by Tang Huyen

"Such energy feeds on itself, in a virtuous circle."

Trust is not a required factor; what is required is simply the
implementation of the declarations that are made on
Buddhism on the side of those who make them.

It begins with "bonehead Buddhism" — detailed in
excruciating explicitness in countless declarations over
the years. Beautiful instructions on how to handle
provocation, gems if put to practice, but useless when
merely posted to look good and then forgotten.

Debates and disputes can serve as vehicles for thriving if
handled according to the explicit declarations that some
people have posted year after year. So long as one doesn't
get ego-involved but remains in detachment, equanimity,
playing cool and remaining above it all, debates and
disputes are excellent means for one to train oneself
further in such qualities. And they are free, as all
participation — especially in debates and disputes — is
wholly voluntary. We humans like to exercise our faculties,
and debates and disputes are as good an avenue for
exercising them as anything else. Of course one should
spend time in meditation, formal or otherwise, too, but
then one should test out the results of it in debates and
disputes to verify that they are for real. It is a trial run
before real life, to prepare for real life. Energy is
channelled to where it should enhance life in general and
not destroy it in, say, temper tantrums. And such energy
feeds on itself, in a virtuous circle.

This is where some failed wretchedly. Whatever practice
they did or did not do, they showed no Buddhist results.
Mere words on the screen got them going, almost on cue
and at will.

Colophon

Posted to talk.religion.buddhism on 3 August 2006, in the "Virtuous circle of thriving" thread, in reply to a poster reflecting on how debate functions in an adult learning model — plan, do, reflect, integrate, repeat. Author: Tang Huyen. Message-ID: <[email protected]>.

A compact methodological statement on how newsgroup debate functions as a proving ground for Buddhist cultivation. "Bonehead Buddhism" is Tang Huyen's recurring label for the pattern of eloquent proclamations without embodied practice. The virtuous circle observation is the core: equanimity in debate is not depleted by the debate but strengthened by it. Energy that might destroy in a temper tantrum is re-routed through equanimity back into the system as fuel.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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