Thank you and OK!

[serai]

.

Driven to despair by his fruitless attempts to understand the universe, the sage Devadasa finally announced in desperation, "All statements that contain the word 'God' are false."

Instantly, his least favorite disciple, Somasiri, replied, "The sentence I am now speaking contains the word 'God'. I fail to see, oh noble master, how that simple statement can be false."

Devadasa considered the matter for several poyas. Then he answered, this time with apparent satisfaction. "Only statements that do not contain the word 'God' can be true."

After a pause barely sufficient for a starving mongoose to swallow a millet seed, Somasiri replied, "If this statement applies to itself, oh venerable one, it cannot be true, because it contains the word 'God'. But if it is not true - "

At this point, Devadasa broke his begging bowl upon Somasiri's head, and should therefore be honored as the true founder of Zen.

- From a fragment of the the Kulavampsa, as yet undiscovered


-- The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C. Clarke

Comments

[shoesparks.livejournal.com]

and he really should be honored as the true founder of Zen.

The Fountains of Paradise...
It's been forever since I read that book...
I love Arthur C. Clarke
hmmm...maybe I will dig it out again...

[blackbird-song.livejournal.com]

When I have my eyes back, I must read that book!

Catherine

[slipperieslope.livejournal.com]

*pauses for several poyas*

Yepyepyep, there's a whole heap of broken beggar bowls out there.

[serai1.livejournal.com]

Don't be misled by the quote. Clarke wrote "hard" science fiction stories, and this book is definitely that. It's the story of how a bridge was built from the surface of the Earth out to a space station. The book is much more about the building of that bridge than about spiritual matters. But the distant history of the location is entwined with the history of a religious order, and that, together with the fact that Clarke lived in Sri Lanka and thus knew the culture well, prompted him to include this quote as part of the historical chapters in the book.