Andre, Just my imperfect opinion. You, of course may have a different perspective. Marsha
On Sep 29, 2010, at 3:12 AM, Andre Broersen wrote: > Marsha to dmb: > Maybe you should write to the various Buddhist communities to convince them > to refrain from stating that 'relative truth' is the conventional way we > perceive reality. Until then I'm not much interested in what you think on > cognitive relativism. > > Andre: > You are passing the buck Marsha...as usual. > 'Given that all things emerge from a kind of cosmic continuity, Buddhism is > well known for its emphasis on non-dualism. Instead of viewing the world in > terms of "good" versus "evil," "liberal" versus "conservative," "us" versus > "them," Buddhism recognizes that the orientations and views humans take stem > from particular perspectives that each yield their own conclusions > (/perspective relativism/). Though this is a kind of relativism, Buddhist > morality avoids moral relativism by acknowledging the Universal reality of > interconnection and interdependence. A Buddhist cannot act in any way he or > she pleases, in a selfish manner, because hurting others does not acknowledge > this basic reality of interconnection and interdependence. The > acknowledgment of /perspective relativism/ is useful for its practical > applications in everyday life, and to avoid the pitfalls of extremism that > arise when one forgets he or she can only view the world from his or her > unique but limited perspect ive. The Buddhist Path, a "Middle Path," rejects extremism. > When considering how to obtain reliable information from the world of which > we are part and parcel, Buddhism embraces three primary epistemological (/how > one comes to know/) methods: > 1) testimony of an authority; > 2) account of an authoritative text; and > 3) personal experience (/experiential verification/) > > All of these components must be considered, and no single source of knowledge > is sufficient to generate an informed understanding of the world. However, > method (3), experiential verification, plays a particularly prominent role in > Buddhism. This is often demonstrated in the Buddha's famous admonition, "Be > a light unto your selves." (Jim Eubanks, Buddhist Principles) > > Your stance on relative truth, relative cognitive truth or relativism in > general is very disingenuous Marsha. It shows that you do not even know the > basics of the Buddha's teachings nor of (your favorite) Nagarjuna. > > How can the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path be regarded as positing > a relativist perspective in both thought and action? I would suggest rather > that they posit its opposite. > > Maybe YOU should write to the Buddhist communities! ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
