XPost: talk.religion.buddhism, alt.zen, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: epsteinrob@yahoo.com   
      
   Catawumpus wrote:   
      
   > Catawumpus :   
   >   
   >   
   >>>        About half-a-dozen posts here attacking   
   >>>me personally, none with any ammunition better than   
   >>>name-calling, and all dodging the topics.  You folks are firing   
   >>>blanks.   
   >   
   >   
   >      Zenworm confirms my point above in his name-calling, topic-   
   > dodging reply below.   
   >   
   > zenworm :   
   >   
   >   
   >>Catawum(puss*) seems to think that this example   
   >>of badgering and baiting is how he:   
   >>On Aug 13, 7:32 am, Catawumpus  wrote:   
   >>"handed you the last word in roughly half-a-dozen places and returned   
   >>to politely ignoring you"   
   >   
   >   
   >      Zenworm is being even more than usually stupid.  Evidently   
   > he's unable to grasp the difference between noting the   
   > half-dozen places where I gave Jigme the last word and replying   
   > when he resumed hostilities.   
   >   
   >   
   >>There is also the possibility Catawumpus wants a job offer from the PRC so   
   >   
   >   
   >      Seems unlikely the PRC would bother with Usenet, but if by   
   > any chance it does then the most logical candidates for a   
   > paycheck are Tang and Jigme.  They both preach accepting things   
   > as-is:  ideal for discouraging dissenters.  Tang adds   
   > occasional attacks on Tibetan Buddhism, and Jigme throws in the   
   > notion that anyone who complains is to blame for having   
   > non-conforming expectations, an Orwellian principle that nearly   
   > any nasty dictator could love.   
   >   
   >   
   >>* (puss   
   >>- the effluent infection commonly found festering   
   >>and leaking-"weeping" from unsanitary wounds.   
   >   
   >   
   >      More contentless name-calling.  Pitching a fit seems to be   
   > the limit of zenworm's abilities.   
   >   
   >   
   >>- a product of incessant mentational fermentation   
   >>propagated by the 'illness' of mind referred to in the   
   >>four noble truths which gives rise to suffering.   
   >   
   >   
   >      According to the Four Noble Truths, suffering reaches from   
   > birth to death -- "Birth is ill, decay is ill, sickness is   
   > ill, death is ill," etc. -- and originates in "the craving   
   > that leads to rebirth," which the Buddha suggests extinguishing.   
   > A highly negative perspective on life in this world and   
   > apparently a personal offense to many of the worldlings posting   
   > in these newsgroups.   
   >   
   > -- Catawumpus   
      
   Yes, life is filled with suffering from beginning to end, and the   
   craving that leads both to rebirth AND to various other negative effects   
   is the mediate cause of those tendencies that lead to suffering.   
   However, Buddha never suggested that there was ONLY suffering in life,   
   and while you have not stated that, it seems to be your implication that   
   only the universal presence of suffering is important in the Buddha's   
   teaching.  If that is not your view, how about discussing the other   
   aspects of the teaching?  What is your view of the rest of the Buddha's   
   teaching - that there is a way out of suffering via letting go of   
   clinging and craving and by removing the ignorance that gave rise to   
   craving in the first place?  It is my understanding that it is moha -   
   ignorance - that gives rise to craving in the first place.  If one knew   
   the truth about self and the world, one would not crave it and suffering   
   would not be caused.   
      
   Robert   
      
   = = = = = = = =   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)