Wednesday, February 12, 2003

[Colin Glassey] Another W.W.II Soldier Dies of Old Age This is one a number of obits which I have enjoyed reading in the London Times over the years. This obit is for a tank commander who escaped on several occasions from the Germans. Hail Major Fane-Hervey. Its men like Major Fane-Hervey who won the war for all of us. 6:14:45 PM     [Colin Glassey] Why Buddhism Doesn't Work for John Horgan Good article in Slate by Horgan on why Buddhism doesn't work for him. Here is a paragraph: For many, a chief selling point of Buddhism is its supposed de-emphasis of supernatural notions such as immortal souls and God. Buddhism "rejects the theological impulse," the philosopher Owen Flanagan declares approvingly in The Problem of the Soul. Actually, Buddhism is functionally theistic, even if it avoids the "G" word. Like its parent religion Hinduism, Buddhism espouses reincarnation, which holds that after death our souls are re-instantiated in new bodies, and karma, the law of moral cause and effect. Together, these tenets imply the existence of some cosmic judge who, like Santa Claus, tallies up our naughtiness and niceness before rewarding us with rebirth as a cockroach or as a saintly lama. My take on Buddhism is as follows: Buddhism relies on a fundemental belief that the world we live in is essentially bad (life is pain). I reject that assumption. I admit that 2500 years ago when the Buddha lived he might well have been correct but things have changed. Life for an American circa 2000 C.E. is pretty nice. My children aren't likely to die before I do. I have access to the world's greatest artists, both visual and musical at the tip of my fingers. I have access to vast amounts of knowledge and the thoughts of the wisest people alive today. I'm part of the greatest, most just, most peaceful civilization the Earth has ever known. Compared to the life of even a prince from 500 B.C.E. my life is vastly better. Buddhism further relies on the idea that people don't die permenantly in a real sense but are reincarnated, over and over again, unless they find the Buddha's way out. I reject this assumption also. I see no evidence for this belief. It may well be true but no one can prove it. Its not a belief I would want to rest my religion on. As far as I'm concerned, when I die, the future of my consciousness is totally unknown. Reincarnation is no more likely than nothingness. Bottom line: I'm not concerned with escaping this life, nor am I worried about the prospect that I might be reincarnated. I admire a great deal about Buddhism, but I'm not Buddhist. 5:57:46 PM

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