(September 29, 2021 at 11:59 am)vulcanlogician Wrote:(September 29, 2021 at 11:31 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: That sounds very generalistic. "Buddhism in theory..." and then you put whatever you want. But if you look at Buddhism in practice, you will see in places like Tibet that people are (were) being oppressed by Buddhist theocracy, and Dalai Lama is a very duplicitous guy.
"Buddhism in theory" is the only Buddhism that I (and Nietzsche for that matter) are concerned with.
But thanks for sharing the video. Very informative. And, yes, Westerners have a romanticized view of Buddhism. But there are plenty of ideas worthy of consideration in ancient Indian texts. Plenty worth rejecting too. So I try to approach the subject, become aware of any nuances, and consider one idea at a time.
When you depart a "religion in theory" and begin to examine a "religion in practice" you'll always find institutions with pyramid like power structures and abusive patterns of behavior. Some worse than others. India has some of the most abusive and interpersonally destructive religious practices in the world. I'm very aware of that.
But good ideas are good ideas. And Indian thinkers had some... even the mystics.
There has never been a period of human history where humans, within or without, for or against, internally or externally who did not conflict with others. Humans are tribal, regardless of label.