[lit-ideas] Re: News via the web
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 22:09:54 +0900
On 2004/04/03, at 21:39, John Wager wrote:
> To what extent does all this "beating around the bush" also come from
> the strong Buddhist tradition in Japan? There are two Buddhist ideas
> at
> work here: "Right Speech" and the whole approach of "paying attention"
> to the details of daily life.
>
> It would seem that "right speech" would be gentle, non-assertive,
> non-aggressive, meandering so that it was not posessive or persuasive,
> just suggestive. This promotes non-attachment.
>
> And the Buddhist focus on paying attention to the details of daily life
> would move the speaker in the same direction: What's happening around
> us
> now? What's going on in the family? What details are currently the
> important ones to attend to? When the speaker does get to the point,
> the evidence isn't pushed, just presented, so that the listener, IF he
> pays attention, can put the pieces together for himself.
These are very interesting remarks, pointing in another direction that
I hadn't considered. I am, however, more inclined to see the Buddhist
tradition as one elaboration of a more widely distributed pattern
typically associated with strongly hierarchical forms of social
organization. The reference to Arabic was suggested by a piece glimpsed
on the Web (and, boy, do I wish I could still remember the URL), which
sounded almost word for word like things frequently said about
Japanese.
John L. McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd.
55-13-202 Miyagaya, Nishi-ku
Yokohama, Japan 220-0006
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email mccreery@xxxxxxx
"Making Symbols is Our Business"
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