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The only Buddhist region in Europe

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Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#71

Post by string »

Quarrelsome wrote: post #52
girvo wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does choosing not to watch someone’s channel “force” people to conform to your beliefs? I don’t get it.

It doesn't sorry, I rather mean that one is forcing a personal sense of morality on one's supply chain, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. But what is bad is that one only drops what is advertised to them as being bad which makes one think it was never about the sense of morality in the first place. The implication being that every single supply chain is bad (e.g. cobalt mining in DRC) but we conveniently just don't…

I readily accept that the reality is harrowing, but I don't agree that just sharing information about some potentially immoral thing is anything like the pursuit of some state of moral purity. Is it not better that individuals try to make supposed moral decisions where possible, even if they ultimately fall short?

It seems that in order to function one must come to terms with the fact that existence is a moral balancing act and that we all do immoral things. I accept that I own many things that likely caused others suffering. I have had a fascination with the DRC for a number of years and am acutely aware of what goes on there, yet I bought a new phone last year and a laptop the year before that. I accept the hypocrisy. But I am still glad people share information about what happens there. Whilst most of us will ignore it, some person or people better than me may be able to use that information to enact some positive change. At least the conversation can occur.

It is also a harsh reality that the less abstracted the situation, the easier it is for humans to face up to their own sense of morality. For whatever reason having intimate knowledge of a person is more impactful than hearing that an item you purchased was manufactured using some material that was mined by a nameless individual thousands of miles away. Right or wrong, we attach more weight to our judgements of others when a more direct connection can be made. It seems to me unrealistic to ignore that humans operate in this way.

Ultimately the intention of my original comment was not to tell people what to do, nor to judge, nor to demonstrate virtue. I was just sharing information so others could also make an informed decision. I chose not to watch his channel based on my own personal moral compass and my own boundaries of inconvenience.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#72

Post by KingMob »

u9rptDjqLl0Pdcz wrote: post #65

Also of interest is the Mari Native Religion which is practiced in the Mari El Republic of Russia[0]. I believe this is the only example of an indigenous religion surviving with continued practice into the modern day. RT made a documentary about it[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Native_Religion [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_2kpTJvj0

Perhaps in Europe, but globally, I can think of plenty of others off the top of my head: the various religions of Native Americans/First Nations peoples, the beliefs of Aboriginal people in Australia, even Japanese Shinto probably qualifies.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#73

Post by KingMob »

yorwba wrote: post #6
DoingIsLearning wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On thing that really surprised me watching his channel is just how empty all these periphery russian republics appear to be. I understand that there is economic struggle as in many other parts of the world. But I was really surprised by the general lack of actual people against the large swaths of land.

Most of the planet is sparsely populated: http://www.luminocity3d.org/WorldPopDen/

And the population of the solar system is heavily concentrated on just one planet.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#74

Post by jefurii »

askesum wrote: post #33

What's the big deal:"a piece of Asia on the European continent", Europe and Asia are two parts of one continent, Eurasia

I'm not that knowledgeable about that part of the world, but I think the surrounding countries are mostly either Eastern Orthodox Christian or Muslim.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#75

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

KingMob wrote: post #72
u9rptDjqLl0Pdcz wrote: post #65

Also of interest is the Mari Native Religion which is practiced in the Mari El Republic of Russia[0]. I believe this is the only example of an indigenous religion surviving with continued practice into the modern day. RT made a documentary about it[1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Native_Religion [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_2kpTJvj0

Perhaps in Europe, but globally, I can think of plenty of others off the top of my head: the various religions of Native Americans/First Nations peoples, the beliefs of Aboriginal people in Australia, even Japanese Shinto probably qualifies.

Shinto is an offshoot if Buddhism.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#76

Post by Grustaf »

michael1999 wrote: post #68
Grustaf wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the point about that? Nobody is worried about "geographic Europe", people care about actual Europe, not some technical term. If someone is worried that Arab Muslims, or for that matter Arab Christians, will not assimilate into European culture and are incompatible with European values, how is it even remotely relevant that there is a tiny federal subject in what is technically European Russia where there's a…

What is "actual" Europe? Who gets to decide? Consider Russia: are they, or are they not "European"? Is the Orthodox Church European? That you think the answer is so simple, or that anyone who thinks differently is "nobody" is part of why it is so unsettled.

It's not a simple question, that's not the point.

I happen to be Orthodox, and having lived in Russia I can say that the answer varies depending on context. Most of the time Europe is the "other". European standard means high quality, "My brother works in Europe", a "European car" etc. Even when contrasting Russia with very exotic cultures most people wouldn't see Russia as part of Europe, they just say "Japan is different from Russia", not "from Europe". And I'm not sure it's a very meaningful question either.

What is clear is that there are very few cases where people would consider Kazan European. I haven't been there, but I highly doubt they feel very European, in any sense. And there are exactly 0 cases where anyone ever would find it _representative_ of "Europe", and that is what we are discussing here.

It simply doesn't make sense to say "There are Muslims in Kazan and that is technically Europe so anyone objecting to Arab Muslims in Munich is wrong". That's just a silly argument.

I've also lived in Jordan and I can tell you that Muslims there don't feel any particular connection with those in Kazan. Circassians may perhaps feel differently, I don't know.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#78

Post by snambi »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #75
KingMob wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps in Europe, but globally, I can think of plenty of others off the top of my head: the various religions of Native Americans/First Nations peoples, the beliefs of Aboriginal people in Australia, even Japanese Shinto probably qualifies.

Shinto is an offshoot if Buddhism.

not true. Shinto predates Buddhism.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#79

Post by bavent »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #75
KingMob wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps in Europe, but globally, I can think of plenty of others off the top of my head: the various religions of Native Americans/First Nations peoples, the beliefs of Aboriginal people in Australia, even Japanese Shinto probably qualifies.

Shinto is an offshoot if Buddhism.

Shinto was in Japan before Buddhism. Zen took on a little bit of Shinto when it came over as Cha’an from China. In most Zen temples, there are a few statues of Shinto deities, but neither is an offshoot of the other.

Re: The only Buddhist region in Europe

#80

Post by arethuza »

Grustaf wrote: post #44
Tabular-Iceberg wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I checked it out on a map, it looks like it's on this side of the Urals by a pretty good margin, so I don't see how it's at all a stretch.

If someone talks about “Europe” they are not referring to “anything west of the Urals”, they mean Germany, France etc, possibly Hungary, Slovakia etc or, if they are feeling generous, Ukraine and Belarus. It has never happened that two people were chatting about “European culture and values” and had the khanate of Kazan in mind.

If I use the term "Europe" I mean the usual definition of the continent of Europe which is pretty much "everything west of the Urals".

As far as I'm concerned, Moscow is in Europe.

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