Is The West Ruining Buddhism?
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Buddhism is increasingly popular in the West but are we burying its moral foundations in favor of a more individualistic and mass-marketed version of spirituality?
Further Reading
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Why I Am Not a Buddhist
a.co/d/fMIMvZT
Why Buddhism Is True
a.co/d/jjB6EqS
Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion
a.co/d/dTuZwas
As a Buddhist I don't recommend these types of videos. Buddhism is indeed a religion . If it was a pure philosophy it wont last very long. It needs traditions and customs to survive within whatever the community. And Zen Buddhism is not the oldest version and zen masters have their own interpritation. Even if you dont believe anything you cannot escape four noble truths.
I would disagree with your statement about it not surviving as just a philosophy. In fact, many schools of philosophy still survive and thrive to this day. Yes, Buddhism is a religion, but also it is a philosophy. One can be both. They are not mutually exclusive.
Zen Buddhism is actually a recent addition to the Buddhist saga.
I am from Cambodia which is a buddhist country, If you wish to find out what the Lord Buddha taught, please follow Theravada Buddhism and study Abhi Dhamma and Tripitaka and you will find the TRUTH !
How do you know that everything in the Theravada suttas came straight out of the Buddha’s mouth? Buddha never wrote down any of his teachings, they were written down many, MANY years after his parinibbana. Even then, the suttas have to stand to the scrutiny of questions. Otherwise, you sound no different from a religious fanatic who claims that only his religion is true…
@@chrisjackson8151How? He/she probably practiced what Suttas taught. Then one realize and experience the truth, genuine quality of suttas. Then he/she might say: Suttas are authentic.
I started studying Buddhism in the late '90s, and it didn't take long for me to see a chasm between how white suburban Westerners practiced Buddhism and how people from an Eastern background did. At the Japanese American temples I attended, I saw people earnestly engaging with Buddhism within an overtly religious context, immersing themselves in ancient traditions that were an inherent part of their practice. Westerners, in contrast, appeared to want to distill Buddhism down to a meditation and mindfulness practice, with a kind of unspoken arrogance about how they'd jettisoned all those ridiculous Eastern cultural superstitions surrounding Buddhism. The Japanese temples worshiped as one, where at the Western meditaiton centers, most of the talk seemed to center on me me me -- how Buddhist mindfulness was making *me* a better person. It's like they took Buddhism and turned it into a consumer product, much as has happened with yoga, that makes you happier and healthier and whitens your teeth. Total egoism. They couldn't have turned Buddhism on their head any more if they'd tried.
That's why all the "Buddhism isn't a religion" talk always drives me nuts. Yes, it's always been a religion. It has scriptures and monks and priests and devotions and rituals and prayer beads and belief in karma and rebirth. If you don't want a religion, Stoicism has quite a few parallels to Buddhist practice. But I guess then you don't get the exotic sheen you do from identifying with an Eastern practice, nor do you get to tell everyone how much better you are than those backwards Christians and their silly Iron Age superstitions.
I agree with you, but stoicism has also been hijacked and turned into a product to be sold as self improvement/how to get richer
The stoics were religious and believed in divine providence. That has just been ignored and glossed over.
Don't kid yourself. Traditional Buddhism is just as prone to backwardness, arrogance and suspicion as modern, Western Buddhism. In fact, Buddhism's encounter with the West has revealed a lot of its blind spots - like how Eastern teachers have been caught in scandals because they have no training in how to handle sex, money, power or drugs.
Also, Westerners are smart, and we challenge things. If Buddhism is so awesome, where are all the enlightened people? Why is enlightenment still the purview of a handful of people? Why is the success rate something like 1 or 2% of serious practitioners, in terms of attaining classic enlightenment experiences? (I'm not kidding - it really is that bad.)
And traditional Buddhism is now encountering neuroscience and artificial intelligence, which is challenging it further. It has no choice but to respond to these forces. If it tries to ignore them, it will be swept aside. Adapt or die. Buddhism preaches impermanence, but seems unable to come to terms with _its own_ impermanence. Interesting.
Buddhism itself is a copy of 99% Hinduism.
Part of it is the school of Buddhism. Most American Japanese Buddhist temples are of the Jodo Shinshu school, which is (at least superficially) a very different path to enlightenment than the Zen schools. Jodo Shinshu is a Pure Land school which teaches that in this Latter Day of the Dharma, human beings cannot be self-enlightened, we cannot rise above our normal-person nature (bombu) except by the action of Amida Buddha, the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life. If we chant or speak the nembutsu ("Namo Amida Butsu"), we will, upon death, be reborn in Amida Buddha's Pure Land where we can readily attain enlightenment. The objective in this life becomes shinjin, a full and settled faith in Amida Buddha's immense compassion combined with a recognition that we remain a normal flawed person (bombu) and not some enlightened being in this life. Namo Amida Butsu!
@@michigandersea3485 "human beings cannot be self-enlightened..." Buddha claimed to have been self-enlightened (not learnt his revelation from another teacher), and he said that others can in future attain enlightenment even if they haven't heard of his teaching (if they put the right effort)...
Buddha teaching is not only for Buddhist practitioners, but all people are from different religious beliefs. 😍😍😍
But it requires driving away violence, including towards animals. That is not compatible with Abrahamic faiths, that command enslaving non-believers (Old Testament), command slaves to be good slaves (New Testament), or killing them if they do not convert or pay extortion (Quran). The problem is people see their kindly parents dancing to a catchy Jesus tune, and think their religion has always been like that.
absolutely spot on. attachment to things is everyone's bane. i lost everything i owned 4 times in my life, mostly in my youth living in and out of homeless shelters. although traumatic, nobody told me how to think about the situation. and as i got older, the lesson was that things dont matter. everything eventually becomes quickly obsolete, or breaks, and gets replaced. these things have little importance. funny thing is, i have very little memory of anything i lost. because, guess what, things get better. Everything Zen.
Thanks sir
The reason Buddhism has been twisted in the West is directly because of Tibetan Buddhism, which is about Tibet and mixed with their culture. The majority of people in the world believe the form of Buddhism the Dalai Lama represents is the actual teachings of the Buddha, but they are not. For example the Tibetan Buddhism which is Mahayana, doesn't stress the first Noble Truth of Suffering. Without truly understanding Dukkha or suffering, there IS no Buddhism to practice. Theravada is the best way to practice - as it was taught from the Pali Canon, this is the Teachings of the Elders, it is practiced as the Buddha lived, in the forest, begging for food, isolation and dependence on others for food and nothing like the Tibetan way. If one investigates both schools one will see very clearly and alarmingly that what is represented by the Dalai Lama is quite far from what the Buddha actually is and why the West has used this school so easily. Unlike Theravada, no one, no culture can change the true teachings because the Buddha did not teach us 'ways to get more', Buddhism is about letting. 5 minutes listening to an 'Ajahn or Ayya' on UA-cam will show you that Theravada is the genuine teachings . Metta.
also I'd like to say that "secular" buddhism is just a Eurocentric modern secular view of Buddhism, if you study Buddhism as a whole it has very little in common with modern ideals such as atheism and secularism
When I started becoming interested in Buddhism as an older teen, I decided to learn anything and everything I could about it. I found a fascinating religion, but also one that could be just as divided, confusing and repressed as Christianity. I'm almost 30, and I have given up on organized spirituality, but I still LOVE the imagery and mysticism of scriptures - especially Buddhist ones!
yet it must change or die.
@@mcgee227 no
@Boi you're spot on there is no religion with hierarchical structures that are without problems. There are forms of Buddhism that promote sexism and supremacy in it's temples just as there are Christian sects. That doesn't mean that there isn't useful tools in each that can be divorced from the dogma
@@RenegadeContext the Buddha said many things that westoids today would consider "sexist" however that just shows how backwards today's view of human relations are
i practice traditional tibetan buddhist, but am a western raised person. i appreciate the history and traditional structure of the monastic community and the maintenance of the teachings through the buddha, dharma and sangha. it has flaws, but it is a much more structured way to look at deeper questions and to develop your inter relationship as a beneficial being living in the world of sentient beings. the teachings are developed to help you first heal and stabilize your character before you take a deep dive off into some pretty unsettling truths.
i like my tibetan lineage, even though rationally much of it makes no sense to my western mind, but precisely for that reason, because it is such a very very intact and distinct world quite apart from western culture, for me its a real trip to experience a different and ancient worldview, and to see my own culture through a different set of lenses.
following a particular lineage is useful, when you find one you like stick with it. why? because they all say the same thing, in a million different ways, one is best designed for your style of learning. to pick this and that or constantly be looking for new teachers or new thoughts, you are chasing scholarly objects of attachment. this is contrary to the true goal, if you want to be be a scholar, great, but if you want to be a practitioner, your aim is simpler but more valid.
often times i hear arrogance in the statements of ‘buddhist’ practitioners, but i think this is pretty common to every human, regardless whether they follow the science or jesus, to express and hold their worldview as superior. just because buddhists are working to resolve ego dominance, doesn’t mean very many have mastered it. very few indeed.
personally i think the need for everyone to develop their own unique practice is good, but way too many westerners think they have the right to become youtube gurus, these are the buddhas that need metaphorical slaying on the road. to hack off bits and pieces of buddhist philosophy without significant understanding and promote it as your wisdom.. is pretty tacky.
traditional tibetan buddhist monks are teachers who study for decades before teaching. and it is central to practice to acknowledge their teachers and the lineage of teachers who have helped to create this enduring knowledge and the system that preserves it. not all buddhist monks are good teachers, in fact many great books have been written through many centuries about how and who to choose a teacher and how to behave as a student.
i think eastern buddhist teachers when they started to arrive in the 60s and 70s, in some ways gave too much to the western world too soon, and the western world glommed onto enlightenment rather than the discipline of the eightfold path or the wisdom of the paramitas, which is where the journey actually begins.
thats my two cents, may all beings find benefit.
@@yttrxstein4192 we get it you read about the bardo 🤣 what will you say after he describes it to you ? drop your own opinion about what you believe ?
@@yttrxstein4192 as i understand it, in the bardo of becoming, they will be like dreams, its up to your abilities what you choose to wake into.
very well said and explained!
I have been subscribed in a Spanish Tibetan You Tube Channel call "Samye Dzong" and best way to benefit from it is by making one invisible. Community behavior is like a bunch of fanatics whose only voices allowed to be hear are the Spanish Lama and monastics. Anybody else is almost straight away shut up. Members are only allowed to give thanks, saying lovely things to the lama and to make questions after any talk given by the Lama.
Am tibetan Buddhist in western n properly new.and here some people tried to convert in Christian and Muslim.but surprise is they dont no basic of human nature n own believe..
"Is the west ruini-" YES, YES IT IS.
Chinese Buddhist commentary in 500s AD: "Is China Ruining Buddhism?"
Japanese Buddhist commentary in 1200s AD: "Is Japan Ruining Buddhism?"
I’m not sure about the world but Buddhism has helped Tibet and Tibetans a lot. we lost our country, got separated from our family members and the struggles in foreign land. We only had teachings from Buddha that kept us going in middle way ( madhyamika - 1 essential teachings from Nagarjuna). Even the post war traumas were negligible in Tibetans because Buddhism itself acts as Psycho-therapists.
how exactly did you loose your country lol
@@scorpiom8053china
Speaking as a (non-secular) Buddhist, I'd first like to thank you for your insightful comments and questions. As part of an answer I can offer two points. 1) Beware of whom the Buddha is speaking to! Some of his advice is only meant for highly trained monastics. Some only for lay people. 2) Wrong views certainly exist and the Buddha could be very sharp about this subject at times. We are ultimately meant to give up all (discursive) views with the emphasis on ultimately. As regards your last comment, it is foundational to e early and later Buddhism that the Dhamma does not change. The way we speak about it, sure... I hope this helps.
The Buddha states very clearly there are practices only for Monastics, in the Pali Canon. Unless you are referring to Tibetan Buddhism whose teachings are very far from the actual teachings.
The question itself implies that Buddhism is a vulnerable thing, which is humorous since Buddhist concepts extend back 2500-plus years, and have spread over most continents. Buddhism has endured many forms of government, many wars, many revolutions (including the digital). Yes, each culture and time has twisted it into unproductive shapes (monks in WWII only one example), but the core principles of Buddhism endure. Humans will commercialize anything (Catholic once paid for forgiveness), and slices of Buddhist practice are being commercialized. Religious practices are human tools to help humans get through their days.
Im a buddhist.
Mindfullness does not belong to buddhism or any other spiritual system. Its just a faculty of the mind that one can cultivate. As the dalai lama said. As long as.you dont confuse it with buddhism is ok.
But it is a tradition taken from Buddhism. I remember Jon Kabat-Zinn teaching that it came from Buddhist meditation practices. I know that there is much more to Buddhism than this one spiritual skill.
@@Cuinn837 It is sad to see that much of philosophical thinking in the Western world is borrowed from Buddhism and other Indian traditions without due accreditation. Even the New Testament is a verbatim reproduction of the Mahayana Buddhist Sutra ' 'Saddhamma Pundarika' (also known as the Lotus Sutra). Now the most popular Buddhist Sutra in China, Japan and the Far East. Colonialism helped the West to become economically prosperous.Now again the people in Western countries are relying on Buddhism and Eastern thought to improve their mental life angled towards earning more money. Teaching Meditation is a big business in Western countries unlike in the East. The Buddhist doctrine of ' Sila, Samadhi, Panna' is still valid. Unless you develop your ' Sila' ( Ethical conduct) there is no hope in hell of developing mindfulness (Samadhi).and in turn your Wisdom (Panna or Pragna).
@@Cuinn837 mindfullness is not a tradition. Its a faculty of the mind.
It like saying that modern gym is bad because it doesnt credit greek bodybuilders or something like that 🤣🤣🤣
@@DTTaTa Maybe so, but it's what I was taught about mindfulness.
@@Cuinn837 Yes, I didn't go into it in more depth in the video but my understanding is also that Jon Kabat-Zinn was one of the main pioneers of mindfulness, especially as a therapeutic tool and he was very open about the fact that it came from Buddhism. It's also true that it is increasingly becoming a very much separate thing in the way that it is taught and promoted here in the West. Whether you think that's a good or bad thing is up for debate but I don't think people should hide its origins. I believe there are also similar practices in Hinduism, Daosim, Stoicism, etc. but I think it's fair to say that Buddhism gave rise to the surge of popularity in Western Culture.
In more 'ancient' Buddhism faithful to the Buddha's intent preserved in the Pali canon, mindfulness is basically the tool to accomplish the mental training of deep recollectedness called Samādhi from which penetrating wisdom into the true fabric of reality (phenomena of mind and matter) called vipassanā can be attained. It is through such clear seeing that lies the key to liberation.
"The Buddha is not saying 'Make your own truth' but 'Make the Truth your own'"--Steven Collins, scholar of Buddhism
Of all religion I consider buddhism to be more complex. I think to understand buddhism it depends on person more than buddhism itself. Angulimala was ferrocious murderer but when he come across budda he became monk and learned dhamma. There are many history who were former of other clans but then learned dhamma and spread dhamma all over world
We are fortunate to live in an age that allows for us to easily learn about the twists and turns of Buddhism as it traveled around the word over the course of its history, taking different forms along the way. It is only natural that Buddhism continues to take new forms today in response to causes and conditions present now. Having said that, there is a benefit to choosing a form of practice, rather than skipping around too much. Better to dig one hole deeply, rather than several shallow ones. 🙂
You're missing the bigger picture here. The Buddha encouraged his followers to question his teachings and adjust them as necessary. Also you're supposed to apply what works for you.
I've also had a mixed opinion of Buddhist philosophies over time. I admire many aspects of it, like trying to calm your own mind's wanderings, and the overall peaceful nature of it, but I've also felt there can be a bit of a superiority complex built into it. I don't see this as a part of the philosophy itself so much, as an easy trap to fall into as a practitioner. It's interesting to compare it to Taoism (which I am definitely not an expert on), which has many similarities but from my limited readings of it seems less averse to personal pleasures and pursuing goals.
My current opinion is that most ancient religions and philosophies provide important moral lessons and guidance, and while I don't personally practice any religion myself, I believe our modern world could use a lot more moral guidance overall. I believe it's worth looking at spiritual and moral wisdom from throughout history in this current climate, including Buddhism.
Well said! I think the superiority part does come a lot from people who come to it from a modern perspective. The way it's practiced in the East is much different than how Westerners who are non-religious or formerly christian have come to adopt a sort of Buddhist philosophy and believe it's uniquely backed up by science, etc.
I'm also interested in learning more about Taoism since there's a lot of overlap but also differences to Buddhism.
I think I agree with you alot and see where your coming from. As far as Buddhism goes even though I do respect Buddhism in a sense I also think that there tends to be an air superiority to it and as a philosophy I think that there tends to be too many people who try too hard to try to hype it up.Theres be alot of other philosophical systems/schools besides Buddhism but I also don't see the people who study those philosophical systems as trying to hype up any of those philosophical systems to the same extent that the people who study Buddhism tend to try to glorify and hype up Buddhism and as far as Taoism I do own a copy of the Tao Te Ching and I personally think that Taoism particularly the writing of the Tao Te Ching tend to personally resonate with me more then the writings of Buddhism.I do practice meditation/Zen meditation from time to time in order to either relax unwind or not be as stressed but as far as religion goes I think that Shinto tends to personally resonate with me a bit more then what many other religions do.
Buddhism and superiority complex never heard in Asia except Myanmar, if anything it's abrahamic religion which force threat with convert or go to hell thing
Take a look at Pure Land Buddhism, especially Jodo Shinshu. It totally discards the idea that we can gain enlightenment with our own actions in the human realm; the reliance is on Amida Buddha to do it as we chant the nembutsu (Namu amida butsu). In Japanese Pure Land Buddhism, as long as we are in this human life, we are bombu (normal flawed people) and never some perfect enlightened being, and a big part of the teaching is to stay humble and understand that you are bombu.
This is a fantastic topic! You gave me good inspirations for my future content. Thank you!
The same thing happened with Yoga. Yoga was seen as sacred in east and most of the health benefits were secondary benefits and ideals were primary. Now in west Yoga is seen primarily for bodily benefits and people just throw random words like 'relax' and 'spirituality' without even understanding it.
Much of philosophical thinking in the West has its roots in the East. But not acknowledged nor conceded. The West owes its economic prosperity to plunder and theft of resources from European colonies in the rest of the world. Likewise there is heavy borrowing in the West from Buddhism and Eastern thought to improve the mental life of people in Western countries. Unfortunately it has also become a big business. In the traditional East meditation is practiced to help your journey in Samsara to reach enlightenment one day. In the West meditation is now usually taught to help improve the mind and productivity to earn more money. The Buddhist approach crystallized in the Noble Eightfold path is in a nutshell described as ' Sila, Samadhi Panna''. It means that unless you improve your ' Sila' ( Ethical conduct) one cannot successfully proceed to Mindfulness ( Samadhi) and thereafter to Wisdom ( Panna or Pragna). The true aim of Buddhism is to show the way to cultivate detachment. But in the West Buddhist practices have been hijacked to show the way to improve mindfulness and in turn your productivity at places of work. The so called 'Secular Buddhism' is a sinister strategy concocted by some people in the West to deny due credit to the Buddha and his followers in traditional Eastern countries for conceiving and keeping Buddhism alive. It is not far fetched to claim as done by a Danish scholar recently that the New Testament is a verbatim reproduction of the Mahayana Buddhist Sutra ' Saddharma Pundarika' ( colloquially known in the Far Eastern countries as the ' Lotus Sutra').
A danish scholar with no name, you're a joke
@@neyou6940 Dr. Christian Lindtner. He talks of the Buddhist origin of the New Testament.
The defining characteristic of a true religion is non violence or non harming a living being I. e., human or non -human. Buddhism satisfies that definition.
No religion can be true to itself if it is indifferent to the welfare of animals or at worse calls for the exploitation and death of non-humans. The defining qualities of a true religion are non - violence, loving kindness and compassion. They cannot be confined to one species or shared on a cherry-picking basis excluding all other non-human species.
Animals kidnapped from tropical countries are now dying en masse without heat in their cages in European Zoos being frozen to death. The bitter European Winter does not discriminate between man and animal. These avoidable deaths constitute a further Justification for the closure of Zoos which is another instance of man's inhumanity to animals.
Be have yourself the poor of India have suffered and always will people really need to take there cockspur out of their mouths and stop talking bullock's
While I was watching this video, I thought you were a major UA-camr with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. It took me a while to see that you have 105. Well now it is 106, lovely content.
That means a lot thank you!
Killing the buddha means that when you have reached the other shore you should let go of the boat. Not that you shouldnt find a teacher.
Homage to all of you, please allow me to also do damma Dana in regards of this kuon.. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
"If you find a Buddha on the road, kill it."
This line are spoken with the understanding that, wisdom is a double edge sword. Just like manjusri who pronounced the pradjna paramita sutra (perfection of wisdom) is holding a sword. So the teaching behind this kuon is to cut those delusional monk who think he/she is a Buddha with your wisdom. If you failed his/hers wisdom will cut your delution. (This part refer to the 6th patriarch teaching; quotes: the false sword does not cut, true sword, does not false.). 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻. May you find joy in learning Buddha Darma.. 😁😁
"Do not follow the word, follow the meaning"
Mahaparinirbana sutra,-
If you follow the word, here it comes all those killing in the name of religion.. I hope it's clear that your suggestions to make our own religion, jesus-Buddha, etc. Is dengerously wrong.. 🥲 (by "you", I mean the video creator) 😅
As a former Zen monk. If you don't have 'supernatural' experiences while meditating or just afterwards, you're not training correctly. If your Dharma group or 'mindfulness group' doesn't understand what can occur, then you're in the wrong place and shouldn't place your trust within those people.
"The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose;
Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear.
Make a hairbreadth difference, and Heaven and Earth are set apart;
If you want the truth to stand clear before you, never be for or against.
The struggle between "for" and "against" is the mind's worst disease;
While the deep meaning is misunderstood, it is useless to meditate on Rest."
You're spot on. Buddhism in the west has been brought to around 3 main groups of popularity, non Buddhists using the Buddha and his teachings as "modern" art, Buddhism being stripped from itself and taking only some of the teachings and making them mainstream without the credit of Buddhism, or people claiming they are Buddhist or understand its teachings yet knowing nothing about it.
No, this is not entirely accurate. Asian Buddhists mainly from Sri Lanka ( then called Ceylon) introduced Buddhism to Germany by converting Das Buddhistische Haus in Berlin Frohnau into a Buddhist Temple in 1957. They i.e., the Sinhalese, saved the flame of Buddhism in Germany says German Chronicler of Buddhism in Germany, Dr. Wolfgang Schumann.
Bull shit
Brother not just Buddhism but also Dhyan (meditation), yoga, Hinduism, Bodhisattva.
I mean an meditation, yoga is just an exercise or goal you do for 10 to 30 mins, it has its philosophy by Patanjali who wrote Yama, Yogasutra, Katha Upanishad, most of the foreigners don’t even know him but they know about the benefits of doing this, most of the people don’t even know that all this come from India and when an Indian goes foreign and attend these events, they see us as an muslim, give some racist remarks, make bad faces, etc.
as a indian buddhist hindu i observed that people from west dont understand budhhism jainism are part of indian dharmic tradition. i give credit for this to Marxist & communist historians which intentionally distorted hinduism and present hinduism as something very evil in the west. i dont mind what westerner think about it but i worry even in our country we have foolish people which hold such views, our history books need to change as soon as possible.
@@rahullihitkar8939 false dharma will always be around such is life 🙏
Suzuki-roshi came to the west and stayed because he found people who were more serious about zen practice than in Japan where he was from.
Buddha was a scientist. He applied scientific method to the subjective human experience.
Buddhism is extremely scientific, and Abhidhamma teachings are the most scientific teachings of Buddhism. And Theravada Suttas are only prescriptions/menus (directions) to understand the science (Abhidhamma) in Buddhism. So I recommend people learning Abhidhamma to understand Buddhism on a deeper level as it is difficult to learn Buddhism using the prescriptions/menus (Sutta). But you would need to have the right faith (Shraddha) to imagine the existence of the ultimate realities (Paramartha Dhamma) mentioned in Abhidhamma. The right mindfulness is supported/motivated by the Mental Factor called Intelligence/Knowledge (Pali: Gnana). Mindfulness is a process of moments of awareness. But mindfulness can be bad/wrong if it is not processed with intelligence/Knowledge (Gnana). I think we need a lifetime to study Buddhism. So it is better if you can follow the discourses in Buddhism to be familiar first. According to Buddhism, there were around 62 types of beliefs (ditties) in India at the time of the Buddha. There were wandering ascetics called "Parivrajaka", and according to Buddhism some of them were just going around spirituality without reaching a destination. Therefore sometimes practicing concentration (Samatha) meditation is not enough to reach a destination. Mindfulness (Satipatthana or Vipassana) meditation is the best way to reach the destination called the state of Nirvana (enlightenment). Best of luck.
Abhidhamma is nonsense, psuedophilosophy which was overthrown by modern physics a long time ago.
@@TheMahayanist, Abhidhamma explains the real nature of reality, and it is scientific.The existence of some fundamental elements mentioned in Abhidhamma texts are mathematically provable. And I could prove it. Abhidhamma teaches about the smallest matter zones, smallest time, smallest mind moment, and smallest thought processing time. Quantum physics teaches about the smallest time called Planck time. Abhidhamma mentions about 28 matter elements and 52 immaterial paramount emotions. Abhidhamma teachings in Buddhism are like quantum physics. The lifetime of a mind/Citta moment is very short, and the smallest material units spend 17 mind moments during their lifetime. Likely, the mind moment is smaller than the smallest time called the Planck time. The Buddha said that the mind is a magician, and it moves and changes very faster. I wrote a paper showing the similarities between Abhidhamma and mathematical physics.
extremely scientific i would not say. like start with the soul. wich has never been shown to be true in any way. most people use the word to describe conciousness. wich doesnt come from some spirit thats some non material magical thing. but we know conciousness is a product of the brain. without brain there is no conciousness. a change in the brain can cause a change in your personality. it can turn you into an entirely different person. and once the brain dies. your conciousness dies with it
@@theflyingdutchguy9870, Perhaps, the impermanent soul is like an hidden quantum object. However, People who had NDEs say that they became a very large entity in space without a body. And they become small again when they come back to their body. This is the truth. "Near-death experiences are reported by 10 to 20 percent of people who survived cardiac arrest.
@@theflyingdutchguy9870, Abhidhamma is extremely scientific because I could mathematically derive the fundamental elements mentioned in Abhidhamma. Those explanations about realities are extremely scientific because they are correct. Wrong science is a belief even if people think that it is scientific. Nature is scientific whether you can explain it scientifically or not.
Chinese Buddhist commentary in 500s AD: "Is China Ruining Buddhism?"
Japanese Buddhist commentary in 1200s AD: "Is Japan Ruining Buddhism?"
Buddha's teaching is not a philosophy.
His teaching is called theory. The word theory itself comes from the word "thera", therwaad.
You are implying that the word comes from Buddhism or Hinduism. The English word "theory" does not come from them. The Dictionary says, "ORIGIN OF THEORY
First recorded in 1590-1600; from Late Latin theōria, from Greek theōría “a viewing, contemplating,” equivalent to theōr(eîn) “to view” + -ia noun suffix".
It may well be that the Hindu word "thera" has a relation to the Greek word "theoria" since both Sanskrit and Greek are Indo-European languages, but one cannot assume that one came from the other. They both probably came from a more ancient word that meant something else entirely.
Furthermore, the definition of the English word "theory" is, according to the dictionary:
noun, plural the·o·ries.
a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena: ex. Einstein's theory of relativity.
a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject:
number theory.
the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.
a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles:
conflicting theories of how children best learn to read.
contemplation or speculation: the theory that there is life on other planets.
thera means old, elder, its nothing more then a practice, practice to change ones perception over the world
Now meditation and yoga from Indian culture converted into mindfulness.
Nothing just west thing.
not many understand Buddhism. It's about achieving immortality. If you meet the Buddha on the road, it is impossible to kill him. The way is eternal and not in danger of physical death. You become an angel by living not dying. Heaven is for the living not the dead. Death is the great mistake. Die and you will reincarnate and must take up another body to try and perfect again. Enlightenment is immortality allowing one to realize the truth allowing them to move beyond all limits and boundaries.
Buddhism is a way of life in a world of death by suicide from ignorance.
I'm attracted to budhism in general but found difficult to be at ease in buddhist enviroments. I've always ended up as an unwanted unpopular person, Which is kind of sad. Consecuently, I reached to conclusion that buddhism in the form of community is no more than any other religion. What I mean by this is that whatever annoys any other religion it also annoys buddhist comunities. Therefore, some rules and regulations need to be said in order to prevent being bullied by supposed followers practitioners and other enthusiasts. And there it goes below a list of the points preventing one being bullied or brainwashed:
Buddhist Comunities are a lot of more difficult to deal with than Christian Comunities from where I never ever had a problem with.
Best way to benefit from buddhism is to keep a bit at a distance from their comunities, keeping silence at all times, listening with attention, never made any criticism and give thanks if feel like it to whoever has given a talk.
Hello! Imho one possible answer to your headline is, yes. The commodification of spiritual paths and esp. exercises or 'methods' by taking them out of context, is a problematic reality. Since there is no-thing to achieve, no competition to be won... selling the products "yoga" ,"awareness" and so on is what it is, an act of commericialisation. Does it ruin Buddhism? Certainly not. But somethings have been taking over by a competitive and greedy world. I really learned a lot from Tulku!s book "cutting through spiritual materialsm". The book, although older, is very much on point and up to date. - Congrats on your video and all the best for you.
Good video. I like your view. After exploring Buddhism for a while, I began to wonder about all the lists etc and how they work with concepts of emptiness and impermanence etc. In the end I settled on the four noble truths and noble eightfold path as being sufficient for guidance. Shame I'm still useless at putting it into practise. One day...
That is good. The 4 Noble Truth is so deep and vast. Even The First Noble Truth can be learned, pondered, questioned and experienced for all our entire life. Keep it up.
✨be here now do no harm help others be still close eyes listen to your breathing rest in present awareness✨
The 8 fold path is primarily a system of ethics. The Buddha was not teaching “a spiritual” path but an ethical path. You have to understand your own agency before you can develop an ethics, but Buddha suggested that people get busy. It’s a long path, in a short time.
Amazing video and easiest sub of my life at the all too relatable part at 00:40
My own experience: when I was young I aspired to awakening. Grown old I got aweakening.
Killing the buddha means whenever you think you have figured it out, let it go. And no the west hasnt ruined buddhism, its fantastic its spreading and we are sharing knowledge
The idea that 'everything changes' is a misinterpretation of a Buddhist teaching. In Buddhist teachings, there is a term called 'Anicchaya,' and its meaning is not just 'change' but 'uncertainty.' You could argue that 'uncertainty' is similar to 'change,' but Buddha used this term to describe the human mind and thoughts. I believe what he meant is that the true essence of 'Anicchaya' is that things may not unfold as you wish, and because of that, you may experience sadness, which is a form of suffering.
One thing that never really gets talked about is how dark Buddhism often is.
This is a religion were a serial killer gets enlightened, a repentant villain gets dragged to a mysterious hellish realm, a completely reformed villain goes to Hell anyway, despite his friends best efforts, etc.
Since Hinduism is very dark due to its commitment to keep its world realistic (except for the crazy bubble of boon stories), all the dharmic religions tell you in no uncertain terms the world isn't a friendly place a lot of the time even with the supernatural.
"Hinduism is very dark"
How do u mean?
@@mlg1279 It has dark storylines too.
Plus it has random dark reveals like demons (in this case true demons) manipulating a family into hating each other. Which honestly explains a lot.
A serial killer changing his path is a dark thing?
@@mohanadasa2268
In Buddhism is explained over and over again that souls awaken in stages with enlightenment at the end. This means he had to have been close to enlightenment as a serial killer.
It is such an obvious inference, most stories after the original (which is very short, you can read it yourself) make the bandit sympathetic by giving him reasons to kill people beyond "just cause."
There is also the more fundamental inference that he is clearly supernatural in the original story.
The story never outright says it, but he can kill 50 people who knew he would come for him on his own with worn bandit weapons. He can also outrun a horse.
Clearly he has the supernatural powers that come with being close to enlightenment. Which kind of makes the question of why he is killing people more obvious.
Basically the main lesson is Buddhism sees non-violence as good, but not technically necessary.
The serial killer gets enlightened because of his truthfulness and insight, not because of his non violence.
The story even says that is the reason itself.
@@UniDocs_Mahapushpa_Cyavana Are you referring to the Angulimala Story or some other one? Because if you're, you're pretty much misinterpreting the meaning and ignorant about many details
That intro!!
McMindfulness is a new term for me -
pretty nice essay.
I'm definitely of the mindset that everything is sacred,
but your points & perspective ring true.
Great video.
You are the divine. There is no other. It's through life times that you learn this. "YOU" are the creator! You are so beautiful and special but you don't know this. You are everyone else trying to find the truth. Everyone is you and you are everyone.. BEAUTIFUL!
This is a great video. Was shocked to see you only have two hundred subscribers...consider this comment a push for the algorithm!
Why mention Jesus at the end ? Buddha Dharma is not just a philosophy it's a mind science
I'm bron in Buddhist family in Nepal I'm Buddhist ❤
Making a religion into a more secular philosophical thing is possible with not only Buddhism. It is possible to follow ideas of Christ and still not believe that he actually existed. In a sense most atheists are actually secular christians too.
"Make your own buddhism..." that could lead to more unwholesomeness. It is better to read the very well preserved words of a philosopher whose work you are asking people to usurp.
As a practicing and temple going secular Buddhist, I think this is a great video
I'd say Buddhism is a religion, but that does not necessarily mean it's dumb, irrational, or boring. In fact, I think the religious ideas of Buddhism are much more fascinating than the secularized Western Buddhism.
I've discovered that the early Buddhists had subatomic theories. They believe that all macroscopic objects we experience are really just heaps of impermanent quantum events they often call dharmas. These dharmas are also usually believed to be impermanent entities, the complete opposite of Greek atomism.
Also, Nirvana is not a philosophy based on non-attachment. It is rather a direct experience of non-attachment. The early Buddhists claimed that if one reaches a good enough level of meditation, then they can see the quantum dharmas and put an end to what they covet.
An analogy I like to use is computer images vs computer coding. It is impossible not to have some sort of attachment to pornography if someone sees it on their computer. But imagine that instead of seeing the naked woman or naked man you instead see the 0s and 1s that are actually all the image is. It's just 1s and 0s that create flashing pixels that give off the illusion of the pornographic image. The same can be said for Nirvana. Samsara is just us not realizing that our sights of the ordinary world are illusions. So we need to meditate to see that Samsara is just a quantum field of subatomic particles.
This sounds way more fascinating to me than just meditating for secular reasons like to relieve stress or become better at a business.
So I totally disagree with Sam Harris and I think he's kind of butchering Buddhist ideas. This is not to say that we must cling to doing Buddhism the Asian way--like chanting mantras or doing prostrations--but I do think if you completely rid Buddhism of its religious teachings and how they interact with the dharmas theories then you have nothing.
Buddhism is just showing the reality of the world, buddha told us to understand the way things are . It explains the universal truth. Buddha just understood it that’s all.
people really need to stop worrying about impermanence in buddhism if they cant even understand/dont even know the basics of buddhism that is do good deeds and avoid bad deeds. not being attached is something you should worry about later
You are Corey!
But I still Practice and enjoy Buddhist teaching. I love how nothing is permeant including bad things in life.
I enjoyed your post here. You have a fun style I appreciate. I expect success from you!
I Believe in Tibetan Buddhism I'm From Nepal Buddhism is way of truth ☸️🙏🙏🙏😇
@7:18 I don't think anyone who truly understands Buddha Dharma would disagree with your conclusion in the slightest. Buddhism is just as empty as emptiness itself is.
There's no essential core to what Buddhism is because, we learn from the Buddha's philosophy that there's no essential core to how anything is.
First video I've come across and I love it. Your channel will prosper, good sir! :)
I appreciate your thoughts about this and ones individual path through this journey. Thanks.
My limited analysis regarding Buddhism is that are two “Really Noble Truths”. They are, “It’s never about you” and in juxtaposition, “Never take yourself too seriously”. You have found the “Truth”. Keep it up. 🤔
There are a number of variants of Buddhism, and nuances that are key differentiators between them that may not be obvious to the casual western audience. To truly understand, benefit from, and preserve (i.e. prevent the ruining of) any of these amazing traditions requires deep, long-term devotion. Because unless that happens, things like true detachment, enlightenment, and physical and meta-physical transformation that have been documented over the centuries will be become academic vs. true experiences and realizations in future generations. This is how you "kill the Buddha", as the road you must take to achieve these things leads to first-hand vs. second-hand understanding and becoming that to which the Buddha's example points.
The irreligious often want the fruit without the tree
As I understand it after reading some books and watching videos, you only supposed to be attached to concepts in the beginning but then progressively you have to let go every one of them, including the ones that are at the core of your understanding. Words and concepts are a necessary tool for a beginner, but what and how you are experiencing your life has to be your main focus after some point.
Agreed. If the shoe fits, then go with it. And I quote the buddha, "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it." That is the Buddha teaching.
What we want of Buddhism can be called Manga Buddhism
💚If you see clearly in the way the Buddha means clearly, it's impossible to not have compassion for yourself or "other" sentient beings because seeing clearly means you don't assume the separation that people make up is real. Compassion practice is attitudinal at first but as mindfulness practice is cultivated correctly, the knowledge, the wisdom takes you over and you no longer can forget that people aren't separate.
The Buddha's teaching isn't to make you more moral or more anything. It simply shows you what leads to suffering and what doesn't lead to suffering but you can help yourself by helping others or you can help others by helping yourself. How do you help yourself? Avoid suffering. You avoid suffering by helping yourself and/or others avoid suffering. Ultimately, the notion that people are separated into "myself and others" is just an assumption based on society using the short cut of conceptual reality. This doesn't mean conceptual reality is bad. It's more about our attatchment that is bad.
The reason imho that the Buddha's teaching is so puzzling is because he uses 2 ways of approaching reality: Conceptual reality( sammuti sacca) and ultimate experiential reality(paramattha sacca) that happens moment by moment through the mind/body sense doors in individual beings.
If anyone wants to learn the Buddha's teaching, they should find a qualified Satipatthana AKA Vipassana meditation instructor. Google how to find a good teacher and not a bad teacher. You don't want to wind up with some cult leader.
A person has to practice meditation & the Eight-Fold Path in order to understand the two ways of approaching truth. Moment by moment meditation on one's own experience is the only way to understand moment by moment reality, AKA non-conceptual reality.
I’m glad you brought up the conventional and ultimate truth. However, i personally think aside from Vipassana meditation, learning tripitaka esp abhidhamma is essential to recognize how our mind work. I recommend reading abhidhammathasangaha translated by Bhikkhu Bodhi
I disagree. Buddhism is a roadmap to the end of suffering that the Buddha himself discovered. You have to take that by faith, but as you practice it you will get confirmation along the way that the map is indeed accurate. Now if you go around changing the map, then you won't arrive at the same destination anymore, and it is no longer the Buddha's map, and should not be called Buddhism. You are right that everything changes, including Buddhism itself. It was the Buddha who predicted that his teaching will eventually be lost due to counterfeit Dhamma. One example of this is the idea of nonduality, which is something the Buddha never taught. Just an idea taught by a lesser mind who didn't get what the buddha what on about.
The West is helping Buddhism by eliminating the spiritual hogwash and getting down to what is important, which is mindfulness.
The speed of light doesn't changes with time.
Buddhism comes from a more subtle world, while the ego (self-identity) wrongly wants things to be one thing, but in truth things are multi-faceted, plus things should be taught according to the level of the student. Also, Buddhism is a religion & is not, depending on what stage you are in & again, what facet of it you're talking about, IT DEPENDS. Buddhism even more than compassion (but this is the best provisional teaching to put out to the public), is about awareness, since if you're aware of your inner world, that will lead to you making real changes & being more compassionate.
Well said.
@@coreyjcampbellthanks man.
Great video! You have earned my subscribe!
"It is not that you become mindless; on the contrary you become mindful. Buddha uses the words “right mindfulness” millions of times. When the mind disappears and thoughts disappear you become mindful. You do things - you move, you work, you eat, you sleep, but you are always mindful" - osho
(Osho works so hard on the western mind, but ultimately pope and politician poisoned him)
My interpretation of "kill the buddha" is that it's a huge favor, because once you kill the buddha they'll instantly be freed from samsara. Is that too literal? I mean, it makes sense, right? Also, the title of this video is, "Is the West Ruining Buddhism?", and rather than answering that question this video pretty much just ended up being a quick rundown of modern Buddhism.
God I'm lucky I grew up before the internet.... so lucky - so very lucky...
clearly this video really blew up in the comments , deservedly so , good vid and well said Corey =]
It’s not important that what method Buddhists use, the core of Buddhism is to keep people’s mind calm in front of everything: sadness, sorrow, beauty, or even happiness to cut all attachment to find true happiness. Because nothing is permanent. Meditation, reading out some Buddha books, calling out Buddha’s name, or reading out Buddha’s code, etc they are all the same if people know the core of Buddhism. All those methods’ purpose is to separate practitioners from the outside sounds and focus on the inner peace. Which methods you use depend on yourself : your culture, your jobs, your hobby, etc. By the way, it’s ok to practise Buddha’s methods even if you are Christian, however, don’t say Buddha is a prophet or something like that. Because in Buddhism, Heaven is not our goal. The creatures living in Heaven also have life span, and when their life span ends, they will come back to becoming human, animals, or going to Hell. They haven’t escaped from the reincarnation circle. Our goal is Sukhavati world. And we Buddhists consider Buddha as the Teacher of God and Human.
Buddhism is very clear about emotions; anger and hatred are poisons, they are not to be met with equanimity.
Evan Thompson has no clue about what he's talking about. So it's not a good book to recommend. I better recommend "What Makes You Not a Buddhist" much more accurate.
As to the video, depends on what you mean by Buddhism. Buddhism isn't a single sect, for example Pure Land Nichiren are just like the religions of the West like Christianity more often than what's popularly called Buddhism. Then there's what most people consider Buddhism, usually Hinayana (called Theravada by it's advocates), but Hinayana has many teachings not taught by the Buddha see "How Early Buddhism differs from Theravada: a checklist" by Ajahn Sujato, a Hinayana monk, on how different Theravada is from the Buddha's teachings.
Lastly you have the Zen and Tibetan traditions, but Zen owes as much to Taoism as Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism owes more to later Mahayana Sutras and later Buddhist philosophers than the Buddha.
So I don't know what it really means to be "authentically" Buddhist in the first place, despite being a Zen practitioner myself.
Now, maybe to finally address the topic of the video, the West can only ruin Buddhism if there is a "core" or essential tenet of Buddhism to ruin. As hinted at above, I don't think this is the case.
I do think though that Westerners tend to value the more superficial aspects of Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness, than the more profound like the philosophical teachings of Nagarjuna or the Prajnaparamita. That would be my chief criticism. Buddhism's greatest contribution is it's philosophy, "the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma " we call it. Sravakayana, Vijnanavada and Shunyavada. It isn't just meditation.
What part of Thompson's work do you disagree with? I found him to be very credible.
I agree it would've been useful to get into specifics about the different sects but ultimately would've been a lot to unpack so I was generalizing to make it more digestible.
I do think a lot of people who don't know much about the topic often confuse Zen and Buddhism as somewhat synonymous which is definitely misleading, so that probably would have been a good distinction to make. My direct exposure to Buddhism has been through Zen (specifically Korean Zen in the lineage of master Seungsahn) so that's certainly colored my perception.
Like all religions we'll never know the exact intentions of the Buddha, only how people have interpreted and passed down his teachings over time. But it seems pretty clear that emptiness was one of his core teachings and to me that does point to a lack of any real "authentic" Buddhism to cling to. That doesn't necessarily mean there's no right or wrong way to practice Buddhism but I think it does make it hard for anyone to hold authority over what is the "right" way to practice it.
@@coreyjcampbell I haven't read it recently but I recall it being very much the usual strawman or misconception criticisms you get from Westerners who don't know what they're talking about. Christian apologetics level bad arguments.
Since I think it's ultimately relative on what constitutes Buddhism, I can decide for myself what I consider to be Buddhist. And I generally consider Pure Land and Hinayana to not be Buddhist at all. Some Tendai sects are Buddhist others aren't, and I consider Tibetan and Zen to not necessarily be 'authentic Buddhism" as much as a faithful evolution of Buddhism's original practices and teachings, though many are later developments also.
Sure, I have no authority to prescribe my view, since it's relative. But I'd say relative to me that's what I consider Buddhism to be.
Grreat material. I subbed just on the basis of this video.
Hey yesterday i was looking channel there's some videos before this video why did you make all that private?
Buddhism, hindu, Christianity are to me the same: their ultimate massage is to try to transcend, merge with the ultimate source. The way to so that will depends on each person but regardless of your ways or believe, one must live a life with morality, compassion and love and try to slay and let go of your attachments to material and even people.. (meaning letting go of the selfishness) … so easy to say.. so hard to do sometimes. If everyone on this planet tries just a bit harder to live life this way, humanity as a whole will be a giant step forward… A Di Da Phat.
Deep Buddhism would probably say something like, 'all concepts are created by the mind and therefore a deity created by the mind for use in the mind is perfectly valid'.
Okay, I agree with most of what you said but I have to dispute when you said 'Maybe Buddhism can't free us from bullshit'
That's the whole point of Buddhism, to free us from every kind of bullshit imaginable. To free us from all suffering (or maybe dukkha is a better word), including the suffering of pain, capitalism, words, language, happiness that leads to pain, not seeing bullshit for what it is, religion, atheisicm, and even impermanence.
And you might ask how does Buddhism free us from all this bullshit? Well there's all those schools and paths and religious practices and methods and sutras and meditations, all the 84 000 ways that the Buddha left. Because in the end, the aim of Buddhism is this overly misused word called nirvana, which is ultimately the freedom from all those concepts and sufferings
Love your internal now external debate. I must add that I think the human condition when drawn to spirituality is to seek what feels familiar and welcoming to our particular mind and soul the same as we seek our life partners. Some are guided into their spirituality/religion like arranged marriage but others seek the affinity. Perhaps that is what Buddha meant.
"The Buddha did not deny or affirm the existence of God or Gods. He spoke of "The Power in the Universe that makes for good." True, Buddhists do not believe in the anthropomorphic conception of God pictured by some religions as an old man with a long beard sitting on the clouds, because to personify this "Power in the universe" is to limit it. It may be, as Sir Francis Younghusband said, "it's because the Buddha had too great, not too small an idea of God that he refused to restrict himself to a sharp definition." There are certain things too great to put into words. The imputation of atheism to Buddhhism has aroused much resentment among the great Buddhist scholars."
-Bhikshu Shinkaku, Essentials and Symbols of the Buddhist Faith
Western Buddhism is still developing out of the Eastern imports that are coming over. There is still a lot of room for different views and opinions, and nothing is settled or fixed-in-stone. Historically, Buddhism simply assimilated the religions of the people, and likely a Jesus Bodhisattva as a Dharma protector will emerge in the far distant future.
jesus bodhisattva is not. base on jesus's action ,he didn't believe on the true. he proclaim to believe in someone else as god. Bodhisattva is the someone who donate his entire life to obtain buns. it is not someone who walk around and spread for someone to believe someone else. i doubt you will heard the word buns from anyone in this youtube platform.
now rrealbuddhism is the only channel provide with real buddhism.
You have summarised it pretty well. Buddhism can be explored in numerous ways. There is truth in each of its school. If you can find parallels in Hinduism or even the teachings of Jesus, so be it. If you venerate Tara and see her in the form of Mary, so be it.
Yes, it is, and your glib, hip, facile, crazy wisdom perspective is a big part of why.
Buddhism cannot be ruined. The IT is constant, infinite number of here and nows. No words can describe IT, therefore no illusionary egos or talking heads can ever change IT.
Buddha only showed the Way. You must walk the Path.
Noble Eightfold Path are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
The emphasis is ‘Right Understanding’ Have the right understanding.
Ehipassiko - encouraging investigation.
In the Kalmatta Sutta (Sutra) Buddha’s position on intellectual exploration and free inquiry are explicitly stated:
“Do not believe in something because it is reported. Do not believe in something because it has been practiced by generations or becomes a tradition or part of a culture. Do not believe in something because a scripture says it is so. Do not believe in something believing a god has inspired it. Do not believe in something a teacher tells you to. Do not believe in something because the authorities say it is so. Do not believe in hearsay, rumor, speculative opinion, public opinion, or mere acceptance to logic and inference alone. Help yourself, accept as completely true only that which is praised by the wise and which you test for yourself and know to be good for yourself and others.”
Buddhism leads you to be awakened and out from imperfections of samsara.
🙏🙏🙏
its to the point of it being more of a self-help thing instead of a spiritual journey, even Schopenhauer did better than what we're doing nowadays. he saw the metaphysical element of it
I usually stop at the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path as to the definition of Early Buddhism. As those are the core teachings. Would any Buddhists consider me non-Buddhist for not believing in some additional doctrines other than the ones universally attributed to the Buddha?
To see directly the fundamental truth of impermanence, take on a serious daily concentration meditation practice. You'll see pretty quick the truth in it.
Debating whether Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion inevitably leads to semantic arguments that go around in circles, where each participant chooses their own particular meaning of "philosophy" or "religion". I'd call Buddhism a religion because that's how it's generally classified. "Philosophy" literally means "love of thinking/wisdom". The Buddha stated that it wasn't for the purposes of wisdom that he taught, but for the liberation of suffering. So if you think of Buddhism as some kind of fascinating intellectual construction, then you kinda missed the point. In that respect, one could say that Buddhism is NOT a philosophy.
Killing a Buddha mean to kill your attachment to buddha. As long as there is attachment, you won't reach buddhahood.
Maybe the opening is a little loud.
I feel like you should've mentioned karma and rebirth at least a little bit, or other religious aspects of buddhism
Yeah in hindsight there’s a few topics I should’ve included/expanded on, always feels that way looking back on older videos-glad people are still enjoying this one nearly a year later though!
This was a great overall message and while I understand that you can never divorce the Creator from some biased ideas, there was some points that were a little unnecessary or even connected through ideas that weren't mutually exclusive but painted to be as such. It's not like I even disagree with you about most of the social commentary and criticisms you held but a lot of it evoked false dichotomies that may have been amusing, only detracted from some of your stronger messages. For example, someone could very well be using secular Buddhism to help them maintain a stress-free work environment in a business that they run at the exploitation of others or they might even be using it to help their co-workers and their employees to have a more mutually beneficial experience. Capitalism may be self-serving but that doesn't mean the participants have to act with no compassion if they utilize a practice to help offset those tendencies rather than help us continue them. But that's just a small concern I had for an otherwise brilliant video on a rather complex idea that doesn't need to be all that complicated.
This video would benefit from looking at original buddhusm versus Mahayana buddhism