"Ernest Schaal" <eschaal@max.hi-ho.ne.jp> wrote in message 
news:C0AABC14.25B3B%eschaal@max.hi-ho.ne.jp...
> in article HOWgg.3827$x53.2349@newsfe1-win.ntli.net, jw 1111 at
> blue.star77@REMOOVEvirgin.net wrote on 6/5/06 11:01 PM:
>
>>
>> "John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" <john@rarebooksinjapan.com> wrote in message
>> news:4eip17F1egkegU1@individual.net...
>>> jw 1111 wrote:
>>>
>>>> over the years i have met some pretty weird people who settle in japan.
>>>> for the most part they try to be intelligent, but the strange thing is
>>>> that they are generally completely ignorant about buddhism and the ways
>>>> of thought that underpins this very first step in understanding the
>>>> japanese.  poor fellows... their personalities very often become 
>>>> damaged
>>>> over the years, by the kind of attention they get from being geijins.
>>>> sigh
>>>
>>> Curious. Are you saying that, unlike these "geijins" you sigh about, you
>>> yourself have in fact developed an understanding of Buddhism and the 
>>> ways
>>> of thought that underpin an understanding of the Japanese?
>>>
>>> Since you seem to be having little success in getting any useful
>>> information from people in this newsgroup, perhaps you wouldn't mind
>>> reposting your query in a Japanese-language forum? Because you evince 
>>> very
>>> little understanding of Buddhism and the ways of thought that might
>>> engender a more fruitful response in this forum, and I would be 
>>> intrigued
>>> to see how you perform in the milieu you seem to feel you are expert in.
>>> John
>>> http://rarebooksinjapan.com
>>
>> Sorry to say it,  but you sound like one of the persons that i was making
>> reference to.
>
> jw 1111,
>
> I find it interesting that someone who seems to have so much limited
> information about Japan, especially life in Japan, should be making the
> comments that you have done, especially the one about gaijin being
> completely ignorant of Buddhism.
>
> You ask a USENET group for advice, get good advice based upon your 
> original
> question, and then you complain because the response weren't polite enough
> to suit your case. As the group responds to your rudeness in kind, you
> increase your rudeness by a string of insults and pontifications, 
> climaxing
> in a general criticism of gaijin knowledge of Buddhism. It shows how 
> little
> you know personally about Buddhism or how little that knowledge has 
> affected
> your life.
>
> I am not Buddhist, but being interested with Japanese history and culture
> since living here in the 1960s, visiting it periodically, and presently
> living in Japan for the past few years, I have picked up at least one 
> thing
> about Buddhism is that it is about not being attached certain things to 
> the
> present world (admitted oversimplification).
>
> You seem to be still very attached to your Pride and Self-Importance. You
> may have read about Buddhism, you may even have received instruction in
> Buddhism, but it really seems to not have affected your life. In a way, 
> you
> are like the character Kaname in "Some Prefer Nettles," who studies ballet
> only from books, avoiding seeing an actual performance of ballet. You may
> have studied Buddhism, but if so you avoid letting it influence your life.
>
> FJ.LIFE.IN-JAPAN is a diverse USENET group, with expatriates living in
> Japan, people who lived here before but moved on, people who want to live 
> in
> or visit Japan, an occasional Japanese native, and even the trolls who 
> hate
> Japan. It is not a particularly rude USENET group (there are many that are 
> a
> whole lot worse), but the newsgroup paradigm is not particularly suited 
> for
> civility, and a certain tolerance of rudeness in others is needed. The
> principles of Buddhism would do you well here.
>
> Being such a diverse group, FJ.LIFE.IN-JAPAN members tend not to be that
> user-friendly. Having been here for quite a while, I have discovered that
> this is a place where I can discuss where to get a good beer, but not the
> films of Akira Kurosawa or the novels of Junichiro Tanizaki, so I don't
> bother trying. It can be a place to answer serious questions about being 
> in
> Japan, either as a resident or as a tourist, and those questions will be
> answered, but like every newsgroup there is wheat and there is shaft. A 
> wise
> person expects both. Don't let your Pride get in the way.
>
> As for your statement that about Buddhism underpinning the very first step
> in understanding the Japanese. That is true, but not. The same can be said
> of the Confucian and Shinto underpinnings of an understanding the 
> Japanese.
> Assuming that Buddhism is the sole underpinning of Japanese culture would 
> be
> wrong, any more than it would be right to assume that most of the Japanese
> being married in a Christian ceremony are Christians. Don't overestimate
> Buddhism's importance, or your own importance.
>
> Humility goes a long way on the Internet.

agreed i'm all for humility, but not amongst some of the poor quality in 
this group.  all i asked for was a simple question about dial up internet 
that only one person kindly answered the actual question.

the rest was mainly a lot of total b%llocks about how silly to ask for such 
a thing as dial up...yada yada yada.

read through the replies carefully and see how 'self important' and 
'assuming' some of these guys are.   i rest my case.  apart from your 
assumption that i know nothing about japan.  but then assumptions are 
rampant in this group, as you can see for yourself with the type of 
responses here to a simple straight forward question.  zen meditation 
anyone?  try not to be so 'wordy' please.