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Buddhist Fundamentalism

skydancerskydancer Veteran
edited March 2010 in Buddhism Basics
What is it? I feel a sense of recognizing it when I see it.

Comments

  • tony67tony67
    edited March 2010
    Forcing people to have your point of view or telling people they will be reborn in a place call hell?
  • NamelessRiverNamelessRiver Veteran
    edited March 2010
    For me is the aggressive and constant attempt to make other people agree with your idea of the world.

    Let me try to clarify with an example. If I watched a Harry Potter movie and someone was saying that Harry Potter, I don't know, had a moon on his forehead I wouldn't invest on it emotionally. I wouldn't go crazy like "Oh my god, don't you know harry potter has THIS kind of scar in his forehead?? It is crazy! Hey there's a book store over there, let's go so I can prove to you that it wasn't a moon." "Oh my goooood! You still think it was a moon? What is wrong with you? You know what your problem is? You can't read! It says right heeeeeere *points with finger* that it is like this".

    That is what is sounds like for someone who is really not invested in it. The person is right, it isn't a moon, but it doesn't make the behavior less silly, does it? What could possibly make a person act like that? It is not the fact that tthey are right, it is the fact that they want to make the other person do\be what they want them to do\be. It is this forceful manipulation of people, that attempt to dominance, that characterizes fundamentalism.
  • skydancerskydancer Veteran
    edited March 2010
    I think we run into fundamentalism every time we argue Buddhism.
  • skydancerskydancer Veteran
    edited March 2010
    tony67 wrote: »
    Forcing people to have your point of view or telling people they will be reborn in a place call hell?
    I don't know about you, but I've been told not to accept any dogma that doesn't resonate with your own experience.
  • tony67tony67
    edited March 2010
    It is also a problem with forums, if you are not talking eye to eye much is lost
  • NamelessRiverNamelessRiver Veteran
    edited March 2010
    I think another interesting question is what makes us want to come to a forum about religion in the first place. I mean, it is not like we are here meditating. What exactly do we see in a forum? I will admit I came here to space out a little. :P
  • MatSaltedMatSalted
    edited March 2010
    For me its the insistence the Kalama Suttra isnt about universal doubt and the delusions that flow from that ignorance being passed on as the word of the Buddha.
  • KikujiroKikujiro
    edited March 2010
    NamelessRiver wrote: »
    I think another interesting question is what makes us want to come to a forum about religion in the first place. I mean, it is not like we are here meditating.

    I came here to ask questions.
  • MatSaltedMatSalted
    edited March 2010
    tony67 wrote: »
    It is also a problem with forums, if you are not talking eye to eye much is lost

    That's so true! And in text its so easy to come over with the wrong intentions too. I am sure that all the people here I think are evil spiritual despots are actually rather lovely in the "real world":p
  • AllbuddhaBoundAllbuddhaBound Veteran
    edited March 2010
    I love to learn from people. It doesn't matter what direction people come from, I feel they always have something to teach me. Sometimes it may be harder for me to discern but if I ask enough questions, I will be able to come away with something.
  • NiosNios Veteran
    edited March 2010
    In terms of fundamentalism; I think it's when we take our own persepectives too seriously, whether we are right or wrong about something.

    What do I get from this forum? I learn about people.

    Nios.
  • fivebellsfivebells Veteran
    edited March 2010
    "Fundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life."

    Works for me!
  • SimonthepilgrimSimonthepilgrim Veteran
    edited March 2010
    I think it very important to distinguish between fundamentalism and fanaticism. It is clear that these two "sets" overlap but they are not co-terminous. To confuse the two in all cases leads us to our own anti-fanatical fanaticism.

    Investigation of and, when tested, investing in the fundamentals of our beliefs is at the heart of a healthy approach. We must not let the fanatics, ranters and general know-it-alls hijack the vital work of boiling opinion down to what Rabelais calls the "substantifique moelle", the very marrow of its bones.
  • StephenStephen
    edited March 2010
    I don't know anything about fundamentalism. I came here to seek guidance after having a deep and profound realization, and I got it: just not in the form I thought. I thought someone would say "yes", and someone else would say "no", and in the end I would agree with one view or the other.

    No such bad luck. In the end, I realized the truth was somewhere in between, and only the false self that distorts our perceptions would think otherwise. As I posited in another post: Are we here to seek guidance, to help others, or to support the cravings of our non-self that blinds us to it and to reality?

    Know the core teachings of suffering and its cessation, know the path that leads to Nibbana/Nirvana, and put aside what you don't understand yet; come back to it later when you've made some progress and re-discover it with fresh eyes, only then to incorporate it or dismiss it.

    Don't try to make anyone believe in anything if they don't want to believe it. Realization comes to us when the prerequisite conditions have all been fulfilled, not any sooner. No one can change your mind; no one can give you the answers directly, they can only help to add sensible information that will become a part of the final solution by your own direct insight.

    Buddhism isn't really about becoming a scholar, or about having a set of texts and traditions that you cling to. It is about coming to understand that we've all had it wrong from the very start; it's about letting go, not adding to. That is why it's a tool and not a belief system. We don't learn Buddhism as some special sacred knowledge; we use Buddhism to realize what we already are. We wake up, and then we're free.

    ~~

    EDIT: fivebells posted the definition "Fundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life."

    So, now that I understand what you mean by Buddhist Fundamentalism... all of the above still applies. ;) Any preference of Buddhist school, or of no Buddhist school, is an act of self. This non-self can not distinguish between truth and reality of the teachings it is presented with, especially since of its nature it will be against some of them. Remove the self; it is the veil of illusion incarnate. The self is our Mara, our Satan. Cast it out. :)
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