Bill!, Mike, Keep in mind -- or don't, rather!, lets things come and go -- that the Buddhist tradition was transmitted mostly orally. So, the usual aids to memorization were used by the teachers, and by the Buddha from the start. Hence the neat numbers of things. Five this, eight that, etc. Very useful for the memory, even of an illiterate person.
As writing became more and more prevalent, the "sutras" were sutured together to carry some of the same systematized material, for easy use and retention. I think at first banana leaves were used as the substrate. Now, Bill!, you may be saying that all the teaching material is unnecessary for a practitioner, and that may be mostly right, but you'd be ignoring the historical development of the tradition(s). --Joe > "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote: > > Mike, > > You're right; or at least what I meant by "mumbo-jumbo" is indeed Buddhist > dogma. Things like 'The Five Precepts' and 'The Noble Eightfold Path'. > > ...Bill! > > --- In [email protected], uerusuboyo@ wrote: > > > > Bill!,<br/><br/>I'm not sure why you always flog this horse about Buddhism > > being "Mumbo jumbo". The way of Vipassana is as clear and concise as any > > manual on making a pizza. Take a look at the Dhammapada - where's the mumbo > > jumbo in that? It's instructions and teachings are perfectly clear (putting > > them into practice is another thing). I think you confuse the rituals and > > prayers to Buddha by later followers with the actual teachings of Buddha. I > > will say, I don't like the word 'Buddhism' as it implies a series of > > beliefs. I practice Buddha Dharma, or simply the Dharma, is much more > > accurate to my mind and is all that Vipassana > > is.<br/><br/>Mike<br/><br/><br/>Sent from Yahoo! Mail for iPhone ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
