No Need to Really Read This Entry - Ther're Plenty of Them Out There ... .

Recently, and because I have seen more and more people in robes and so forth, even Caucasian and

Media Image

more Western people, I picked up a book on Buddhism that happened to be about the austere and strict form of that religious practice, read "Southern" Buddhism, versus the more popular "Mahanayan" faith that's in places that really interest more people about it and so forth.  Sort of like picking up a missal from the Orthodox Catholic faith when you just want to watch the "700 Club" once in a while on the tube.  The text I picked up in paperback and read through was originally, not the one I own, but in the beginning and in 1896 no less, published as a comprehensive study that probably made its author completely mortal by the date of its publication.  The text is very detailed and talks greatly about the merits, the strict ones, of this massively - scaled and intelligent faith; though it is difficult at times, and the text is in plain English, to distinguish the tone and intentions of the teachings of the "Great Teacher" as he is portrayed.  The closest I really came to Nirvana or any fulfillment with this  text, as in fact such things lead sometimes to a sort of similar resolution to things, if not to a kind of Nirvana itself immediately or eventually, was akin to my once having been in the presence of a famous economist who I know mistook me not for a student of sorts of his, but for a laundry or other delivery person.  The value of such texts is they make one reflect on such events and therefore the tone of the book becomes the more serious and worth contemplation apart from the de - reflective and gross things the "dhamma" can lead to at times, maybe even in a minority of cases.  There are many Buddhists who are extremely achieving and fine people, but for example, I would not really trust the idea of giving one, and this not just because Buddhism is from where it's from, rocket launch codes or nuclear secrets -- Buddhism is not really a faith in which those types of things are appropriately secure.  If you cannot tell this, maybe move somewhere where there are lots of Buddhists, great people that they are.

There are some actually great principles of the Buddhist faith that hearken to an agrarian and earthy existence starting some time ago and that are completely compatible with this yet today in places, and with urban and bustling settings of the metropolis and so forth as well.  I know less and less actually about the desirable things of it now I have read more about the austere, priestly version of the faith and realize that in no way do people join this faith without seriously thoughtful commitment, and one might believe that those born into it are accursed and disadvantaged though they are not.  The richness of mind of many Buddhists, their patience and conservatism in many ways, their dedication to contemplation and prayer beats the islamo - believers in all their own varieties hands and pencils down every time.  Though many will disagree, and this is by all means a provocation to the reader here and one's own construct of the role of such things in their popular interpretation:  I submit to you after having read about him in the Theravada tradition, that the Buddha as we knew him in his various incarnations and personae, and in his current incarnation if I am not wrong as from Dharamsala, India; that Buddha as our friend from the East was not and is not a Christ symbol.  Perhaps the correct solution about what he represents to us, and literally and metaphorically, other than being in the role of a great spiritual leader and Teacher lies in some innovative psychological and philosophical approach to the faith that needs to be new in 2014, or as renewed and re - hashed in 20l4 (let us here choose gestalt or depth psychology as that is safe away from useless, specious and burdensome dialogues and analysis, or even the philosophical approach of deconstructive character without and devoid of spirit:)  The representation of the Buddha today, and with minimal study one might agree, has really very little to do with the symbolism of the Christian New Testament and the life nor the symbolism of the Christ and his followers; and has much more to do with the great following of the ancient Hebrew leader Moses has in the appropriate books of the Christian Old Testament and Old Testaments themselves everywhere.  This fits quite nicely with what I have read heretofore, including the eternal suffering that Buddhism internalizes, the delivery it promises from the conflicts, curses and vagaries of existence, and the promise of tomorrow it has for so many people who lead an existence much like that of the biblical Abraham, or similar individuals as illustrated in the Bible books where Moses appears or is mentioned.  Buddha, dear, comments invited, especially given your lessons on the emphasis of life on compassion and its promise for individual and collective salvation.  Remember as well your extremely powerful symbolism and cultural facets, and the way of the righteous you follow.  Have a great day. 

1 : Universal Compassion.

Media Photo

Belated Book Review:  Beyond Religion:  Ethics for A Whole World (2011, His Holiness The Dalai Lama:)  Written apparently mostly from his residence in India at Dharamsala, and supplanting but not superseding a previous book,  Ethics for The New Millennium (ca. 2004,) this classic and varietal Buddhist text examines ethics from the author’s perspective in the more and more rapidly changing world at this time, and change as perceived in an increased awareness not only from the author, but from his followers and others that things like preparation for change and its rewards take place over gradual and painstaking efforts and dedicated time spent not in containing everyone.  Without being doctrinaire and pedantic, this text that addresses the kind of humanistic cosmology that is characterized by Buddhism and its modern issues that address human rights, health, the environment, politics, the sciences, ethics and morality of course, and individual conduct in society among other things as the Dalai Lama fleshes out for us the ongoing debate between religious and secular influences in our modern times.

The author speaks of “attachment” in the text that concerns the kind of identification, psychological, religious, moral and political, etc., that people in the modern world must have in order to be fully engaged in their lives among others.  In short, the book makes the point the world is a denser place and there are other people in it besides just the first person singular for everyone:  The text outlines the problems with what are today inappropriate and aggressive, and over – aggressive self – assertion and self – importance as a way to overcome the everyday challenges, and even extraordinary challenges we sometimes face in our somewhat different, then again parallel, paths through life.  The change, but in integrating it into a peaceful, secular framework as presented in this writing.  The main theme of the text is compassion in its essence as accompanied and made of alleviating the suffering of others, and promoting the well – being of others.  The foundations of the spirit of universal compassion are thus the pursuit of a kind of collective or societal happiness and contentment of the family of civilizations in view of and derivative of efforts to lessen and properly address the attention of the world public on suffering in order to end the destructive forces that cause the negative effects of suffering in its various milieus.  The Dalai Lama speaks of karma under the circumstances as having a relation to causality with respect to the multi – faceted events affecting in various degrees the lives of writing emphasizes themes such as selfless individuation and altruism, service to others in the name of happiness and the pursuit of happiness, social justice, political freedoms, passive resistance to aggression and tyranny, selfless (again) righteousness, and more in a way that appeals to the majority of ideas about humanism, freedom, justice, and morality, etc., in the mindset of anyone who believes in self – autonomy and morality, be it from any of the main cultural centers we all know and read and see in the media every day.  The author as well tells the reader in a chapter on “Discernment” that the openness and dedication to success in one’s life and the lives of others in its effectiveness depends greatly on the sense of autonomy in everyone, perhaps even appealing to the idea that such a quality is innate and is then refined through life’s experiences without the real possibility of being taught from previous times.  

The outward compassion the Dalai Lama has in this text, a holy book for Buddhists, for his fellow colleagues, associates, the extended human family; and the awe, respect, and attachment not only to other people but to the environment and to nature is remarkable in this writing and shows the indomitable attitude of the Buddhist faith against destruction, negative influences in society and among the greater family of humans everywhere.  In its influence as a cosmology book, the text ranges in content and context, directly and indirectly from topics like interpersonal relations and psychology, learning and morality, the sciences including the author’s knowledge of the neurosciences, the social sciences including the more negative and utilitarian subject matter of economics, the development of and role of religion in modern life including the importance of genetics and human and biological possibilities and differentiation, languages and other arts, world and regional politics, the history of India, and other quite important topics of discussion by everyone.  Overall, the type of universal compassion talked about in this text might not be at home, for example, with those whose perspective dates no further back than the Middle Ages, but the text might prove extremely valuable, again not only for Buddhists and the followers of the Dalai Lama, but for anyone interested in the discussion of psychology, religion, and life sciences and their roles vis – a – vis each other and more in the modern era with its many influences and religions and secular mindsets alike.