Is Buddhism in the west mostly "silly"?

[PurpleTree]

Went to a Buddhist meditation group once.

I was looking for a group which could hold me accountable for doing some kind of meditation practice, because i'll easily just stop doing it.

There were only "westerners" in that group.

This was a group which has some kind of Tibetan tradition practice.

So they did all those Tibetan chants and imagined those Tibetan holy monks made out of light etc.

I thought "Dude we're "westerners" why exactly are we doing this? Not out of arrogance against Tibet (free Tibet) or their tradition or anything but what's the use of us doing this? We don't even really understand Tibetan and didn't grow up with such a tradition.

I think i was looking for something similar to what Tolle/Sadhguru/Spira/Mooji are doing which is my fault, because that was a totally different thing.

And i don't think we really have such a Satsang type thing here like those fellas tend to do without all that religious and in this case particularly Tibetan stuff attached to it.

The people in this group were nice and i understand the value of coming together and chanting.

But this wasn't it for me, there was no search for truth imo.

 

I thought if i really want to have the practice or group i'm "imagining" then i'd almost need to create my own group or cult.

Luckily i'm don't have the right work ethic and i'm not confident enough for that  

[Raven1998]

buddhism is silly here more than western i think.. im living in a 80 percent buddhist country. im living in srilanka. but those people dont have clue about what buddism is pointing.. they only worship buddah for relive their suffering instead of practice the path that he teaches. even i couldnt tell those peoples what buddah pointing.. these peoples are soo narrow minded.. i think westerners more open minded than these peoplse. because they atleast open to the possibility what teachings pointing. ?

[PurpleTree]

3 minutes ago, Raven1998 said:

buddhism is silly here more than western i think.. im living in a 80 percent buddhist country. im living in srilanka. but those people dont have clue about what buddism is pointing.. they only worship buddah for relive their suffering instead of practice the path that he teaches. even i couldnt tell those peoples what buddah pointing.. these peoples are soo narrow minded.. i think westerners more open minded than these peoplse. because they atleast open to the possibility what teachings pointing. ?

Yea i guess if someone's just Buddhist because his/her parent were Buddhist then there's even more just mechanical rambling of chants etc. without any search for truth.

[No Self]

I had a similar experience with a local meditation group. I want insights into the egoless state, not just an exotic-sounding method of reducing the stress of my 9-5 job. 

Sometimes the internet is a better resource. 

[PurpleTree]

The beliefs around rebirth and Samsara are where Eastern philosophy becomes more egoic and dogmatic. It loses its purity.

 

That's what made me think of this topic @No Self

[No Self]

2 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

 

That's what made me think of this topic @No Self

Ah I see!

Each religion has branches which offer the purest teachings and cast aside the political/egoic stuff. For example, Sufism in the Islamic tradition, Zen in the Buddhist tradition and Advaita Vedanta in the Hindu tradition. 

Anyone seeking more than belief structures or cultural traditions only need to look to the common essence that any of these 'purified' systems points towards.

[Shin]

You'd better go to a consciousness workshop from a well known (or not so well known teacher), rather than going to Buddhism gatherings.

Buddhism is full of dogmas, it's a religion not a spiritual path anymore.

Edited November 19, 2020 by Shin

[Raven1998]

46 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

Yea i guess if someone's just Buddhist because his/her parent were Buddhist then there's even more just mechanical rambling of chants etc. without any search for truth.

yeah. they dont seek the truth. they only worship the statues for get rid if their suffering. and it because what the culture and educational system teaches them. they dont have a ability to go beyond what the culture and education systems are teaches them.. they think it is a sin or if they disagree the religion then they will put in to the hell. if i told the truth they will demonise me. i also were some degree of narrow minded before i watch leos videos.. ?

[Raven1998]

buddhism is so much corrupted here and turned in to a religion and set of beliefs. 

[PurpleTree]

22 minutes ago, Raven1998 said:

yeah. they dont seek the truth. they only worship the statues for get rid if their suffering. and it because what the culture and educational system teaches them. they dont have a ability to go beyond what the culture and education systems are teaches them.. they think it is a sin or if they disagree the religion then they will put in to the hell. if i told the truth they will demonise me. i also were some degree of narrow minded before i watch leos videos.. ?

So you watched Leos videos and then you thought you should teach those guys some deeper thruths and they weren't happy about it? 

That's pretty funny you could have ended up like some modern Jesus

[PurpleTree]

4 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

So you watched Leos videos and then you thought you should teach those guys some deeper thruths and they weren't happy about it? 

That's pretty funny you could have ended up like some modern Jesus

I didn't think about any of that with the meditation group i visited.

But i also wouldn't because these people seemed to be kind of set in their ways.

Maybe if there was a question part, where people could have asked questions.

I would have asked some deeper and "weird" questions

[Raven1998]

1 hour ago, Tim Ho said:

I've grown up with Buddhism on the East side and sadly I have to agree with Shin.  Just like other Religions, there are many silly things in their teaching.   

But it is not totally useless.  I've known a guy who was cheated by his wife, went to Temple seeking for help to ease his pain, and he actually got enlightenment.  Their teaching is very hard to understand and seem to work only work when you are suffering.  It is a big hit and miss.  

yeah.. in here, there are some monks that actualy enlightened. but people dont follow them. they cant understand what they teach. its big paradigm shift for them.. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Raven1998

[snowyowl]

Interesting topic. I've had mixed experiences with Buddhist groups in the past, Theravada and Zen (I'm from the UK). Some people are open minded and focussed on practicing meditation and mindfulness to discover the truth for themselves. Others are stuck in a fossilised dogma and just parrot out the scriptures they've learned as answers to all questions, ie they haven't experienced it for themselves.  It's been the same with internet groups. But I guess I shouldn't judge too harshly, all religions and philosophies have a mixture of followers and I reckon I've fallen into the same traps myself sometimes. 

Edited November 19, 2020 by snowyowl

[The0Self]

Literally everything can be seen as silly, from a certain perspective, of which there are infinitely many.

[ivory]

There are a lot of trappings in Buddhism. That's why Zen came into the picture... to simplify the teachings. If you are seeking Truth Buddhism can be seen as pure nonsense. But eventually you get into the "reduction of suffering" aspect of spiritual practice and Buddhism makes more sense and becomes more valuable. If you are looking for a spiritual community, good luck. There are very few truth seekers. Most get lost in the trappings or develop really annoying spiritual identities. However, you're not going to find much better anywhere else.

 

That said, if you really want to extract the core teachings of Buddhism, familiarize yourself with the Three Characteristics and develop a breath practice of some sort.

[lmfao]

@PurpleTree I've been to a few of these things irl. In fact I still attend something weekly for a while now, but just online due to covid.

I don't think it's a problem of the west as much as it's a problem with Buddhism. Many of the people in the groups tend to be bland and dogmatic. They spout a few basic dogmas as if they've discovered the Holy Grail. 

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A normie is a normie, regardless of what outer garments they wear.

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In the west, Christian symbols became tiresome and meaningless. But now what's caught your eye is a foreign land with more symbols. 

But I think that the disillusionment with symbols has an importance and universality that transcends all cultures. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by lmfao