Buddhism ​

Notes ​

• Buddhism is a fantastic system that is internally consistent and to our ability to prove it, accurate. Its primary axiom is that life as we know it is suffering, and builds a case for a universe from there that is primarily mental. It is from these observations, not pleas of faith, that the metaphysic is built up rather rationally. It behaves more like a science in many respects, with religious trappings that confuse the westerner. For example, one of the main tenets being skepticism: if you cannot prove what the Buddha stated then reject the model.
• The Hindu perspective is that All is a reflection of God, and that we are all facets of this one divinity
• In Buddhism they say that everything is of dependent origin. Watch the mind and notice how everything it does, thinks, remembers, plans, etc is all conditioned. If it is all just conditioning unfolding, then who is thinking? Who is moving the body? Who is making choices?
• Wabi-sabi = World view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. Beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".
• Non-duality is absence of an observer in observing, taster in tasting, toucher in touching etc. There's only observing, tasting, touching etc as a process starting with a contact (the coming together of a sense organ with its object) , sensation , perception or recognition , mental or karmic formation (viewed both as a verb and as a noun) , and consciousness of the mental object.
• There are many types of Buddhism, and some types are definitely very religious.
• I find a Buddhist framework, including the Secular Buddhist framework, to be very useful. It's based on the fact that nothing exists independently, that everything results from causes and conditions. You can't have a book without paper, a tree, rain, a cloud, etc. (example commonly used by Thich Nhat Hanh). Separateness is an illusion, and both Buddhist meditation practices and psychedelics foster awareness of this. We tend to misperceive ourselves as separate, static, and unitary, but really we are interconnected/inseparable, constantly changing, and a collection of elements (mental, physical). We're more like a process than an object, verbs instead of nouns. And that's true of both animate and inanimate things. This misperception is the source of our suffering, and experiential insights into this alleviates suffering. Kindness, compassion, and acting ethically all make sense in this framework since we are so inextricably interconnected with the world we live it, we are it. Intentionally causing harm doesn't make much sense in this perspective. This is fully compatible with a scientific worldview and does not require any supernatural beliefs, but it also provides a deep sense of meaning.

Links ​

• "New Eyes" on the Tibetan Book of the Dead: What Happens After You Die? (2017)
• Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy
• Getting interested in secular Buddhism. Where should I start? (2020)
• The Buddhist Society (Twitter)
• Intro to Buddhism Resources
• There are no separate things
• Awesome Buddhism
• (mis)Translating the Buddha (2020)
• Five mildly anti-Buddhist essays (2023) (HN)
• When Buddhism Goes Bad (2021)