From: Sehkenenra (Sehkenenra@netzero.net)
Date: Fri Jul 19 2002 - 11:48:39 MDT
>Like Anders I find the 'retreat' and 'suffering' aspects of Buddhism a bit
>less than useful. Yes it's nice to hide in a cosy contemplative world. If
>you recognise that all is suffering then you can manufacture 'feel good' in
>some relative sense.
>
>Unfortunately such folks would last as long as the next extinction event.
>You can be very sane and very happy and very doomed. Sorry - the last
option
>is not for this camper. The export of the 'calm' concept within active role
>in the world seems a little more productive and participatory.
In Buddhism, there are two sorts of awakened being (well, three if you count
the Siddha, but those guys are in a class by themselves)- the Bodhisattva
and the Arahat. The Arahat withdraws from the world and retreats into
Nirvana- precisely the kind of retreat you are talking about, and exactly
why I left the monastery. The Bodhisattva is what you are talking about-
someone who "exports the 'calm' concept within an active role in the world".
Mahayana (the "great vehicle" of Buddhism, which includes most strands of
Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Ch'an and Zen) sees the Bodhisattva as the
higher aspirant than the Arahat.
(I think I've got this right anyway... it's been awhile since I studied
Buddhism)
-Nicq MacDonald
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:15:34 MST