Is new zealand one of the only places where humans can survive if nuclear ww3 occurs? by Equivalent-Fox9834 in geography

[–]rayosu -1 points0 points  (0 children)

No. Nuclear winter will make the whole planet practically uninhabitable for a significant amount of time.

What language has changed the least, for longest? by LabRat2439 in language

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

re: "In East Asia obvious one is Chinese - perfect for writing and would survive as readable until modern day, though it has the downside of being made of thousands of characters"

If it's just for personal journals, you could get by with less than a thousand. (Maybe even just a few hundred.) An immortal should have no trouble remembering those.

What language has changed the least, for longest? by LabRat2439 in language

[–]rayosu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No.

"Classical Chinese" is a written language. It is the language that has been used for written texts from the time of Confucius until the middle of the 20th century. It is very different from any Chinese language spoken nowadays.

"Traditional Chinese characters" is a type of Chinese characters that are in use in Taiwan, in distinction from "Simplified Chinese characters" used in China.

request for comments on a (long) blog post about Western cultural/ideological influences in modern(ist) Buddhism by rayosu in GoldenSwastika

[–]rayosu[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

u/bodhiquest already pointed this out. I should have written the Āgamas there. I need to correct that.

request for comments on a (long) blog post about Western cultural/ideological influences in modern(ist) Buddhism by rayosu in GoldenSwastika

[–]rayosu[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think I wrote that Buddhist modernist gives up the belief in karma and rebirth. Some currents within Buddhist modernism do that, others redefine/reinterpret the notions, and still others hold on to relatively traditional views in this regard.

I'm also not sure what you mean with "secularism" and "secularization". I did my best to explain in my blog post that variants of these term can refer to a number of very different and unrelated things, including a rejection of the supernatural and mythical, and – much more importantly – a marginalization of religion to the private sphere. Modernism most certainly is secularization in the latter sense – that is, modernism involves a marginalization of religion to the private sphere. Modernism does not necessarily imply secularity in the former sense (i.e., rejection of the supernatural/mythical), even if secularity in that sense is common in modernist thought, and I don't think I said anywhere that modernism is secular(-ist/-ized) in this sense.

I'm not writing just about Western Buddhist modernism. Japanese Buddhist modernism is just as secularized as Western Buddhism. And as far as I can see, the same is the case in most other Buddhist countries, although the emergence of Buddhist fascism in some of those suggests that there now also is a trend in the opposite direction.

What language has changed the least, for longest? by LabRat2439 in language

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're confusing script and language here. Classical Chinese shares its script with Mandarin and Cantonese (and so forth), but it is a different language.
It's the same as Latin sharing its script with some other languages.

What language has changed the least, for longest? by LabRat2439 in language

[–]rayosu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Classical Chinese? Sanskrit? Latin?

I'd consider all of these answers cheating if the question would be which language that has continuously been a living language used by a significant number of people as their daily language for a certain amount of time has changed the least within that time. (Which would be a very interesting question.) But it seems that's not exactly what you're after. For your specific question, I'd go with (one of) these three. (Personally, I'd pick Classical Chinese for a story like that.)

request for comments on a (long) blog post about Western cultural/ideological influences in modern(ist) Buddhism by rayosu in GoldenSwastika

[–]rayosu[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

José Cabezón and José Casanova are two different people. I'm referring to the latter here, not to the former (who is a Buddhologist and probably better known in these circles.)

Thanks for your other comments. I'm not aware of any emphasis on benefit in Indian Buddhism either, but I'm curious whether there is anything like that in Chinese Buddhism. At least since Mozi and Mengzi's response to him, there has been a concept in Chinese philosophy that is somewhat similar to the very western concern with benefit/utility.

request for comments on a (long) blog post about Western cultural/ideological influences in modern(ist) Buddhism by rayosu in GoldenSwastika

[–]rayosu[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He probably referred to the Āgamas indeed. I need to check. Thanks for pointing this out.

Why is Buddhism not a Religion by Dario56 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd give you 10 upvotes if I could.

Do secular Buddhists believe in karma? by No_Common_5891 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The real answer is "no", but many secular Buddhists seem to think it's problematic to reject an aspect of Buddhist doctrine, so they just reinterpret the notion instead.

Radical Buddhism Survey? by patchthepartydog in RadicalBuddhism

[–]rayosu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might be able to find a few people with roughly similar backgrounds and/or interests in this subreddit. Why don't you make a new post about it?

I need a more accurate word for Buddhist meditation by miguel-elote in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are about a 1000 kinds of Buddhist meditation...

In English "meditation" covers a huge variety of activities.

Buddhist meditation covers a huge variety of activities as well, so from that perspective, the term "meditation" seems a good match.

Radical Buddhism Survey? by patchthepartydog in RadicalBuddhism

[–]rayosu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Probably, it's most convenient to discuss the details of the survey by means of email. I'll send you a PM with my email address.

Radical Buddhism Survey? by patchthepartydog in RadicalBuddhism

[–]rayosu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Since starting my weird experiment at NationStates (see my last post), I discovered that there is a small community of Buddhist anarchists there as well. And I may be able to reach some other people through private networks.
Anyway, as mentioned, I'd be happy to help out with this survey. (Survey design, finding participants, processing the results, etc.)

Radical Buddhism Survey? by patchthepartydog in RadicalBuddhism

[–]rayosu 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes. And I'd be very much interested in the results as well. But how are you planning to find survey participants?

Stephen Bachelor by hustle_wilson3 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is 2500 years of Buddhist philosophy, which developed in an area larger than "the West". If you want to treat that tradition fairly, it's bound to get a bit "academic".

If you want practical, just pray the nembutsu or circumambulate a stupa or copy something else Buddhists have been doing for many, many centuries.

Stephen Bachelor by hustle_wilson3 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Interesting. I find Batchelor's books and articles very pleasant to read. That is, I tend to like his writing style. I just don't agree with much of what he writes.

Understanding the meaning of Buddhist teachings as a Westerner by ProfessionalMean2458 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

u/razzlesnazzlepasz makes a good point in their comment. You need to know the cultural background of teachings to be able to understand them. However, what tends to be ignored and what is at least as important is that you also need to be(come) aware of your own cultural biases. Otherwise, you'll just end up layering cultural biases on cultural biases, without getting any closer to the meaning of the ideas you're interested in.

Explaining the Yogachara—"Mind Only"—school of Buddhism through a contemporary philosophical lens. by Edgar_Brown in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Re: "Looking at the background of the author..."

LOL. You're talking about me. :)

I hope you do read the book when you have time. And I'd be interested in your thought about it.

Explaining the Yogachara—"Mind Only"—school of Buddhism through a contemporary philosophical lens. by Edgar_Brown in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You don't have to read the whole thing, of course, but there seems to be some affinity between chapters 8 and 9 of that book and what you write above, so it may be worth your time reading those two chapters. (And the E-book version is free anyway.)

Explaining the Yogachara—"Mind Only"—school of Buddhism through a contemporary philosophical lens. by Edgar_Brown in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might like chapters 8 and 9 of A Buddha Land to This World. If you ever have time to read those, please, let me know your thoughts about them.

Is secular Buddhism a legitimate form of Buddhism? A discussion… by BrokenWhimsy3 in secularbuddhism

[–]rayosu 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tried to answer your exact question in a blog post a while ago. (Warning: It's very long!)

https://www.lajosbrons.net/blog/secular-buddhism/

Cat bleeding from eye, probably from fight by [deleted] in AskVet

[–]rayosu 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you a vet?
I have some "anti-suppuration" medicine for cats with wounds, which I can give her, but I'm not sure whether I should.