#secular western buddhism

[creature-wizard]

secular western buddhism is just another form of colonialism and i'm tired of pretending its not. Its incredibly condescending towards buddhism in asia and says shit like how western buddhism is the way it was meant to be taught.

It's a cutesy little product to sell to middle class moms and annoying entrepreneurs, basically.

#answered #buddhism #colonialism #secular western buddhism #cultural appropriation

[jewish-sideblog]

Btw when we say “the only Jewish state on Earth” we mean that there are

Six officially Buddhist countries, or countries where Buddhism holds special privilege,

Thirty-six officially Christian countries, or countries where Christianity holds special privilege,

Thirty officially Muslim countries, or countries where Islam holds special privilege,

And three officially and mandatorily atheist countries.

Meanwhile there is one officially Jewish country. And that doesn’t mean the same thing that it does for the other countries above. Israel does not have an official religion. Israel officially recognizes dozens of religions, including Christianity and Islam. While there isn’t a separation of church and state in the traditional Western and secular sense, all officially recognized religions in Israel have the same governmental rights and powers as Judaism does.

Jewish state just means a state with a Jewish majority. It doesn’t mean religious rule. It doesn’t mean ethnostate. It just means self-determination on our ancestral lands.

[metamatar]

This is maybe a stupid question but do you think there's any ties between like orientalist trends in western countries that glorify dharmic religions and Hindutva? Like I've heard 'Hinduism is the oldest religion on Earth' and 'Hinduism/Buddhism are just so much more enlightened than savage Abrahamic religions' and 'how could there be war and oppression in India? Hindus don't believe in violence' from white liberals and it certainly seems *convenient* for Hindutva propaganda, at least.

Not stupid at all! Historically, orientalism precedes modern Hindutva. The notion of a unified Hinduism is actually constructed in the echo of oriental constructions of India, with Savarkar clearly modelling One Nation, One Race, One Language on westphalian nationhood. He will often draw on Max Mueller type of indology orientalists in his writing in constructing the Hindu claim to a golden past and thus an ethnostate.

In terms of modern connections you can see the use and abuse of orientalism in South Asian postcolonial studies depts in the west that end up peddling Hindutva ideology –

The geographer Sanjoy Chakravorty recently promised that, in his new book, he would “show how the social categories of religion and caste as they are perceived in modern-day India were developed during the British colonial rule…” The air of originality amused me. This notion has been in vogue in South Asian postcolonial studies for at least two decades. The highest expression of the genre, Nicholas Dirks’s Castes of Mind, was published in 2001. I take no issue with claiming originality for warmed-over ideas: following the neoliberal mantra of “publish or perish,” we academics do it all the time. But reading Chakravorty’s essay, I was shocked at the longevity of this particular idea, that caste as we know it is an artefact of British colonialism. For any historian of pre-colonial India, the idea is absurd. Therefore, its persistence has less to do with empirical merit, than with the peculiar dynamics of the global South Asian academy.

[...] No wonder that Hindutvadis in both countries are now quoting their works to claim that caste was never a Hindu phenomenon. As Dalits are lynched across India and upper-caste South Asian-Americans lobby to erase the history of their lower-caste compatriots from US textbooks, to traffic in this self-serving theory is unconscionable.

You can see writer sociologists beloved of western academia like Ashish Nandy argue for the "inherent difference of indian civilization makes secularism impossible" and posit that the caste ridden gandhian hinduism is the answer as though the congress wasn't full of hindutva-lites and that the capture of dalit radicalism by electoralism and grift is actually a form of redistribution. Sorry if thats not necessarily relevant I like to hate on him.

Then most importantly is the deployment of "Islamic Colonization" that Hindu India must be rescued from, which is merely cover for the rebrahmanization of the country. This periodization and perspective of Indian history is obviously riven up in British colonial orientalism, see Romila Thapar's work on precolonial India. Good piece on what the former means if you've not engaged with it, fundamentally it posits an eternal Hindu innocence.

#sorry for not posting new articles tbh but these have received airtime before on this blog bc theyre good! #asks #hindutva

[ranilla-bean]

The Iconoclast: Appendix

This is the appendix for my fic The Iconoclast, in which I will discuss some of my cultural and historical inspirations for the worldbuilding.

Disclaimer: I'm certainly not an expert on or practitioner of all the cultures I took inspiration from. In outlining my influences I hope to show my admiration and give appropriate credit to them.

Contents

Intro

Religion

Martial culture

Talent show

Miscellaneous

The Iconoclast is set in the same world as ATLA, about 800 years before the era of the cartoon. I was inspired by 10th-11th century societies; the Fire Nation is inspired by the Khmer empire, Kyoshi Island is inspired by Heian period Japan, and so on. Of course, the aesthetics of Hari Bulkan are heavily inspired by Angkor—Virtual Angkor was a huge help in visualising the city. 

The immense population of Angkor was sustained by intricate water management techniques. The Khmer built reservoirs to collect water and sustain agriculture through the dry season. However, the impressive structures of Angkor had a dark side: they were built by enslaved labourers. Enslaved labour was extracted through human trafficking and debt bondage. In The Iconoclast, I integrated the institution of slavery with the caste system.

The exception to my adherence to periodisation was in the Inuit traditions that inspired the Southern Water Tribe, as the 10th-11th centuries appear to have been a period of migration eastwards across the Arctic for Inuit people. In addition to this, periodisation in Inuit history is more difficult to reconstruct due to the colonial destruction of knowledge. As a result, I took broader inspiration from pre-colonial Inuit culture.

Religion

The Fire Nation is based on the Khmer empire, which in this period adhered to Hinduism before the uptake of Buddhism. The cult of the Devaraja (lit. “god-king” in Sanskrit) arises from the specifically Southeast Asian branch of Hinduism. The Devaraja is regarded as the avatar (in this case, a human incarnation) of Vishnu. The Khmer king was marked out by dress: he wore a golden crown, or a wreath of flowers. His palms and the soles of his feet were stained red. He wore a sampot patterned all over with flowers—the more flowers, the higher the status.  

I conceptualised Zuko as being seen as an incarnation of the sun. Following Hinduism, this would be Surya. Fanon tends to use “Agni”, in fact the god of fire. Either way, as a non-practitioner of this religion, I’ve personally avoided using gods still worshipped today in my worldbuilding. My inspiration has largely been in the philosophy of religion.

Such philosophical ideas include: dharma, avatara, ahimsa, and brahman vs. atman. I found the Bhagavad Gita highly informative in developing these concepts—themselves debated in Hinduism—as well as ideas about the dilemma of Arjuna and the imagery associated with Krishna. I had an enlightening conversation with my friend Tana, who convinced me of the need to address the legacy of caste and casteism arising from the text. Ideas of caste carry certain baggage in the western world that I wanted to pare back, hence the differing terminologies of “in-” and “out-caste” used in The Iconoclast.

The philosophies of Hinduism overlap with and develop in slightly different ways in Buddhism, which I explored through Choden. One instance is the Hindu notion of the Chakravarti, an ideal universal emperor (lit. “the one whose wheels are turning” in Sanskrit). A non-secular Chakravarti would in fact be a Buddha, someone who has reached enlightenment. Since Choden is the one who introduces this concept, I used the more literal term “the Turner of the Wheel” to disambiguate from “Buddha” (which immediately draws certain connotations), and also to draw a more direct relationship between the Arjuna imagery associated with Zuko.

This religious worldview stands in contrast to animism of pre-/early Shinto Japanese religion and Inuit spirituality, as reflected by Suki and Sokka. Princess Mononoke was in fact a huge inspiration! I conceived of the kami in the context of Shintoism before the major influence of Buddhism; Suki also worships at a kamidana shelf.

For the Inuit, all things have anirniq, “breath/soul”, which lingers even after death. Therein lies the tension: between the need to hunt for survival and the vengeful soul that the act of killing liberates. The website I used as my source has a great quote on this: “the great peril of our existence lies in the fact that our diet consists entirely of souls.” These souls must be placated through ritual and observance of taboo. 

Importantly, I was interested in how each practitioner of religion approaches that philosophy in their individual ways, so none of the characters are perfect “representatives” of an ideal embodiment of that religion. Zuko is wary of his god status. Choden’s obsession with Zuko as Chakravarti makes her an outlier among the airbenders. Sokka trusts his “material” technologies of survival (i.e. weaponry) over spirituality, even though he practises the rites still, such as the smearing of lampblack and ritual words.

Martial culture

Sokka’s weapons generally mirror the ones he had in the show, with some additional embellishment. The snow knife is used to cut snow, but applied into a martial context by Sokka. The metal is sourced from a meteorite and cold forged; my inspiration was the Cape York meteorite, which Greenlandic Inuit used to fashion tools. Sokka’s club is made of jawbone, the strongest bone and stronger still from a herbivore. I combined the caribou and wombat into the “caribombat” for this, a nod to both an important Arctic animal to Inuit culture and to Sokka’s antipodean roots.

Suki is based on early samurai. She uses the fans from the show, but instead of the katana (which we see her wield in “Appa’s Lost Days”) she uses a tanto, which is a kind of predecessor of the katana and can be used as an offhand blade or a weapon in its own right. Women could also carry a smaller version of this blade for self defence. Her armour is Heian period do-maru armour, which was a lighter development on older styles of armour, made of scales of lacquered leather. I was particularly in love with the idea of her having a helmet and a men-yoroi mask, which was used as facial armour.

Zuko’s fighting style is inspired by bokator, a Khmer boxing style. He uses the short sticks instead of the dual dao, which can become truly dynamic weapons!

Talent show

Suki’s performances are based on the Japanese tea ceremony and bianlian from Sichuanese opera. The preparation method of the Japanese tea ceremony—whisking powdered tea—is in fact borrowed from the Chinese Song dynasty, which fits the time period of the world. Bianlian involves a performer very quickly changing a series of masks to a secret technique. It’s way more fun to watch on video than to read, I admit!

Osha’s dance is… meant to be the royal Cambodian ballet. The dance evokes the apsaras, dancing celestial beings in Hindu culture (incidentally, they are depicted on the walls of the fire temple on Full Moon Island). And just like western ballet, it takes years of training and skill to master!

Miscellaneous

Druk is, in this conception, a naga instead of… whatever unholy mix of cultures’ dragons LoK drew him as. Nagas are found across South and Southeast Asian cultures, and in Khmer culture they are typically represented as serpents—sometimes with multiple heads. They are associated with water, prosperity, and various other positive connotations. There’s a whole rabbit hole I don’t really want to get into about why I’m putting a water-associated creature in the Fire Nation (East Asian dragons are associated with water too!) but I do want to point out that there is a natural phenomenon on the Mekong called “naga fireballs” so… I’m running with that. 

Full Moon Island is Crescent Island… before the eruption that turned it into a caldera.

Osha’s name is not a health and safety pun; I’m not American and I call it WH&S, it was a total coincidence. It means “shining” in Sanskrit—apt for a Fire Nation character, I think. 

And finally… Mo Liudou’s name is a Cantonese joke! 冇料到 means “lacking results”. And the place where he comes from, “Mo Gwaiyong” (冇鬼用), means “no bloody use”. So he's Lacking Results from No Bloody Use.

#read chapter 5 first! #zukki dp wip #atla #my fic #yeah ok i know im a nerd no one @ me #putting my 2 ancient history degrees to good use

[hussyknee]

I accidentally deleted this ask yesterday but fortunately had a screenshot. Ngl I'm kind of ??? about it because...why would you single out Hinduism to pick the most fundamentalist, cultural and political aspect of it, that's not even practised in most the Hindu minorities outside of India? Nearly every community in India has a caste system regardless of religion. Within Hinduism there's no just one caste system either. Eelam Tamil Hindus have a caste system, but it's not as violent as India's (although of course still violent and oppressive). Sinhalese have a caste system too, and the ones still invested in it would swear blind this was related to Buddhism somehow, a doctrine that preaches against inequality of any kind. Caste systems are literally haram in Islam and yet some Muslim communities managed to rationalize creating one because they wanted to assimilate into the worst of us I guess.

I know fuck all about Hinduism to tell you the truth, but my sister is a convert and devotee of Durga Matha. I asked her about it and she sent me this:

There are as many variants of Hinduism as there are varieties of grass. The only thing they have in common is the Vedas which is a bunch of hymns and stuff. It doesn't really go into detail about caste.

The caste system comes from a book called Manu Smriti. Some accept it as a Hindu text, some don't. Hinduism isn't even a religion actually. It's a bunch of similar belief systems that the Britishers lumped in together for ease of classification. Within Hinduism there are many sects- Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism, etc. So to define Hinduism as some sort of oppressive religion doesn't make sense because it isn't a religion as Westerners define it. Anyway, truth is everyone cherry picks the parts of religion that suits them and discards the rest. Some think that's being dishonest. I think that's just common sense.

This makes sense to me. It's very colonial to monolithize belief systems that evolved from the disparate religious texts and syncretic practices of dozens of kingdoms and dynasties over 4000 years, just because it shares the unique character of belonging to the Indian subcontinent. (Which is precisely why its propagated by Hindutva nutcases. They're imperialist colonizers permanently snorting Indian manifest destiny crack.)

Bestie. Friendo. My guy (gender neutral). Ideology doesn't shape society. People wrap ideology around what they already want to believe and do. This is how you get Zionists (both Christian and Jewish), Wahabi/Salafi Muslims, Hindutvas and... whatever we're supposed to call this current iteration of Theravadin Buddhism that is also characterized by ethnosupremacy and genocide. Religion takes the character of the individuals and ideologues that choose to follow it. There are no exceptions.

To reiterate the point that inspired this ask: Some LGBT folks's queerness is inextricable from their religious identity. Stigmatising and ostracizing religion in queer spaces is alienating, racist and violent. Just like no one should force religion on you, no one should force secularism on people either. There is enough air for us all to breathe free.

#religion #hinduism #religious tolerance #casteism #social stratification #buddhism #islam #anti zionism #hindutva #culture and society #racism #colonialism #christianity #knee of huss #asks #anon #sri lanka

[1americanconservative]

When most Westerners, especially the secular ones, think of religion they think of something they have seen in their own cultures and societies, i.e., Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

And quite naturally, since most of them lack the insight and knowledge to understand Islam properly, they tend to lump it in with the other religions. That is a big mistake.

Islam can be properly described as a totalitarian way of life and a highly effective system of conquest, disguised as a religion.

Islam is totalitarian, not just in the sense of theocratic and dictatorial regimes, but also in the sense that there is virtually no part of a believer’s life that is not touched or influenced in some manner by it.

Virtually everything a Muslim does is influenced or guided by his faith, by Sharia law, or both.

In this sense, free will as Westerners and other non-Muslims understand it, is anathema to those inhabiting Dar al-Islam, the “House of Islam.”

Likewise, there is no real analog to the Western notion of liberty or freedom. The Arabic word most closely corresponding to “freedom” is typically said to be “hurriya,” but this is false for the term does not correspond to “liberty” or “freedom” in the sense that an American, for example, would understand it.

It instead means “freedom” to do as “Allah wills” for that individual.

Many traditional religious faiths and systems have laws or codes of law which attach to them.

What makes Sharia (Islamic) law unique, however, is that in theory, it applies not only to Muslims but to non-Muslims as well. At least that is what the Koran, the Hadith, and the Sira command.

Non-Muslims or kafirs, also known as infidels, ~ are denied the most basic of human rights under Islamic suzerainty.

They are most often akin to slaves, serfs, or supplicants, and even those non-Muslim dhimmis who serve a useful purpose to the sultan or caliph and survive on that basis, are still treated with inhuman brutality and can be beaten or slain at the whim of any Muslim male.

Most Westerners are familiar with the history of slavery, but how many know that Muslims have been the greatest slavers in history?

Which is to say, the most prolific takers, buyers, and sellers of slaves in history.

Even today, in many parts of the Islamic world, the Arabic word for slave, “Abd,” is synonymous with the slang or informal word for a black man.

Although the Muslims took many millions of black Africans as slaves, they likewise took many millions of Europeans and other peoples as slaves from temperate climates further north, venturing as far north as Ireland and Iceland on slave-taking raids.

As some of you may know, the very first war fought by the United States as an independent nation was the Barbary War of 1801-1805 (with a brief flare-up in 1815), fought against Islamic raiders and pirates off the coast of North Africa.

These nautical jihadists had been seizing American shipping and holding the passengers and cargo for ransom.

President Thomas Jefferson grew tired of their demands and sent the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to Tripoli to teach them a lesson.

Various Islamic potentates, rulers, and warlords have infamously slain infidels by the multitudes down through the centuries.

According to the work of historians and political scientists who have studied such phenomena, the greatest or largest single genocide in human history was committed by the Islamic Mughal Empire in what is now the Indian sub-continent over years in the 15th century.

During that time, an estimated 270 million Hindus and other non-Muslims were put to the sword.

So many were slain that the streets ran with blood and giant pyramids of human skulls were erected by the soldiers of Allah.

Of course, many other empires and nations have committed acts of genocide, but such wanton bloodletting is impressive even by the standards of the worst tyrants of the 20th century, who had modern industrial warfare and weapons at their disposal but did not manage to even approach the totals of the Mughal Empire.

Historians consider the Armenian genocide (1915-1921) to be the first “modern” genocide since it was the first such atrocity that was recorded by still and motion-picture photography.

The Sunni Muslim Ottoman Empire in what is now modern-day Turkey was responsible for it and even today, under the government of Recep Erdogan, the president of Turkey, it is still a crime to speak or write of the extermination of the Armenians and Greeks, most of whom were Christians.

Anyone who has seen the haunting photos of young girls, Christian virgins, crucified by their captors and slowly dying in the hot sun in the desert, will never forget them.

These basic historical facts about Islam used to be widely known and taught across the West, but they have been politely airbrushed out of our history in recent decades, and now few people know of them …. or the danger presented by the soldiers of Allah.

[memecucker]

The thing is, a decent chunk of “non-religious” Japanese are people who practice Shintoism and believe in gods, but don’t consider themselves to have a true religion even though they are religious by Western standards. Ditto many Chinese people who aren’t CCP members: lots of people there claim no formal religion but believe in divine beings and a half-coherent mixture of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. It’s the “spiritual but not religious” problem

(2/2) the census question Westerners give to Chinese people also usually uses the Chinese name for the Christian god. If you ask them whether they believe in “heaven” as a euphemism for believing in gods, you separate the real atheists from the fakes. The word “atheism” itself is already an abbreviation for general anti-superstition and anti-magical thinking.

So the thing with this “well it might *seem* like this country is irreligious but *actually*” argument is that I have only ever heard people use it in the context of Asian countries. When people talk about say, Sweden being a highly secular country i have never seen people respond by going “Well actually a majority of Swedes are baptized into the Lutheran Church of Sweden so really its a land of highly spiritual people” or by bringing up Christmas traditions that are still popular or whatever. People are quite ready to accept the idea that Swedes baptize their children simply out of tradition rather than a true profession of faith and that for all intents and purposes Sweden is a country where aesthetics or traditions with religious origins or even religious meanings may still be common but that religion itself does not play an active role in social life.

But with Asian countries people seem to want to have things go back to a rather stereotypical view of a land of deep seated spirituality and discount evidence to the contrary

[sophieinwonderland]

Where the actual fuck is your source for claiming anti-endos are pro-genocide? That's a HUGE fucking claim to make a biiiiiig stretch. Like you are actively dismissing people who are Tibetan who have said there's an issue with the usage of the term already- and now you're claiming a HUGE demographic is pro-genocide?

Who? I'm genuinely curious. I don't see many anti-tulpas who actually identify as Tibetan Buddhists. A lot are really vague about the type of Buddhism they practice or don't even seem to know where the tulpa even comes from.

Before going any further, it's important to understand the relationship between China and Tibet. I covered this in another post:

The above post was in response to an anti-endo who repeatedly echoed CCP talking points that "Tibet is a part of China," which while true from a certain point of view, is a little disturbing in a conversation about the cultural identity of the Tibetan people. This culminated in them describing the Dalai Lama as an "80-year-old Chinese Man," which is incredibly invalidating to the Tibetan people who have been struggling to maintain their freedom for reasons so obvious that I shouldn't have to spell out.

And the anti-endo community... doesn't care.

I wouldn't say they're pro-genocide. They're just... genocide-neutral when it comes to Tibet. By erasing the unique cultural identity of the Tibetan people, they can pretend that all Asians are a monoculture and anyone of any Asian descent have just as much right to declare Tibetan Buddhism as a closed practice and anything borrowed from it appropriation.

Even if that ancestry may be from the same people who invaded and are oppressing Tibet, it doesn't matter to them, because anti-endos don't care about Tibetan culture, history or autonomy any further than using them as talking point to silence one of the largest communities of created systems

They're okay with repeating CCP propaganda that erases Tibetan identity as long as that propaganda suits their own interests.

Anti-endos, at every opportunity, erase the history of Tibet and Tibetan religious leaders.

They claim that Tibetan Buddhism is a closed religion, something that practically every Tibetan Buddhist will tell you is wrong in a heartbeat, and erases the countless monasteries across the globe that are welcome to everyone.

When that doesn't work, they will claim that Tibetan Buddhist practices cannot be used by people who aren't Tibetan Buddhists, contradicting the Dalai Lama himself encouraging other religions to use Tibetan Buddhist meditations.

They will try to paint the story of how the tulpa arrived in the West as one of white people stealing Tibetan culture, erasing the involvement of translator Lama Kazi Dawa Samdup in bringing Tibetan culture to the West, tulpa included, helping to spread knowledge of their religion around the world in a way that would appeal to Western audiences.

And as we see above, many anti-endos will go so far as to actively support CCP propaganda that brands Tibet as nothing more than just another part of China or the Dalai Lama a "Chinese man," literally supporting the CCP in its aim of erasing Tibet's identity.

Make no mistake, the anti-endos who pretend to be so angry over people identifying as tulpas don't actually care about Tibetan culture. They don't care about the secular CCP trying to take control of the religion. They don't care about teachers being imprisoned for teaching the Tibetan language.

When the current Dalai Lama passes, the CCP will try to choose their own illegitimate reincarnation as they did the Panchen Lama. Anti-endos and you won't hear a peep out of anti-tulpas who will continue to act as if the greatest atrocity to befall Tibetan culture is created systems borrowing a word with a Tibetan etymology.

The whole thing is just performative.

Anti-endos try to speak for Tibetan Buddhists, rewrite Tibetan history, and erase the autonomy of Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leaders to determine who can and cannot use their spiritual practices. Then they turn a blind eye when their own echo CCP rhetoric that has been used to justify the cultural genocide of Tibet.

#ask box #syscourse #endogenic #pro endogenic #plural #tibetan buddhism #china #ccp #genocide #cultural genocide #tibet #plurality #multiplicity #system #systems #china communist party #politics #pro tulpa #anti tulpa #tulpa

[itscoldinwonderland]

White western atheist love to try and athe-ize and secularize non-white religions. They will say things like "buddhism isn't a religion and they don't believe in god, it's just a philosophy really" and then a Buddhist will respond "actually Buddhism is a religion and we don't really consider ourselves atheist and we have spiritual beliefs that involve mysticism", then the atheist will try to convince the Buddhist that they don't know their own religion. This isn't even specific to Buddhism, I've seen this with Hinduism and even Judaism and with belief systems like pantheism (which litterally has theism in the name). It's wild idk.

#text post #theism #religion #spirituality #buddhism #im no longer Buddhist but ya that happened a lot to me #the Buddhist way of thinking would say that the opinon of others trying to define your beliefs are not relevant #which is why you wont see many Buddhist engaging in discussion on if buddhism is s religion bc it doesn't matter what you call it #but just so we clear it is..

[vedurnan]

Do you have any recommendations of books or other resources for people to learn more about religion as you describe? It sounds really cool

ok honestly, i would not describe myself as someone who knows much about religion at all, it's kind of just like a hobby to me, but i can tell u what i like to look at and what has informed my own awareness of religion... which i am certain is really amateurish and almost totally focused on western christianity. but this is what i like:

i really like bart ehrman who is this scholar of early christianity and the new testament, he's an atheist but he used to be like a liberal christian and fell out of it bc of the problem of evil. he has a perspective i really enjoy where he seems to be just fascinated by early christianity and to enjoy talking about it. i was introduced to him thru his lecture series "how jesus became god" on the great courses and i love love love his podcast "misquoting jesus" where he talks about a different topic relating to early christianity or the bible every week. just a really pleasing secular scholarly look at some very interesting shit imo! love bart. he also has a bunch of books which i wish to read at some point but have never touched

i also enjoy this youtube channel "ready to harvest" that makes these like lecture videos about various christian denominations and their beliefs and practices and histories. i think the guy who runs it is like a baptist academic of some kind which is wack imo but he seems to really make an effort to represent every denomination on their own terms and i find his videos endlessly fascinating. i think i've learned more about the history of christian denominations in america especially from watching those videos than from anything else

when it comes to actual religious literature i really like thomas merton especially his book "new seeds of contemplation" but there is such a wealth of merton writing i haven't even touched. his writing is the first time i've heard a christian talk about their own experience of god in a way that i found meaningful to my own life. he articulates a lot of things that are almost impossible to discuss in words and i find his writing really beautiful. i've also read like a scattering of much older christian stuff like meister eckhart or the sayings of the desert fathers and a lot of that stuff is cool but a lot is also totally strange or disagreeable to me, i think it's more like poetry to me

i've been loving reading "the heart of the buddha's teaching" by thich nhat hanh, it's such a sweetly written book and such a pleasing introduction to buddhist thought. there are a lot of passages from that book that i think back to on a daily basis when i'm navigating thru life. i think buddhism is the religion that i find most true to the nature of my reality and most relevant to my own human life but i'm way less knowledgeable about it than christianity because i find christianity so vivid and strange and fascinating i can't look away

[mahayanapilgrim]

The Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism

Images and What They Mean

The Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism originated in Indian iconography. In ancient times, many of these same symbols were associated with the coronations of kings, but as they were adopted by Buddhism, they came to represent offerings the gods made to the Buddha after his enlightenment.

Although westerners may be unfamiliar with some of the Eight Auspicious Symbols, they can be found in the art of most schools of Buddhism, especially in Tibetan Buddhism. In some monasteries in China, the symbols are placed on lotus pedestals in front of statues of the Buddha. The symbols are often used in decorative art, or as a point of focus for meditation and contemplation 

Here is a brief overview of the Eight Auspicious Symbols: 

The Parasol

The parasol is a symbol of royal dignity and protection from the heat of the sun. By extension, it represents protection from suffering.

The ornate parasol usually is depicted with a dome, representing wisdom, and a "skirt" around the dome, representing compassion. Sometimes the dome is octagonal, representing the Eightfold Path. In other uses, it is square, representing the four directional quarters.

Two Golden Fish

The two fish were originally symbolic of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, but came to represent general good fortune for Hindus, Jainists, and Buddhists. Within Buddhism, it also symbolizes that living beings who practice the dharma need have no fear to drown in the ocean of suffering, and can freely migrate (chose their rebirth) like fish in the water.

The Conch Shell

In Asia, the conch has long been used as a battle horn. In the Hindu epic The Mahabharata, the sound of the hero Arjuna's conch terrorized his enemies. In ancient Hindu times, a white conch also represented the Brahmin caste.

In Buddhism, a white conch that coils to the right represents the sound of the Dharma reaching far and wide, awakening beings from ignorance.

The Lotus

The lotus is an aquatic plant that roots in deep mud with a stem that grows up through murky water. But the blossom rises above the muck and opens in the sun, beautiful and fragrant. So perhaps its no surprise that in Buddhism, the lotus represents the true nature of beings, who rise through samsara into the beauty and clarity of enlightenment.

The color of the lotus also has significance:

* White: Mental and spiritual purity

* Red: The heart, compassion and love

* Blue: Wisdom and control of the senses

* Pink: The historical Buddha

* Purple: Mysticism

The Banner of Victory

The victory banner signifies the Buddha's victory over the demon Mara and over what Mara represents--passion, fear of death, pride and lust. More generally, it represents the victory of wisdom over ignorance.  There is a legend that the Buddha raised the victory banner over Mount Meru to mark his victory over all phenomenal things.

The Vase

The treasure vase is filled with precious and sacred things, yet no matter how much is taken out, it is always full. It represents the teachings of the Buddha, which remained a bountiful treasure no matter how many teachings he gave to others. It also symbolizes long life and prosperity.

The Dharma Wheel, or Dharmachakra

The Dharma Wheel, also called the dharma-chakra or dhamma chakka, is one of the most well-known symbols of Buddhism. In most representations, the Wheel has eight spokes, representing the Eightfold Path. According to tradition, the Dharma Wheel was first turned when the Buddha delivered his first sermon after his enlightenment. There were two subsequent turnings of the wheel, in which teachings on emptiness (sunyata) and on inherent Buddha-nature were given. 

The Eternal Knot

The Eternal Knot, with its lines flowing and entwined in a closed pattern, represents dependent origination and the interrelation of all phenomena. It also may signify the mutual dependence of religious doctrine and secular life; of wisdom and compassion; or, at the time of enlightenment, the unions of emptiness and clarity.  

#buddha #buddhism #buddhist #dharma #sangha #mahayana #zen #milarepa #tibetan buddhism #thich nhat hanh

[panatmansam]

SECULAR BUDDHISM READING LIST

Secular Buddhism is Buddhism without the religion aspect. This means we approach Buddhism from a scientific, Western angle while rejecting references to superstition, adoration of clergy, miracle stories and the like. There is a fairly comprehensive body of literature on the topic.

Here are some of my favorites. Have I missed any?

Buddhism without Beliefs, Stephen Batchelor

Why I am Not a Buddhist, Evan Thompson

What the Buddha Taught, Wapola Rahula

Siddhartha's Brain, James Kingsland

The Science of Mindfulness, Ronald Siegal

After Buddhism, Stephen Batchelor

Buddhism and Science, Daniel Lopez

Buddhism and Science, B. Alan Wallace

Why Buddhism is True, Robert Wright

The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet, Matthew Ricard

#Secular Buddhism #Buddhism #Buddhism books

[arthurdrakoni]

Flag of Buddhist India

This is the flag of Buddhist India. It comes from a world where Buddhism remained the dominate religion of India. It began during the reign of Ashoka the Great. As in our world, Ashoka converted to Buddhism after spending much of his life as a warlord who united much of India. Unlike our world, however, Ashoka formalized the relationship between the Sangha and the secular government. Ashoka’s system can be thought of as similar to the role the Catholic Church played in Medieval Europe in our world. Buddhist monasteries received funding via taxes, and the monks often involved themselves in the affairs of the state.   Another result of Ashoka’s reforms was that the Maurya Empire lasted several centuries longer than it did in our world. The empire covered almost all of the Indian Subcontinent, and its continued existence lead to a sense of Pan-Indian identity. In fact, the Maurya Empire would come to hold the same cultural significance in India as the Roman Empire does in the West, and the Han Dynasty does in China. All future Indian empires would, to varying degrees, attempt to emulate the glories of the Maurya Empire.   The changes resulting from Ashoka’s reforms ultimately meant that Vedantic Hinduism never came to be. However, life for the average Indian didn’t really change all that much under Buddhism. Most people continued to worship the same local gods they always had. The old traditions mixed freely with the new. For example, you might go to the Buddhist temple to pray for enlightenment and contemplate philosophy. However, if your child got sick, you would pray to whoever the local healer deity happened to be. The caste system never came to be, but there was a still a strict social hierarchy within Indian society.   In time, several Buddhist monks began to study the natural world, and developed natural philosophy of a sort. This led to several discoveries and innovation, the most significant of which was the discovery of gunpowder. India went on several campaigns of expansion. Several of these were nominally to spread Buddhism, but in practice, were really about expanding India’s political and cultural power. India conquered Persia, and even managed to push as far west as Egypt and the Levant. However, holding these lands proved harder. The empire shrank to only the Indian Subcontinent in a little over 100 years. However, this brief period of expansion did lead to Buddhism spreading further. Iran follows a combination of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and Central Asia is majority Buddhist. Southeast Asia is also majority Buddhist. It also helps that Islam was never found in this world.  Buddhist remain a significant minority in the Near East. Unfortunately, there have also been numerous conflicts between Buddhists and Christians in these lands. Buddhism never made major in-roads in Europe, barring a few minor communities in the Balkans. There were some Buddhist communities in Spain and Southern France, but they were whipped-out by Christian forces. Unlike our world, most Westerners do not stereotype Buddhists as being pacifists. In fact, due to a misunderstanding about Buddhist belief in reincarnation, many Christians stereotyped Buddhists as being violent, and having an incredibly cavalier attitude towards human life. However, during this world’s equivalent of the Enlightenment, several European scholars began to re-examine and reevaluate Buddhism. Though, they also often viewed it through a heavily Orientalist lens. The flag is orange and maroon in reference to the colors of Buddhist monk robes. The white is to offset the orange and maroon. The Wheel of Samsara, also known as the Wheel of Rebirth, is displayed prominently in the center of the flag.

Link to the original flag on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2023/05/flag-of-buddhist-india.html?m=1

#alternate history #Flags #Flag #Buddhist India #Flag of Buddhist India #Buddhism India #Buddhism #India #vexillology #alternate history flags #alternate history flag #Ashoka the Great #Maurya Empire #Mauryan Empire #alt history

[blrowanducks-blog]

Guhyasamāja Tantra (Part LX)

The most striking aspect of the yoga related with the third initiation and one that many will find intriguing and perhaps troubling is that it specifically involves the use of sexual energy. Given that Tantra works directly with emotions and utilizes various physical and psychic yogas, it would be surprising if it neglected what is after all a driving impulse in human existence. Even so, for many people, the idea of using the sexual act as a spiritual path may seem strange if not actually contradictory. perhaps this is due to the fact that in western religions, the morally correct environment for sexual activity is considered to be marriage, and the spiritual dimension of sex is intimately associated with the begetting of children. At the other end of the spectrum, it is evident in secular life that sex is often trivialized and debased in exploitative and degrading ways. These two contrasting attitudes are apt to complicate our approach to this aspect of the tantra, and in the task of interpretation, it is hard to find a vocabulary able to express the notions of both physical intercourse and spiritual purity in ways that are not either unduly diffident or else tainted by prurience and vulgarity. In Tibetan Buddhism, the instructions associated with the third initiation are regarded as extremely high teachings and are the object of profound respect. they are not widely disseminated and are well beyond the reach of the majority of practitioners.

Given this we procede into the next section of the sadhana, preparing a knowledge consort.

In Sanskrit, a "knowledge consort" is referred to as "Vidyasamskarah." The term "vidya" translates to "knowledge" or "wisdom," and "samskarah" signifies a transformative process or ritual. Together, Vidyasamskarah represents the embodiment of knowledge and the transformative power it holds.

Vidyasamskarah is a symbolic representation or personification of wisdom and learning. It is often depicted as a female deity, adorned with symbols of knowledge such as books, scrolls, or a sacred script. She is revered as the divine source of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.

The primary purpose of Vidyasamskarah in rituals is to invoke and honor the essence of knowledge. Rituals involving Vidyasamskarah are commonly performed on significant occasions connected to education, learning, and the pursuit of wisdom. These may include academic ceremonies, initiation rituals, or spiritual gatherings where knowledge transmission and learning are emphasized.

During such rituals, Vidyasamskarah is invoked through sacred chants, hymns, and mantras. Offerings like flowers, incense, and symbolic representations of knowledge, such as books or writing implements, are presented to her as a mark of reverence. Participants seek her blessings to acquire knowledge, enhance their intellectual capacities, and overcome obstacles in their pursuit of learning.

Vidyasamskarah rituals can also involve the performance of specific ceremonies or rites. For example, students or seekers of knowledge may undergo a formal initiation ceremony, during which they receive a sacred thread or a special mark on their forehead, denoting their commitment to pursuing knowledge. This initiation is believed to instill a sense of discipline, respect, and dedication to learning.

Additionally, Vidyasamskarah rituals may include the recitation of sacred texts, prayers, or mantras associated with learning and wisdom. These acts are performed to invoke the blessings of Vidyasamskarah and seek her guidance in the acquisition of knowledge and intellectual growth.

Overall, Vidyasamskarah plays a vital role in the ritualistic and cultural aspects of education, learning, and the pursuit of knowledge. She represents the divine embodiment of wisdom and is revered as a source of inspiration, guidance, and blessings for those seeking intellectual and spiritual enlightenment.

The Sadhana continues:

"PREPARING A KNOWLEDGE CONSORT

EMANATING A KNOWLEDGE SEAL FROM YOUR HEART

A knowledge consort who is of my spiritual lineage emerges from my heart".

This section of the practice, called "preparing a knowledge consort," is taught to show that a buddha's enlightened state, which is made up of the three bodies, is attained by means of the path that incorporates passionate conduct. A buddha's three bodies are represented in the sadhana by the overall practice of taking the three ordinary states of death, the intermediate state, and rebirth as paths to a buddha's three bodies, which has already been explained. Following that, the practice of preparing a knowledge consort is meant to indicate that the path that incorporates passionate conduct is a necessary element of the effort to attain this ultimate goal. Yongdzin Yeshe Gyeltsen describes the heading for this topic in the following manner: "The Topic of Preparing a Knowledge Consort, Which Has as Its Purpose the Aim of Indicating Moreover That the Attainment of Such an Ultimate State, Which Is Made Up of a Buddha's Three Bodies, Is Accomplished on the Basis of the Extraordinary Mantrayana Conduct That Includes]

Activities Incorporating Attachment toward Sensory Objects as Elements of the Path." He further describes this topic as being made up of these three divisions: (1) the essential point of preparing the knowledge consort, (2) the essential point of generating passionate desire, and (3) the essential point of making an offering.

The first of these, preparing the knowledge consort, begins in the sadhana recitation with the words: "A knowledge consort who is of my spiritual lineage emerges from my heart." At this point, you are appearing in Vajradhara's emanation-body form. Regarding the phrase "knowledge consort who is of your spiritual lineage," there are five types of "action seal," or consorts, that are specified for practitioners depending on which of the five lineage tathāgatas is the principal deity. The consort for a practitioner of Vairocana's lineage should be a young woman of the washerman caste. For a practitioner of Ratnasambhava's lineage, she should be of the garland maker caste. For a practitioner of Amitabha's lineage, she should be of the actor caste. For a practitioner of Amoghasiddhi's lineage, she should be of an artisan caste. For a practitioner of Akṣobhya's lineage, she should be a young woman of the rajaka caste, that is, a caṇḍāla, which means a person of the lowest caste. The lineage tathāgata that is the principal deity in this sadhana ritual is Akṣobhya.

While a generation-stage practitioner can engage in this part of the practice with either an action seal or a knowledge seal, the wording of the sadhana ritual is based on the assumption that you are doing the practice with a knowledge seal who is emanated mentally from your heart. That is, the consort that you emanate is one whose nature is your own inseparable bliss voidness wisdom, which is manifesting itself in the external form of a female consort. Moreover, the form in which this consort is visualized initially is that of an ordinary woman of the particular caste that is most suitable for your practice, in this case, a young woman of the canḍāla or lowest caste.

Consorts are also classified according to the shape of the lower tip of the central channel inside their sexual organ as being padmini, hastini, sankhini, or mrgini. Female spiritual beings are also distinguished by their particular level of spiritual attainment as one of three types of female messenger: (1) the innate female messenger, (2) the female messenger born in a field, and (3) the female messenger born from mantra.

[d0ntw0rrybehappy]

Maybe extinction (angelicism) is the opposite of impermanence (Buddhism). A philosophy of linear progression or regression over cyclical movement. Western vs eastern thought. “Angelicism” is at least partly Judeo-Christian kitsch, ofc, the pop version if not the actual theology — the angels, the rosaries, the airbrushed, moist-eyed pics of Christ. The notion of extinction is not all that different from that of eternal damnation/salvation, made significant to a secular audience.

Anyway I should actually read something by angelicism bc this is just me turning the word “extinction” over in my head

[intermundia]

Wow, cudos to your explanation of the jedi code, that was deep, actually way too deep for a fanfic blog, lol. Gave me teary eyes, esp in how you integrated concept of western objectivity into buddhism. Not joking here, that was excellently thought provoking.

"way too deep for a fanfic blog" is my brand haha thank you. my goal with that post was just reporting the information about the jedi code that i've discovered in the past few years of exploring star wars. lucas's worldbuilding is a cocktail of california secular liberalism and the buddhist teachings that he had studied and that had entered popular culture at the time. based on his interviews we know that he intended to produce (and i personally think succeeded in producing) a secular mythology, intentionally crafting the jedi as a positive role model of how to live a good, moral life by helping others and being selfless. i find it fascinating how he used the vocabulary of modern western science, borrowing terms that are familiar to the western mind (aka 'force,' 'energy field') to articulate some fundamental buddhist ideas about the problem of greed and the value of meditation and compassion. he proposes an eastern-inspired collectivist morality wearing western clothes, you know? he was trying to encourage hope, collaboration, and moderation, all things missing from american culture, both in the 70s and to this day, and all things still desperately needed. i just think it's actually all more profound than people give it credit.

#star wars #my beloved #jedi order #sw #thank you for this message it is extremely kind and i am thrilled you found value in that post