From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Sat Jul 20 2002 - 08:17:44 MDT
Just like any other religion, there are many schools and sects of
buddhism - some just as absurd as the sects and schools of Christianity.
For example, many Japanese buddhist monasteries were quite militant both
politically and militarily ("Kill the enemies of Buddha and give your
monastery their gold and land!"). Another interesting offshoot was part
of the Jodo Sect (The Pure Land, still active today) which claimed
salvation could be achieved *only* by believing in the Buddha Amida;
extremists claimed the it was a gift or mercy, and that actions didn't
count as much as reciting certain mantras perfectly or collecting buddha
figurines. And today there is even fundamentalist Theravada Buddhism in
parts of south-east Asia.
My point is that the discussion we are having right now deals with a
very abstract and refined Buddhism, quite far removed from how the
majority of buddhists actually go about their religion. We are picking
out the spiritual and cognitive raisins from the cake (which I think is
a good idea) but we should be aware of the difference between what we
are discussing and the real practices of many people.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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