Why I Don't Dig Buddhism - Scientific American Blog Network.
Immediately seeking to separate the man from the myth, he observes that, “The religion of the Siamese proves to us that never did a lawmaker teach bad morals,” noting that the rules that the Buddha made for his monks are just as severe as those of St. Benedict. Voltaire goes on to provide a somewhat idiosyncratic but not inaccurate list of these rules. It includes, “Avoid songs, dances.
Tom’s essay amounts to an elaborate ideologically motivated straw man argument. I’m not sure why Tom feels the need to package his political ideology as a criticism of Metzinger, but it fails miserably. We are being invited to throw conjecture and refutation out the window and substitute a clash of egoistic opinions. It’s all very post-modern, lots of exciting language games and stirring.
I didn't see anyone address Slavoj Zizek's criticism yet and I assume that's because the man has a really bad habit (being a philosopher and all) of not formulating his ideas into clear and concise arguments. He has two primary criticisms of Buddhism from what I've been able to discern from lectures and articles. The first criticism is his claim that psychologically, human beings tend to.
It has been exerting tremendous influence upon political and economic aspects of life. It is said that man from the earliest times has been incurably religious. Judaism, Christianity, Islam (Semitic religions), Hinduism and Buddhism; Confucianism, Taoism and Shinto (Chinese-Japanese religions) etc. are examples of the great religions of the world.
Nietzsche had many misunderstandings of Buddhism, but his critique of certain forms of Buddhism (e.g. Therevada) is pretty valid. I discuss this issue in this essay (Calm and the Cataract: Zen and the Antichrist), where I compare Nietzsche's thought with Thich Nath Han, the founding figure of the Plum Village school of Mahayana Buddhism. See below.
The spreading of scientific ideas has made the modern man sceptical: It is not possible to make an educated man of today believe in myths and superstitions. But it does not mean that the urge for religion is dead. The modern man needs a scientific religion. He does not want useless ceremonies and vulgar shows in the name of religion. Truly.
Overview. Former Vice President of the Buddhist Society and Chairman of the English Sangha Trust, Maurice Walshe, wrote an essay called 'Buddhism and Sex' in which he presented Buddha's essential teaching on human sexuality and its relationship to the goal (nibbana).The third of the five precepts states:. Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami.