/lit/ - Literature

I wonder if there are others here like me who have a deep interest in Buddhism, read a lot about it, and yet feel reluctant to bother getting into discussions about it here on /lit/.

I've tried and something about it just puts me right off. Maybe it's the exhausting nature of scanning through ten shitposts for a genuine one, or the clusterfuck of know-it-all's from contradictory traditions writing as if they are possessed of final knowledge and unwilling to modify their views, I don't know. Something about it annoys me so I usually don't bother.

But then I read threads and see the confusion and misunderstandings about Buddhism and it makes me want to get involved in it all again. Do I have a responsibility to any of you, to share what I consider the right-view? Is it selfish to ignore you all and keep it to myself?

I think this is just the wrong forum for the discussion. It taints it from the very beginning, although we have got into interesting territory in some past threads. I don't think we respect each other here, we are too accustomed to the 4chan style to interact with the patience we'd probably display in a different context.

Overall I'd advise those with the interest to continue pursuing it yourselves, alone, and engaging the controversies through books, not living debates with others online, which can turn nasty. It's easier to keep a detached perspective just reading about the issues from books. We're not missing anything or any new lines of argument by ignoring online discussions, it's all old territory inasmuch as monks have been discussing it for 2500 years.

My main interest these days is Buddhism. Among all the books I have, those by Japanese scholars seem to stand out with a peculiar style. They are very objective, as if written from a great distance yet with intimate familiarity of the subject. Books by non-Japanese seem unnecessarily wordy, often to absurd extents (looking at you. Mrs Rhys-Davids) or haughty (Conze).

Is this a cultural thing? I don't know much about Japanese culture or language.

pic somewhat related, monkeys on vulture peak mountain (a sacred place where the Buddha dwelt)