Hinduism: once was: RAJARAM EPISODE

[nanda chandran]

Valerie writes :

>Then you have a curious way of showing it, my friend.

Yup, I admit that. I often get carried away by the heat of the argument and
fail to control my tone. But my sincerest assurance that I didn't mean to
offend. If I came across otherwise - my apologies.

But also think about this - what makes you think that "Hindus" as you term
them, do not get offended when you try to group them as an entity apart from
Buddhists? As you all know, the Hindu tradition views the Buddha as an
avatAram of Lord NArAyana. I understand that traditionally historians and
scholars try to find a reason for everything - the relationship between
Buddhism and Hinduism or why Buddha was made an avatAram of Lord NArAyana or
why Buddhism disappeared from India etc. But what makes you so sure that
your reasons are wholly true? OK, it is true that there's a lot of
literature on the subject which gives one a general idea of the subject. But
how sure are you that the literature truly reflects the ground reality? How
sure are you of your own interpretation of the texts? How aware are you of
the emotional link between Hindus and Buddhism? What makes you take it for
granted
that Hindus would not mind if you identify them as a group with little
relation to Buddhism - a movement which came out of their own fold and was
developed and sustained by them?

Dominik writes :

>This list was designed not as a debating group, but as a university-level
>forum for the discussion of indological topics.  The point is to advance
>knowledge, not score points, or try to make an "opponent" crumple.

But even as M Witzel pointed out recently, isn't the process a dialectical
one? So where exactly do we draw the line between discussion and debate? Is
it just my agressive tone that makes it a debate - if so, I'll moderate it.
But let me assure you that I've no intention at either scoring points or
making opponents "crumple". I believe in certain things and if something
contradictory is presented, I question it - if the assertions are backed
with irrefutable evidence I'll be more than eager to accept and learn.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.