@mattbutnot So I hit and missed my mark. I wanted to see how you reacted to the Huayan school, but I didn't mean to offend you with such a sophmore level gloss. Unfortunately it's the best talk I could think of off the top of my head that got across the core focus of this school--which is a hugely influential precursor to Chan, Pure Land, and Lotus Sutra buddhism--in a manageable time period. (1/3?)
@mattbutnot In my personal practice I very much believe that Buddhism is about the management of mental states through the cultivation of enlightened viewpoints with the goal of reducing suffering. I feel that the Pali-cannon and associated texts like the Visuddhimagga give a clear process for cultivating the appropriate lifestyle for achieving this. I very much agree in what translators like Stephen Batchelor are trying to achieve when he, to paraphrase, "removes the superstructure of religious practice to find the foundation" in texts. (2/3?)
@mattbutnot On the other hand that entire paragraph is dualistic. "I practice", "I belive", "I feel", "I agree". The Buddha is not my Buddha anymore than he was a Prince born from his mother's side, or Nagarjuna received the Pranjaparamita from Mucalinda. Theravada is but one of the Thirteen original schools, and today it's practitioners ignore the large chunks of the Vinaya.
It is skillful to remember that Zongmi in the 8th century was certain that China had perfected the Dharma, and to the vast majority of Buddhists in the world today what "I" practice is an anomalous curiosity. (3/3)
@mattbutnot
Post Script
Now a productive manifestation of this agnosticism is, "What is Dukkha" and "Who is
liberated from Dukkha".
There is a fundamentally different answer to that in Mahayana, that I'm uncomfortable dismissing out of hand.
And thus I wanted to see what you--who seems to have a solid foot on the path heading towards one of the 84,000 gates in close proximity to where I'm aiming--thought.
Is Buddhism a mechanism for the reduction of personal suffering in one lifetime, or humanity as a whole?