I'm a Buddhist, truly ruly

One of my favourite types of posts are from posters who've spent years whoring around in Thailand claiming that (a) they are Buddhists and (b) Buddhism is a superior philosophy to anything in their own culture (which they usually despise)

As an antidote to those self serving pretensions (and let's face it you can't actually be a good Buddhist and be self-serving) I point to the following useful article

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... is/403195/

[Smiles]

Thank you for the link to that Atlantic article.
I too have a always had a niggling sceptism when anyone on the board proclaimed to all that " ... I'm a Buddhist ... ". I never questioned it, what point would that make? And now I find out that Hume would not have cared anyway.

Loved this:

But hereтАЩs HumeтАЩs really great idea: Ultimately, the metaphysical foundations donтАЩt matter. Experience is enough all by itself. What do you lose when you give up God or тАЬrealityтАЭ or even тАЬIтАЭ? The moon is still just as bright; you can still predict that a falling glass will break, and you can still act to catch it; you can still feel compassion for the suffering of others. Science and work and morality remain intact. Go back to your backgammon game after your skeptical crisis, Hume wrote, and it will be exactly the same game.

And thanks for the push to read Hume again. I think I did in university centuries ago, but have forgotten. That's what happen when chasing Thai guys becomes #1.

I wonder whether any other poster watched the recent series on the BBC Treasures of the Indus by Sona Datta whose parents migrated to Britain from India and who spent eight years as an art historian at the British Museum?

She made the point in the first programme in the series that before Alexander the Great's army arrived in India, no representation of The Buddha was in human form; representing The Buddha is one of the results of that invasion and the subsequent impact of Greek art forms (which stress the human body) on Indian ones. Apparently this is well known to the cognoscenti

[francois]

As an antidote to those self serving pretensions (and let's face it you can't actually be a good Buddhist and be self-serving) I point to the following useful article

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... is/403195/

An interesting article but have no idea what she was jabbering about. Guess I ain't no cognoscenti! :-B

[Smiles]

" ... Guess I ain't no cognoscenti! :-B

Have no fear Francois . . . I think you are a member of the cognoscenti, but perhaps only on a very specific and obtuse subject: i.e. 'The Boys of Sunnee Plaza'. I'm proud of yer ...
So stick to that, eh: heaven forbid that you would wish to include the hallowed halls of The Louvre or The Prado in your cognoscenti-ism.

So stick to that, eh: heaven forbid that you would wish to include the hallowed halls of The Louvre or The Prado in your cognoscenti-ism.

From an economist's perspective this is known as competitive advantage - sometimes called "play to your strengths"

[francois]

[i]
So stick to that, eh: heaven forbid that you would wish to include the hallowed halls of The Louvre or The Prado in your cognoscenti-ism.

Prado? Is that some sort of a costly handbag or a commie newspaper? :-\

I have heard of Louvre, isn't that the location of a great pyramid, somewhere in Nevada?

[Smiles]

Prado? Is that some sort of a costly handbag or a commie newspaper? :-\ I have heard of Louvre, isn't that the location of a great pyramid?

Peasant. The Museo del Prado is in Madrid ... home to Goya and El Greco (NOT El Gecko ... he's on your wall).
I got lost in that pyramid ... tut tut. I asked a French security guy " ... does this joint have a REAL entrance-way?". He rolled his eyes, turned and walked away. Very rude.

[francois]

You must think I am an ignoramus; I know all about Goya and Greco! Goya has a great line of Mexican products such as their refried beans and Greco is a Canadian pizza chain but didn't know their headquarters was in Madrid.

[Smiles]

" ... I know all about Goya and Greco! Goya has a great line of Mexican products such as their refried bean(s) ... "

I have always been quite bewildered as to what "re-fried" beans are. I don't get it ... sounds incredibly disgusting.
For instance: let's say you pick up a gorgeous Thai ass in Sunnee (or wherever) and you have a great time humping and bumping etc etc but frankly the magic cock may well be all that, but the personality sucks big time.
Then you take off the same Thai guy the next night even though his intellectual capacity could never quite equal a very miniscule pitcher of piss (as Harry Truman once put it) but you offed him anyway. Talk about your re-fried beans.
Just FYI: The Ibex stock exchange has lately in fact attained incredible upward momentum on the backs of slave-type wages employed in the Canuck pizza business in, especially, Toledo. Thanks El Greco ... and double thanks to Canadian capitalism!