Fao Khandro

[vetuste_ennemi]

http://www.samharris.org/
You'll be aware of Sam Harris, Khandro, but not necessarily his interest (active, not just theoretical) in the Eastern religious tradition. He did the meditation thing in India with Buddhist and Hindu teachers (rather more seriously, I suspect, than John, Paul, George and Ringo on their trip - oops! - to Kathmandu). You might find this interesting. He's also punting his new book on the subject.
I'd like, also, to recommend to you his book The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. I love this book for two reasons. Firstly, it is a very elegant and lucid statement of the case against faith-based religion. Secondly. many of the philosophical themes he touches on while presenting his argument are developed more fully in end notes which are interesting in themselves.
I'll quote just one of these end notes (not to wind you up, but because it so amused me when I first read it):
"I must say it is as toilsome reading as I ever undertook. A wearisome confused jumble, crude, incondite, endless iterations,longwindedness, entanglement...insupportable stupidity, in short! Nothing but a sense of duty could carry any European through the [any guesses?]".
Thomas Carlyle.

[vetuste_ennemi]

I think he should enjoy it, Birdie. I wouldn't have recommended it otherwise. He seems to read a lot of stuff which doesn't support his declared Buddhist beliefs (as far as I can claim to know them). At one time he's reading Behe and Meyer who are proponents of Intelligent Design, at another he's reading Nietzsche who was anti-Christian and Spinoza who was a deist. All very strange. I think he'd be interested in Harris' respect for the contemplative traditions of the East.
Don't hear much from you these days. Are you keeping well?
There's a health issue in Naomi's family which has kept her away from AB for a while:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Culture/Religion-and-Spirituality/Question1381576.html
So it's more bland on R&S than it used to be. "If the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?"

[Khandro]

v_e; I always find I can't help but associate pomposity with shortness of stature, would I be wrong in thinking you are quite short, and not good at dancing?

[vetuste_ennemi]

6'1" and 77kg, but you're right about the dancing.

[naomi24]

V_E, thank you. You're very kind. Khandro, I see, still prefers vinegar with his chip.

I've recommended 'The End of Faith' many times and would urge anyone who considers himself/herself to be a critical thinker to read it. As I said just a few weeks ago, those with a shorter attention span might like to try ‘Letter to a Christian Nation’ by the same author. Of course, those who prefer not to know, won’t.