/lit/ - Literature

>>23262204
pic related written by the kind of person who scientifically observes meditating monks and stuff, I am sure he's popular at reddit (haven't read the book, caveat emptor)
also Meditations on the Tarot: it has 1 or 2 chapters on meditation and 20 or 21 on other fun stuff to do in life instead of meditating

>>19914774
It's idiotic to try and "disprove" a religion, but it IS worth reminding people that's what Buddhism is, and as such is just as made up and biased as any other. Pic related is a wonderful example of how to ground a reasoned response to the reddit-type modern converts, all in good faith, by a guy that's an expert on the matter and won't try to convert you to any other religion (unlike, say, Paul Williams, who while being an authority on Buddhism and Nagarjuna became a very devout Catholic and actively proselytizes when he can.)

If you want more autistic criticism, try these:

http://jayarava.blogspot.com/ (for a clinical dissection of the absurdity of things like karma, rebirth and a dispassionate study on how some sacred texts are very likely forgeries, all this while arguing we should preserve the positive aspects of the Buddhist project)

https://vividness.live/after-buddhist-ethics (for a thorough takedown that argues for a kind of secular tantra that's closer to Jungian integration therapy)

They're both run by guys who were deep into traditional Buddhism and found it wanting, inconsistent, etc. and decided to call a spade a spade.

Buddhism's strongest selling point is how its psychology and taxonomy of mind states seem unassailable, but that's not true either, it's just that most people lack the knowledge and philosophical tools to do so. There's a great compilation book called "Self, No-Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions". that presents a very tough challenge to traditional and modern Buddhist pictures of the mind. Mind (lol) you, this thing isn't accessible to the layman at all and I'd unironically recommend you start with the Greeks or a basic phenomenology book before you tackle this, as it's geared for academics and people that already know a lot of technical terms. But once you get what the controversy is, you'll never be able to take anatman uncritically.

Finally, Donald Lopez's historical and anthropological works are magnificent, and while he's a practicing Buddhist himself, he's not afraid of showing things as they are and will do just as good a job at making anyone question their beliefs. I recommend Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West, you'll discover some amazing things.

>>19810719

>>16978891
Read this, OP. It makes an interesting case of why the nature of Enlightenment with no-self or as something that can't be expressed with a concept isn't really consistent. Of course, believes might argue that it's all semantics but the definition that is normally used has some interesting gaps.

Post books that btfo orientalists