Missing the Point of the Many Masks [was: dvija varNa]

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

"Ven. Tantra" <troyoga at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

>would we dare to attempt to dismiss the feasibility
>that "The Buddha" - whomever that may or may have not
>been - actually ever existed. Yet, at this point we
>really do need to "keep it real" and sincerely ask
>ourselves what true historical evidence there is in
>support of an "existence" - not "_alleged_ existence."

The same arguments could be extended to any supposedly
historical figure from India, couldn't they? Paucity of
concrete evidence is the rule rather than the exception.

I would offer just one note of caution. Perhaps one needs
to inject a more critical attitude towards what is usually
assumed about "the Buddha", but this need not result in an
outright skepticism or even denial of the notion that a
personality called Siddhartha/Gotama lived ca. 5th century
BCE. One can be very comfortable with the notion that he
was only one among many "buddhas", as I presume you are.
I see your comments more as a criticism of how much most
academicians are willing to believe in this regard, for
whatever reason. Do you think that the majority of them
have forsaken scholarly skepticism in favor of an extreme
degree of credulity? Is the suspension of disbelief a tad
too willing? :^) Clarifications welcome.

Vidyasankar

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