/lit/ - Literature

No, you have to be a Platonist. Leave nihilism to the soulless bug people.

It may appear anti-work due to the Western emphasis on constant work. It may appear anti-intellectual due to the Western emphasis on overactivity of the mind. It may appear anti-society due to the Western emphasis on running a society. It is a rejection and death, because the true self does not die. You still exist as conscious light, so it is not annihilation of the self. But the body is impermanent. The desire to be in a body is based on wanting to do or accomplish something in life. You are alive, so pay your rent and don't worry about leaving life, because you are still alive now. You die anyway, so the point is to enjoy life while you are alive. Although some people are against showing happiness. Fuck those people.

>>15586054
I don't think they are entirely incompatible

>>15586106
i’m all for these vibes but how do i go about it and not associate with the wretched asians......... nvm i think i know what i have to do......

>>15586048
It's a bit hard with all the translations and the fact that western culture sees Pure land Buddhism (meditations and religious worship) as the only form of Buddhism, despite that being a load of crap.

>>15586048
don't get into Buddhism. get into yourself.

>>15586048
It is tough...
>many, or maybe even most, Americans who consider themselves to be Theravada Buddhists are too lukewarm even to keep a minimal five precepts—in worldly society, not drinking alcohol is too inconvenient, and speaking sincerely is even more so—and that the system of Dhamma has degenerated from being primarily a radical system of renunciation to little more than a few elementary meditation techniques, plus some jargon. This situation applies even to the leaders of American sanghas. A president of a vipassana society, one of the senior teachers of the group, once made it clear to me that he didn't know who Ānanda was, which is rather like the leader of a Christian society not knowing who St. Peter was.

https://thebahiyablog.blogspot.com/2014/02/children-of-mammon.html

>>15586048
>What do you need to do to avoid the cringe?
1) Read Rene Guenon's 'Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines'
2) read the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita for an understanding of real metaphysics
3) read Coomaraswamy's and Ken Wheeler's essays on Buddhism and see how you can kinda finagle it to agree with Upanishadic teachings just so you can understand that maybe it wasn't totally garbage and that maybe under some fringe interpretation not followed by any buddhist school it makes a little bit of sense
4) proceed to read actual buddhist philosophy and laugh about how it doesn't make sense and how they do retarded stuff like denying the reality of consciousness and one's observing awareness and no school even understands what he taught but just creates their own explanation full of it's own contradictions and incoherent metaphysics
5) go back to reading the poetry and philosophy of actually good eastern philosophy (Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Sufism, Taoism etc)

>>15586519
>read ken wheeler's essays

>>15586048
you can never avoid the cringe since you can't control how people judge you. so learn how to face criticism
read MahaPrajnaParamita-Sastra by Nagarjuna if you want to truly know what Buddhism is

>>15586048
Read The Essential Teachings of Haukin to see how Buddhism really was

>>15586707
Hakuin*

>>15586048
not really, most westerners are attracted to buddhism because it doesn't present hard rules and responsibilities like islam or christianity do, it's very permissive in terms of morality and very silent about our origin/creation and final destiny.

no

>>15586519
Yes as /lit/'s history has shown us, being an advaitafag is the surest way to avoid being cringe. They're not the cringiest most insane posters in the last ten years or anything.

>>15586396
ok.
*sticks finger into asshole*

>>15586048
Just read Buddhist texts.
But you should be getting into the sacred texts of all the religions.
If you are not gleaning truth from all traditions and absorbing their wisdom syncretically then you are not based.
Stop looking for the one and only ism authority you lazily and blindly assent to.

>>15586519
>proceed to read actual buddhist philosophy and laugh about how it doesn't make sense and how they do retarded stuff
Doesn't that describe literally all religious philosophy though, including the ones you shilled at the end of your post? None of it makes sense, it's all completely unverifiable, it's just a justification for richfags to live as a NEET for the whole of their lives and if you don't manage to luck into having the right amount of money the only intellectual consolation you'll get is "LOL, you just gotta believe, brah, better luck next life!"

>>15586815
103:1.4.Rationalism is wrong when it assumes that religion is at first a primitive belief in something which is then followed by the pursuit of values. Religion is primarily a pursuit of values, and then there formulates a system of interpretative beliefs. It is much easier for men to agree on religious values—goals—than on beliefs—interpretations. And this explains how religion can agree on values and goals while exhibiting the confusing phenomenon of maintaining a belief in hundreds of conflicting beliefs—creeds. This also explains why a given person can maintain his religious experience in the face of giving up or changing many of his religious beliefs. Religion persists in spite of revolutionary changes in religious beliefs. Theology does not produce religion; it is religion that produces theologic philosophy.

103:1.5.That religionists have believed so much that was false does not invalidate religion because religion is founded on the recognition of values and is validated by the faith of personal religious experience. Religion, then, is based on experience and religious thought; theology, the philosophy of religion, is an honest attempt to interpret that experience. Such interpretative beliefs may be right or wrong, or a mixture of truth and error.

>>15586848
> Religion is primarily a pursuit of values
Try telling that to the uncultured masses. The only ones who are capable of reflection on this level are those who have enough wealth in order to have the leisure to do so. It is impossible to properly pursue the correct values if you are without wealth, as the vast majority of your peers will be unthinking brutes, and will lead you away from the good.

>>15586519
the state of intellectuals

>>15586519
>>15586558
>Ken Wheeler

You were doing well but you fucked it up

>>15586234
>western culture sees Pure land Buddhism (meditations and religious worship) as the only form of Buddhism

complete opposite of the truth, despite being the most widely practiced, pure land is the most overlooked form in the west (not always for bad reasons tho, e.g. the nianfo method doesn't suit the westerner imo)

>>15586048
The path to enlightenment is manifold. Pick whatever path is least objectionable to you.

>>15586753
so you think you are your asshole.

>>15587268
only chosen people can achieve true enlightenment on their own. Buddhism is larping to kill time and remain in comfort zone.

>>15586048
What do you mean by "Eastern religion?" Would it make sense to you if someone from Japan were to refer to Christianity, Gnosticism, Paganism, Wicca, Judaism, and Islam as "Western religion?" How would you react if you woke up one morning to find a thread on your favorite Chinese underwater basketweaving forum that begins with,
"Can you get into Judaism (or Western religion generally) as an Oriental without being cringe? What do you need to do to avoid the cringe?"

The first step is to stop thinking that such a thing as "Eastern religion" exists. It doesn't. Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Shinto, and all the rest are subsumed under the category of "Eastern religion." In order to not be "cringe," you have to realize that there is little sense in lumping all of these together and situate your interests in both an intellectual and regional context. Buddhism in Japan is not Buddhism in China.

>>15586716
>it's very permissive in terms of morality
No it's not. They might believe that, but that doesn't make it true.

>>15586106
>true self
>it is not annihilation of the self
Anatta

>>15586048
Don't go to Asia and don't adopt the outward trappings of the religion.

Or do those things if you want, but then you can't be worried about the cringe factor.

>>15586048
Most self-proclaimed buddhists in the west have massive anger issues, and the people most into hinduism are either yoga hoes or stoners who think they've realized brahmin through 150 µg of LSD.
Just keep your interest academic.

>>15587498
Ive never met a western buddhist who had anger issues. The only ones that did were millennials who saw Buddhism as a way of social activism and did not take dharma practice seriously

https://discord.gg/FFwRXKq

>>15586716
>buddhism because it doesn't present hard rules and responsibilities
Yes it does. You know as little about buddhism as the westerners you call out

>>15586048
1. Only interact with forms of Buddhism which are not cope, e.g. militant Japanese Zen or esoteric Buddhism. Most forms of Western Buddhism, especially American Buddhism (e.g. American Zen, which can be pretty different from Japanese Zen) are legitimate life-denying cults.
2. Only instrumentalize Buddhism towards primarily Western ends, cultural or philosophical. You are not Asian, you did not grow up in Buddhist culture and you navigate the Western cultural and philosophical sphere. If there is substance to Buddhistic practice and thought, this substance can be appreciated for what it is and in relation to what you are familiar with. Do not attempt to take on a false identity of someone who you are not, that's a form of pathetic escapism and inauthenticity.
3. Don't ever tell normies about your "interest in Buddhism".

>>15587653
so, Buddhists made anger an issue. but it is anger that wakes a man up!

>>15586048
Generally if you get into Buddhism you won't care what outsiders think about you.

Worrying about being 'cringe' is the most faggoty thing of this decade.

>>15588036
Not worrying about what others think of you is the most faggoty thing of this century. It is indicative of the virgin escapist who has no social or political standing and thus looks towards imported ascetic religions such as Buddhism to cope with his miserable life.

>>15588054
Only someone who was savagely and constantly raped and tortured as a child could write a sentence so revealing.

Read the Book of Tea and other books translated to English by the author

>>15588247
>caring about the political means you were raped and tortured as a child
You're a mongrel, read Aristotle

>>15586225

>i think i know what i have to do

What is it?

>How do I become a Buddhist and not [insert thing here]
By... Becoming a Buddhist? Why do you care what people on the internet think?

For Buddhism 101, read:
What the Buddha Taught or In the Buddha's Words. Then, read Red Pine's translation and commentary of The Heart Sutra. If you still don't get it, read his translation and commentary of the Diamond Sutra.

Just say nembustu when you are alone.

>>15588036
Cringe

>>15588036
>of this decade
>>15588054
>of this century

The leftist urban hippie buddhist is cringe

If you want to get into Buddhism be a monk in thailand for a few months.

>>15589182
sounds exactly like the sort of thing a leftist urban hippie might do

>>15589185
No, it isn't. At all.

>>15589185
now you're just making excuses to not do anything.

the typical western liberal buddhist wants to buy stuff off etsy

>>15589185
>pomo liberals actually doing something related to tradition
>ever

>>15586048
Being aware, and working on your addictions

>>15586054
Came onto this board to say exactly this. fpbp. Platonism seeks to improve the spirit and the self while Buddhism seeks to destroy the spirit and the self.

>>15589586
The Spirit is Empty, and there's no Spirit and Self to destroy, though. You can't destroy what isn't.

>>15589586
this is the brain of a female

>>15589615
>>15589641
You must accept these as maxims to believe them tobe true.

>>15589649
You can't show me, let alone yourself, a Self, so the only one that has to hold any maxims here is you.

>>15589586
>buddhism seeks to destroy the self.
>being so much of a brainlet thinking buddhists even believe in the self.
lmao

>>15586731
Better an Advaitist than an Accnigger

>>15589677
No, i see the self as an abstraction. A conglomeration of multiple aspects. The “no self” thing is linguistic fuckery. Yah if you define the self in a certain way you can say it doesnt exist, but thats a definitional, not a logical problem.

>>15586048
by actually reading and understanding its doctrines, which is more than can be said for most.
protip: Buddhism is not nihilist, this is a common misunderstanding which is fundamentally wrong.

>>15589742
Then you don't disagree with the Buddhist position, and are in fact diametrically opposed to the Platonic position.

>>15589790
False, from a systematic perspective the self is prime for any logical deduction.

>>15588684
just be a chad pretty much... do i what i wanna do. i already pretty much do this and i’m litterally already in nirvana but i think another reason for my natural bliss is my sub 80 iq (good looking 5’10 green eyed irish nigger)

>>15589880
>5’10
All that to cope with being a midget. Sheesh.

>>15586048
Dont get into any -isms. Just practice Vipassana as taught by SN Goenka. Its free too, look it up

>>15590040
i know i’m just gonna kms but it’s alright it’s chill vibes brah. lmao all my brothers are like over 6’0 too

>>15589182
This. All western Buddhist that do not become monks are cringe. A western lay Buddhist get all the negatives of Buddhism without any of the positives.

Bros do you have a semi modern book that explains different kinds of meditation?
A lot of what I'm looking at looks like low quality stuff that pseuds sell to normies to make a quick buck
Please help

>>15586048
Yes, just learn Chinese.
If you can read the entire Mahāyāna tripiṭaka (which includes the Pali Canon btw) then you can be a serious Buddhist and not cringe even if you are a westerner

>Taishō Tripiṭaka, available free online in Chinese (the English translation of it is far from complete)

https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2018/master30.php?lang=en