Thursday, July 19, 2018

BUDDHISM IS BULLSHIT









500 B.C in India writing was Sanskrit, and few people were capable of reading much less writing.   It is logical to conclude that all the Buddhist scriptures and texts and ceremonies were written long after the Buddha’s death.  Many were passed down by oral history and eventually written and then revised possibly hundreds of times, with each writer adding his own interpretation.   

 Steve Hagen (Buddhism Plain and Simple) –is my favorite Buddhist writer.


Buddhism is not about beliefs and practices… it is not a religion.   It is about the teachings of awakening – about examining the world clearly.
Steve Hagen

In his book How The World Can Be The Way It IS, Steve describes his time studying at a monastery in Japan where his mentor would beat him with a bamboo pole while he meditated to urge him into a deeper meditative state.   What kind of bullshit Buddhism is that?

The basic Buddhist story goes that after searching for the meaning of life and being exhausted and near death, the Buddha became enlightened when he was given a bowl of rice and a refreshing drink of water by a beautiful young girl.    To me that is the essence of Buddhism, and all the other bells and whistles and trappings and rituals are bullshit. 

John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” 

Close your eyes and taste that cup of tea.  Feel the texture of the chair you are sitting on.   Study the faces of the people you love.    That is Buddhism plain and simple. 




the Ol’Buzzard

5 comments:

  1. All religions have an ounce of profound spiritual truth and then ten tons of bullshit built up around it that serves only the self-interests of the organized religion that purports to be the guardian of the ounce of truth.

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  2. The context of Buddhism that you suggest is indeed powerful, especially in the modern world where we have so many extraneous stimuli that it is often very difficult to focus on the sense of self and our surroundings.

    I think I had often used my pipe and pipe tobaccos in a sort of Buddhist fashion without realizing it. Besides of course the enjoyment of the stimuli of my brains nicotinic receptors, I found the pipe guided me in a more "present" focus. I have noticed since I have stopped smoking a pipe, it has been challenging to figure out how to readily find the "presence" and sometimes that is a call for me to go back to my pipes. But, thus far I am trying to hold syron in my resolve to refrain.

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  3. Oops... "syron" was meant to be "strong". Damn autocorrect.

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  4. I asked a friend of mine, who happened to be Mongolian, once you reach the inner circle of life (Nirvana??) what do you become. He said "Mongolian". Seemed right to me.

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COMMENT: Ben Franklin said, "I imagine a man must have a good deal of vanity who believes, and a good deal of boldness who affirms, that all doctrines he holds are true, and all he rejects are false."