davyyy "Big Dai" Gravyer Flashcards
(5 cards)
What does David Brazier compare secular Buddhism to?
He compared it to trying to fit an eagle into a canary cage ‘ bits stick out all over the place and the truth is that it simply will not go in. If you were to manage to get it in you would kill it in the process.’
Brazier criticises those who espouse secular Buddhism, stating that it accommodates rather than challenges the existing materialist view in the west by reducing Buddhism to a palatable secular philosophy by practising ‘selective blindness’ to anything that contradicts these views. Brazier finds elements such as worship and veneration to be inextricable parts of Buddhism.
Notably, Brazier states that it is common in the west to reduce Buddhism to its fruits. What he means by this is that Buddhism is often presented as a culture, demonstrated by the prevalence of Buddhist statues and art in day to day life, or a therapy, as seen in the mindfulness movement, or a secular philosophy. Brazier finds that each one misses the religion from which these positive aspects of Buddhism arise from, which in turn kills the religion as it is brought to the west. He compares this to taking a fruit while pulling out the root.
How does David Brazier describe himself? Think about how this may influence his views on Buddhism.
Brazier describes himself as a Buddhist priest and the Head of the Order of Amida Buddha, clearly indicative of him subscribing to the Pure Land school of Buddhism.
How does Brazier present the Trikaya doctrine and the establishment of the Sangha? What are some other pieces of evidence he uses to justify Buddhism being a religion?
To Brazier, the trikaya doctrine exhibits the supernatural qualities present in the Buddha. He calls the Dharmakaya the ‘unconditional love, compassion and truth of the Buddha that pervades all existence’. He compares the sambhogakaya to the body of an angel. Brazier emphasises that nirmanakayas are physical manifestations of the supernatural bodies.
Brazier also cites the establishment of the Sangha as evidence of the fact that Buddhism was a religion from the outset, along with the fact that the Buddha stressed the importance of pilgrimages and asked for his body to be distributed in a stupa after his death.
How does Brazier interpret the story of Mattakundali?
One Buddhist tale states that there was once a boy named Mattakundali, who became mortally sick due to jaundice, but his rich father would not spare the expense of a doctor. One day the Buddha, seeing his plight through his divine eye, appears to him in a vision before his death. The boy is caught in a state of bliss as he dies and is reborn in a better life.
To Brazier, the point of this story is that ‘with a mind full of faith in Buddha, one can die in peace’; he states that this view is taken as a given in the East [but is the sort of story that would be ignored or reinterpreted in the west].
Who won the World Cup in 1966?
England (please note this because it is an argument against Brazier’s conception of the trikaya doctrine- how could a supernatural Buddha allow such a tragedy to happen?)
