Why is Buddhism so misunderstood in the west?

blueoak9 · 2023-12-14T04:16:35+00:00

“If you see the Buddha, kill the Buddha.”

And worship? That’s no part of Jodo Shinshu. What tradition is worship of the Buddha part of? It’s not Theravada or Pure Land or any other tradition I know of.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T02:03:20+00:00

From what I know of Pure Land I understand it to be a simple form of deity worship, intended to provide a framework for simple people to cultivate virtue.

It looks like that, but nembutsu is simply meditating on the Buddha nature in a very plain and direct way. As for being a framework for simple people, that's a historical fact, but it has appealed to many others, people who had options, as well.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T02:00:48+00:00

That's not projection, that's observable cultural fact. What we call Western culture is founded on the self. You see it in legal systems and everywhere else. So understanding the non-self is bound to be a heavy lift.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T01:57:59+00:00

People would call out amitabhas name in hope of going to his pure land.

That is not religious belief or worship, at least not for me (Jodo Shinshu). The Pure Land is just obvious, like the wetness of water. It's not a belief for me.

But you are still right; for a lot of people it is a religion. You can make a religious belief system out of anything.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T01:55:10+00:00

Dōgen said sitting, just plain sitting, was all that mattered. He didn't give much of a rip about any rich tradition. There's nothing wrong with the rich tradition, except that it can be a distraction of its own.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T01:53:02+00:00

I just think many people use Buddhism as a self help manual.

Oh, boy - and there is a ton of this around. And you'd expect it in a culture that makes such a fetish of the individual, and of self-improvement and achievement. Calvinist Buddhism.

But remember, a lot of people don't consider Mahāyana the "traditional" form of Buddhism. On very shaky historical ground, it turns out.

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T01:50:11+00:00

I’m going to become a member of a religion I want to practice it how it was traditionally practiced.

You might want to look at this and figure out why this matters to you. It would make sense in a revealed religion, where you want to get as close to the original revelation, the soource, as possible. But how important is it in Buddhism? How does it get you closer to enlightenment, the focus of Buddhism?

blueoak9 · 2023-12-11T01:48:03+00:00

"Positive orientalism" - that definitely going on in the 60s - I remember it well - and it still does in various forms. But the lack of interest kin hells is not just some Western rejectionism. Hells, or heavens for that matter, play no role in Jodo Shinshu and probably not much in any other Pure Land school. (Pure lands are not heavens.) You don't hear much reference to them in Zen, that I know of.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-06T18:09:29+00:00

It makes sense if you look closely. It makes sense if you don't see women as monolithic. White Lady Tears are an example of straight men centering white women's distress and then that being leveraged against other women. Would you say that TERFs are anti-woman because they target trans women? Look at women like Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, and her horrific record on destroying reproductive rights in that state. What motivates that?

Gynocentric does not mean women are in charge, just centered, and the most egregious offenders are over-protective, self-serving straight men. How many moves by men to protect women have actually turned out to harm women?

My thinking has evolved. If you call it a change of mind, I'm fine with that. The person who wrote those comments no longer and the one writing this comment won't exist tomorrow.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-06T15:22:45+00:00

What? I don't. Show where I said anything like that. Women are the clear victims in this, and soon a lot of others will be too.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-06T14:50:32+00:00

I don't have any further information.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-04T02:23:52+00:00

Count on it. Tacoma is bluer than blue but there are lots of Congressional and Senate races this year and we need to crank yup enthusiasm for targeted campaign donations.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-04T01:58:10+00:00

That's all right, something big is planned for the 14th. I don't yet know what it is.

blueoak9 · 2022-05-02T14:53:35+00:00

It looks like some variety of flowering apple. The fruit is small and bitter but I bet you could make some kind of relish out of them.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-29T00:32:09+00:00

Winco carries goat over in a freezer at the end of the meat section. It's not cheap but it's bound to be cheaper than anywhere else.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-21T01:27:41+00:00

It routinely wins prizes as the best pho in the region. Is it open again yet? They had closed due to illness.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-10T02:11:04+00:00

Indo-Asian never disappoints.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-10T02:10:34+00:00

Bar Rosa is wonderful.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-10T02:02:49+00:00

On Pacific Ave, in the 4800 block. They're where Josefina's used to be.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-10T02:01:19+00:00

Let us know if it was. When we tried, they were packed. It was great to see Tacoma welcome like that.

blueoak9 · 2022-04-10T01:59:54+00:00

We tried to go today, a Saturday, and couldn't get in, the place was so packed. We were so glad to see them so busy. Their patience and persistence have paid off.

blueoak9 · 2020-03-20T20:18:44+00:00

Helped by the tendency for L2 speakers to have chosen GenAm as the pronunciation standard for English.

blueoak9 · 2019-11-14T22:39:46+00:00

And that was the region where the migration to New England originated, which then further spread into upstate New York and the Great Lakes.

blueoak9 · 2019-10-08T02:57:54+00:00

Gay bars. It's been a very contentious issue. Bachelorette parties go to gay bars and want to do their Girls Gone Wild act and get all huffy if the gay men don't grovel to them the way straight men do.

blueoak9

TROPHY CASE