Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
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Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#2(2003)
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#3This article gave me some great laughs. It's clear that the author only studied Buddhism for four years (a very short period of time) and has some very fundamental misunderstandings of Buddhist teachings.
For example, this explanation of karma:
> Together, these tenets imply the existence of some cosmic judge who, like Santa Claus, tallies up our naughtiness and niceness before rewarding us with rebirth as a cockroach or as a saintly lama.
That is not at all how karma should be understood. If I go give out $10,000 to the homeless, I'm a damn fool if I think I'm going to get $100,000 back in the mail!
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#4The author doesn't seem to understand Buddhism, nor I but it could be important to remember that "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him", and also the concept of Upaya [1].
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#5Pretty bad takes and pretty shallow. It seems rather obvious this person is at the beginning of understanding, which is good, and the skepticism necessary, but too bad they quit already. They’re missing out.
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#6This article gave me some great laughs. It's clear that the author only studied Buddhism for four years (a very short period of time) and has some very fundamental misunderstandings of Buddhist teachings. For example, this explanation of karma: > Together, these tenets imply the existence of some cosmic judge who, like Santa Claus, tallies up our naughtiness and niceness before rewarding us with rebirth as a cockroac…
> It's clear that the author only studied Buddhism for four years (a very short period of time)
This kind of response always sounds like victim-blaming to me.
If your system of is so complicated that someone can't even hope to get the basics right in four years of study, maybe the right thing to do is, in fact, to ditch it.
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#7Pretty bad takes and pretty shallow. It seems rather obvious this person is at the beginning of understanding, which is good, and the skepticism necessary, but too bad they quit already. They’re missing out.
It would be more constructive if you could point out counter arguments.
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#8There are many flavors of buddhism. I am partial towards the Thai Forest tradition because it emphasizes practice and experience over dogma and so avoids metaphysical discussions.
> But what troubles me most about Buddhism is its implication that detachment from ordinary life is the surest route to salvation.
The response from the Thai Forest would be to engage in your life skillfully while paying attention to what causes you happiness or suffering and adjusting what you’re doing based on that. Maybe you discover a certain level of detachment is optimal, maybe you find you need to be more involved in your life. You go where the practice takes you.
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#9This article gave me some great laughs. It's clear that the author only studied Buddhism for four years (a very short period of time) and has some very fundamental misunderstandings of Buddhist teachings. For example, this explanation of karma: > Together, these tenets imply the existence of some cosmic judge who, like Santa Claus, tallies up our naughtiness and niceness before rewarding us with rebirth as a cockroac…
> It's clear that the author only studied Buddhism for four years (a very short period of time) This kind of response always sounds like victim-blaming to me. If your system of is so complicated that someone can't even hope to get the basics right in four years of study, maybe the right thing to do is, in fact, to ditch it.
Oh you mean like Computer Science? :)
Joke aside, Buddhism is a classic "ten year study" similar to certain martial arts or plastic arts. Four years is hardly any time.
Re: Buddhist Retreat: Why I gave up on finding my religion (2003)
#10There are many flavors of buddhism. I am partial towards the Thai Forest tradition because it emphasizes practice and experience over dogma and so avoids metaphysical discussions. > But what troubles me most about Buddhism is its implication that detachment from ordinary life is the surest route to salvation. The response from the Thai Forest would be to engage in your life skillfully while paying attention to what c…
How is that different from stoicism ? Asking genuinely.