Edgar,
My stock is in Wall Street (doing OK, lately, for some reason). ;-)
Some people are not so advanced, Edgar, and they like numbers to hold on to.
Or, LIKED them, while Buddhism was still an Oral tradition: numbers are a
STRONG aid to Memorization (of the teachings). Nobody had books.
Important tools for the spread of Buddhism, NUMBERS have been.
And, yes, Buddhism is absolutely replete with them. E.g.,
The Three Buddhist Hells of Perpetual-Dentistry: Drilling; Extraction; and
Root-Canal.
In the One world (there's a NUMBER again), "the various manifestations of the
world of forms" (your phrase), can all be numbered, classified, and put into a
thumb-Index. And, damned if it hasn't been done! And it's daily being added
to. No holding back of progress/process, I guess. ;-)
I maintain that the Ten Directions are helpful to navigators of any vessel,
though, Hinayana or Mahayana.
And, because I know the Four Great Vows as the FOUR great vows, I don't have to
pause and ponder or wonder, "HOW many are there!?"
We don't need to put stock in numbers; numbers are stocked in us. Granted,
sometimes we unload, and that's very, very good.
--Joe
> Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote:
>
> I don't put much stock in all the various numbers quoted in Buddhist
> writings. All the various demons, Buddhas, ways etc. In my experience there
> is only a single reality and all the numbers come and go with the various
> manifestations of the world of forms...
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