There are of course many varieties of Buddhism -- but common to all is the idea that actions have reactions -- as long as your actions create reactions there is repetition or reincarnation. But this is really like the Old Testament to the New Testament, an inheritance from the Hindu background in which Buddhism emerged. The aim of Buddhism - the realization of Buddha nature -- is precisely the cessation of what Kerouac called the "meat wheel". Hindu models of acruing merit through many lifetimes and thereby achieving enlightenment at the end of the process is of course a good example of a narrative.
The version of Tom Dooley I know includes a verse on what he did:
Met her on the mountain, there I took her life
Met her on the mountain, stabbed her with my knife.
I think the question comes down to whether you can accept unnaccountable discontinuities in your life without integrating them into a larger picture. The difference between a collection of short stories (say Bukowski's) and a novel.
Maybe?
Paui
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Food fight? Enjoy some healthy debate
in the Yahoo! Answers Food & Drink Q&A.
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Received on Sat May 12 09:15 PDT 2007
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