Lal:
“…Don’t we discuss Dhamma here?”
Yes, Lal, so it is. However, those who have not heard about Dhamma at all are not excluded (the way you put it in the quote) and those are by far the majority. Here we ‘preach to the converted’, as it were..well, to put it better, to those on the way to ‘conversion’, in most cases.
Leaving PURE Dhamma aside, just the mention of other humanities on other planets, for instance (something I held as inevitable before I came across Puredhamma, as with other major Dhamma notions) and you get a straight bullet: there is no proof of that! The discovery of exoplanets in the last decade or so will in time pave the way for people to accept that..but in time, with scientific proof. People will not go into things through reason and insight…they need the assurance of ‘authority’, in this case, scientific proof.
I always say those who cannot reason for themselves must believe..most often, that which is believed by those around them. It is useless to try to dislodge them from this conditioning – and the danger is that trying to do so may prove to be worse than useless; it may be harmful, because confusion in their minds will be the result. I used to be accused of this even back in my teens when I put forward some point that goes against accepted beliefs and dogmas. After all your attempts to convey your idea,HAVING MADE IT CLEAR THAT YOUR INTENTION IS NOT TO CONVINCE ANYONE AT ALL, still, all your efforts are refuted by a straight: ‘so we have been taught.’ Even ‘Shh, do not confuse us’. Silence.
So I have learnt to keep silence. I am not sure whether I am guilty of some wrong through omission, even if to the slightest degree. But expereience has brought me to the point where I feel I should just keep silent.
y not