refined worldview,
_Weltanschuung_.

    I met a Theraveda Buddhist monk who is also an archaeologist. We
discussed all sorts of subjects and one that came up was the Theravedists view on
science. This monk/archaeologist said that most of the laypeople tended towards
popular forms of religion without much science - or education for that matter.
While the educated monks ferinstanz have no problem with evolution theories -
monogenetic, polygenetic, morphic resonance evolution, quantum evolution, etc..
They even argue the theories and data as mental-spiritual exercise and/or for
"fun."

    Kinda gives ya a clue to one of the 9 billion reasons why Arthur C.
Clarke loved Sri Lanka ;)

---
Hanuman Zhang, _Gomi no sensei_ [Master of junk]
& Gatherer of Extremely Enlightening Knowledge (or GEEK, for short ;)

    "To live is to scrounge, taking what you can in order to survive. So,
since living is scrounging, the result of our efforts is to amass a pile of
rubbish."
                            - Chuang Tzu/Zhuangzi, China, 4th Century BCE

    "The most beautiful order is a heap of sweepings piled up at random."
                            - Heraclitus, Greece, 5th Century BCE

    Ars imitatur Naturam in sua operatione.
    [Latin > "Art is the imitation of Nature in her manner of operation."]

    " jinsei to iu mono wa, kichou na geijyutsu to ieru deshou "
    [Japanese > "one can probably say that 'life' is a precious artform"]
    in more radical, paracultural terms: "the (R)Evolution of the Everyday"

"There is no total revolution, there is only _perpetual_ Revolution,
real life, like love, dazzling at every moment." - Paul Eluard

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