Buddhism - a paradox?

[Francis king]

I, Brian- good point to make- the idea always was, I thought, that buddha himself was not a man who believed in following tradition blindly, for the sake of it... in the brahmana sutra, he explains this nicely, and says summat along the lines of- what makes a brahman? its aint the outfits, or sticking slavishly to the rules or the noble birth which makes a person brahman... but by thought, and action, one is brahman...

a big gold star to u, painter man... this is my whole point entirely, especially here, in the forum... what the buddha might or might not have said is not the point, but to utilize the teachings so that u can gain what he did for urself, that's the point...