Frits Staal on meaning of ritual

[George Thompson]

A little footnote to my earlier references:

I have always admired the concluding article in the collection of essays:
*Mantra* edited by  H. Alper [SUNY Press 1989].

Andre' Padoux: "Mantras -- What Are They?"  This article, which surveys the
results of the entire volume, gives an interesting response to Staal's
contribution, which I think was the central article of the whole thing.

And Padoux's response was the most thoughtful.

GT