/lit/ - Literature

this mindset runs in the opposite direction of nibbana. that’s why

>>18548537
>The only thing I will ever experience is the simulation my mind creates from sensory input and meditation techniques are a toolbox to make that experience more bearable.
>At the same time I can’t seem to give up the drive to want to improve this society but always run into the problem of social hierarchies and the average person being incredibly stupid.
There's nothing wrong with using that knowledge to help other sentient beings overcome this gay earth
>I want some different views. Who should I read to critique Schopenhauer?
Nietzsche is the obvious answer, so I would be surprised if you didn't come across him. Also it's worth noting that Schopenhauer is not literally Buddhist; he is basically a pre-theosophist combining the bits of Plato, Kant, some Buddhist and Vedantist translations, into something he likes. Now when Nietzsche critiques Schopenhauer he also takes Schopenhauer's reading of Buddhism largely at face value and concludes it is nihilism (he also considers Christians to be destined for this but considers them to be too moralizing compared to the Buddhists). Buddhists generally do not consider themselves nihilists, nor do Christians for that matter. But for Nietzsche denial of the will or striving for an escape to a fictional/theological world is life-negating, and thence nihilistic.

>>18548537
Coward

>>18548580
>But for Nietzsche denial of the will or striving for an escape to a fictional/theological world is life-negating, and thence nihilistic.

not nibbana. it’s here and now

>>18548604
Yes we know that but they didn't

>>18548537
if this is how you feel, and you're experiencing saṃvega, take refuge in the triple gem and keep the 5 precepts. be diligent in meditation. find a tradition, find a sangha, and look into possibly ordaining as a monk. if the way you feel changes, you can set it aside. if not, commit to the path.

your intuition is completely correct. the thing is, even if you DID want to help others/society, then practising for your self-awakening would be the best way to do that anyways. otherwise it would be the blind leading the blind.

"Out of compassion, I’ve done what a teacher should do who wants what’s best for their disciples. Here are these roots of trees, and here are these empty huts. Practice absorption, mendicant! Don’t be negligent! Don’t regret it later! This is my instruction to you.” - AN 5.73

"Just as a firebrand from a funeral pyre — burning at both ends, covered with excrement in the middle — is used as fuel neither in a village nor in the wilderness: I tell you that this is a simile for the individual who practices neither for his/her own benefit nor for that of others. The individual who practices for the benefit of others but not for his/her own is the higher & more refined of these two. The individual who practices for his/her own benefit but not for that of others is the highest & most refined of these three. The individual who practices for his/her own benefit and for that of others is, of these four, the foremost, the chief, the most outstanding, the highest, & supreme. Just as from a cow comes milk; from milk, curds; from curds, butter; from butter, ghee; from ghee, the skimmings of ghee; and of these, the skimmings of ghee are reckoned the foremost — in the same way, of these four, the individual who practices for his/her own benefit and for that of others is the foremost, the chief, the most outstanding, the highest, & supreme." AN 4.95 - as you can see, the Buddha sees working towards one's one awakening as more fruitful than working for that of others.

>>18548844
Indeed and not to mention Enlightening others isn't the only spiritual goal.

There are tons of other goals which can and are just as able and valid such Freedom, Suffering, War, Peace, etc...

not mutually inclusive or exclusive

>>18548537
> The only thing I will ever experience is the simulation my mind creates from sensory input and meditation techniques are a toolbox to make that experience more bearable.
At the same time I can’t seem to give up the drive to want to improve this society but always run into the problem of social hierarchies and the average person being incredibly stupid.
you seems understand what the problems is and yet you did not want to stop it, or atleast stand against it.

that's not what Siddhartha teach you, lurk more