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smith

If you don't mind some spice in your reading, I highly recommend that you consider what Glenn Wallis says in his article "Buddhist Manifesto." It's great for beginners because he is honest about a lot of stuff it takes years to see for yourself--he airs some dirty Buddhist laundry, so to speak.

It's here: http://glennwallis.com/blog/2010/11/07/buddhist-manifesto/

thickpaper

smith wrote: »

If you don't mind some spice in your reading, I highly recommend that you consider what Glenn Wallis says in his article "Buddhist Manifesto." It's great for beginners because he is honest about a lot of stuff it takes years to see for yourself--he airs some dirty Buddhist laundry, so to speak.

It's here: http://glennwallis.com/blog/2010/11/07/buddhist-manifesto/

I read that and enjoyed it but I cant find the manifesto! Unless its a Zen manifesto, they might not need to be clear and succinct?

:buck:

YesheDorje

Thanks Smith!
I enjoyed the read, in particular the summation at the end that I copied and pasted below:

My overarching premise is this: Gotama was an unsurpassed scientist of the real. He expounded with lucidity and precision (1) our human situation and (2) an effective means for awakening to that situation with clarity and equanimity. Gotama, as Emerson said of Plato “knew the cardinal facts.” He is the arrival on the human scene of an uncanny precision and intelligence; he accurately divided and defined the categories of human existence. And like all good scientists, he kept it simple.

Cloud

That's not the entire thing, Yeshe. I almost made the same mistake the first time I read it too (someone posted this link in another thread prior). Here's the full article link, ~13 pages of material, from the bottom of that page: http://glennwallis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Buddhist-Manifesto.pdf

Be forewarned though, it's a bit harsh/offensive to the "newer" forms of Buddhism, and that's an understatement. It still makes some points of value though, IMHO.