XPost: talk.religion.buddhism, alt.zen, alt.philosophy.zen   
   XPost: alt.buddha.short.fat.guy   
   From: Julianlzb87@gmail.com   
      
   On 13/08/2010 15:00, DT wrote:   
   > 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.   
   >   
   > And then every chapter repeats itself all-singing, all dancing?   
   >   
   > This is sounding more and more like I'll go read something else...   
      
   Then JD will have won a little battle in his war against the Buddha.   
   However, he will lose the war. :)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)