XPost: talk.religion.buddhism, alt.zen, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: epsteinrob@yahoo.com   
      
   Julian wrote:   
      
   > On 13/08/2010 09:18, Allen Barker wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 08/12/2010 08:26 PM, Jigme Dorje wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> On Aug 12, 1:18 pm, Julian wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 12/08/2010 17:42, DT wrote:   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> Well, here's a question for you, or Jigme, or whoever.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> If somebody were to ask me for a brief synopsis of the New   
   >>>>> Testament, or   
   >>>>> of Jesus' teachings, I'd tell 'em to read Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on   
   >>>>> the   
   >>>>> Mount.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> Is there a comparable portion of the Lotus Sutra that might hit all   
   >>>>> the   
   >>>>> high points,   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> No (imo)   
   >>>>   
   >>>>> or do I need to just start at the beginning and go through   
   >>>>> all 28 chapters?   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> You might as well, but you can skip nearly half of each chapter   
   >>>> since often the prose is repeated as verse.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> ps.   
   >>>> Nichiren followed the T'ien-t'ai line in emphasising   
   >>>> ch. 2 Expedient Means   
   >>>> and, particularly, the "jewel"   
   >>>> ch.16 The Life Span of the Tathāgata   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>> Expedient means? That's ALL it's about.   
   >>>   
   >>> I'll save you the trouble of reading it. Here's the Cliff Notes   
   >>> version, which I call "Lotus in a Nutshell":   
   >>>   
   >>> The Buddha admits that everything he's told us up to now has been just   
   >>> a pack of lies. Now he's decided to come clean.   
   >>>   
   >>> But first, he makes a bunch of excuses for all those lies. It seems he   
   >>> did it for our own good because we were too childish to understand for   
   >>> real, and he just wanted to save our sorry asses.   
   >>>   
   >>> So the real truth is: I wasn't really a man who became enlightened.   
   >>>   
   >>> I was an immortal god all along, deserving of your worship. I'm only   
   >>> telling you this now because you're so much better than all those   
   >>> other uncomprehending dolts.   
   >>>   
   >>> A beautiful story with a special appeal to triumphalist egotists.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> Wow, I wasn't expecting that "analysis" from Jigme...   
   >   
   >   
   > There must be an awful lot of "triumphalist egotists" in Asia.   
      
   Just as there are a fair number evident in the Western world.   
      
   Robert   
      
   = = = = = =   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)