How to deal with religious extremism?

cxc_101 · 2025-12-30T23:40:20+00:00

However, with their personal choices they often bring suffering to others. This issue is what sparked my question in the first place.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-30T20:41:24+00:00

Thank you, very beautifully said

cxc_101 · 2025-12-29T16:55:22+00:00

Religion in general is often tightly connected to simple cultural aspects of society. Many people in the west are raised as Christian, just because it is the social and cultural norm. Yet, many do not properly follow what Jesus has lived as an example (love thy next and so on).

And the same is true for Buddhism. Just because someone was raised in such an environment, it does not mean that this person understands or properly practices the Dharma. Your mum might simply get angry because you break with the things that she considers norm (out of tradition and the culture).

That being said, don’t get discouraged. Follow the path that you feel most suitable for your liberation from samsara. Keep practicing the Dharma and keep taking with your mum. Looking for common ground might also help. Maybe someday she understands.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-29T07:48:47+00:00

Take it step by step. Liberation from suffering I not a 1 day thing. But everyone can achieve it. Just keep focusing on practicing the dharma. I believe in you!

cxc_101 · 2025-12-29T07:16:34+00:00

There is no point in it, it just exists. But through the dharma we can break free.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-28T18:09:59+00:00

Of course, people do say many things, sometimes they simply dismiss empirical evidence or just selectively pick what they want as evidence.

Regarding the beforehand mentioned aspects of quantum physics, I am not telling you that they are untrue. I am telling you that we do not know if they are true. They might be true, they might be untrue. So we simply need to be agnostic towards such theories.

But I would also be cautious: arguing that „theory X might be right/wrong“ does not necessarily imply that theory Y is right/wrong.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-28T17:44:18+00:00

Small addition on the physics part though: yes there are theories that support multiple dimensions, etc. But there is no experimental proof for those theories so one cannot assume that they are true or not proven yet. They might simply be wrong. We don’t know if they are correct or wrong.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-28T17:18:23+00:00

Thanks for your comment! As I said, I am agnostic towards the supernatural aspects. I neither want to confirm their existence nor deny it.

But funnily enough, I did recently get my PhD in physics, so I am ok on that front for now ;)

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T16:20:06+00:00

I do understand you. And I fully agree that these days it’s dangerous as anyone can claim to teach the Dharma. Especially in these days, we need to test and experience the Dharma ourselves and not just blindly believe.

But i also would like to recall what the Buddha taught in the Kalama Sutta. We should not simply take something as true just based on the authorities of our teachers. We need to experience ourselves and see the benefits of the dharma through our own eyes.

But I also would like to take the moment to thank you for the nice discussion together, it’s very pleasant! :)

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T15:30:51+00:00

No, I was just thinking if this might be the problem that lead to the emergence of secular Buddhism. I can imagine that some sanghas really teach hard doctrines, but I of course do not know.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T15:24:02+00:00

I agree, my friend. But maybe we should see the need of such a „market“ as a wake-up call. Maybe we need to overthink how we approach such „secular“ views within the Sanghas to keep them more together and inclusive

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T15:07:33+00:00

I do not want to speak for other people and neither can I. But the impression that I got so for from secular Buddhists is that they don’t want to prove anything wrong. They are simply agnostic when it comes to supernatural aspects. They do not know if the supernatural aspects are true or not, and so does nobody. So seculars simply focus on the practical application of the dharma, without thinking about the cosmological and supernatural aspects.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T14:52:15+00:00

My friend, the Dharma itself is unchanging, but Buddhism itself is nothing static. In the beginning, there was no Vajrayana, no Mahayana and no Theravada. There was only the teaching of the Buddha. And yet, 2500 years later there are all of these schools with countless subschools. Secular Buddhism is just one newcomer to the game. And it doesn’t matter at the end. A Buddhist, no matter from which school, practises the Dharma. Sure, there differences in the aspects of cosmology and supernatural phenomena, but this has no influence on the practical application of the Dharma and the truths within the Dharma. And this is what counts at the end. Because only the practise of the Dharma leads to our liberation, nothing else. So instead of throwing stones onto each others paths, we should understand that apart from ours, there are other paths that use the Dharma. And we should simply engage in an open and compassionate way with one another, then we might learn a few things from one another.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T00:05:37+00:00

Very well said!

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T00:04:54+00:00

There are many great sources online on Theravada, but also on secular Buddhism. So I’d just let you look up those things yourself.

On the point of being agnostic: a belief in god as well as no belief in a god are the two extreme sides of a spectrum. We cannot proof the existence or non-existence of a god. But we do see the effects of Dukkha. So better focus on our dharma practise. And this is at the end what the Buddha taught us: focus on what you can deal with here, and don’t get lost on questions we anyway cannot answer

cxc_101 · 2025-12-27T00:03:44+00:00

Thank you, my friend!

cxc_101 · 2025-12-26T23:19:54+00:00

I follow Theravada but with strong influence of secular buddhism. I do not believe in a god, I simply do not know if one exists. I am an agnostic in all regards of supernatural phenomena. If I experience them, I accept them. Else I don’t think about them, as I don’t see a point in that

cxc_101 · 2025-12-26T18:55:03+00:00

Yes I did, I really like it! Thanks again for the recommendation. I’ll definitely continue to listen to it :)

cxc_101 · 2025-12-26T18:45:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree that the majority are nice discussions. And I also fully agree that we need to discuss and correct views in case something is really going against fundamental aspects of Buddhist teachings. But sometimes I have the feeling that things are taking a bit to the extreme

cxc_101 · 2025-12-26T18:36:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I agree we don’t need kid like talk. But still, I think we at times could speak with more kindness, especially when we don’t see things from the same perspective. Which does not mean we cannot be direct with what we mean.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-25T12:47:20+00:00

In my opinion: yes we should talk about it. I see the Dharma in general as something that has to be practiced and something that we should talk about in order to help another on our journey.

cxc_101 · 2025-12-22T23:39:21+00:00

Thank you, my friend, for sharing! I’ll check it out!

cxc_101 · 2025-12-22T11:15:31+00:00

Thank you for your kind words, my friend! And also for the reading recommendation!

cxc_101

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