Two things: immaturity (18-19) and Zen was not philosophically interesting or engaging enough for me to commit daily to zazen.If you have ever been involved with Buddhism in any way, to any degree, and have since distanced yourself from it:
How come? What was it that made you distance yourself from it? — baker
Not at all.Did you have trouble finding closure afterwards?
No commitment, no loss (or closure needed).How did you have find closure afterwards?
Two things: immaturity (18-19) and Zen was not philosophically interesting or engaging enough for me to commit daily to zazen. — 180 Proof
What made me hopeless about Buddhism is that its epistemology is, essentially, a self-fulfilling prophecy: first, one takes some premises for granted; then one acts in line with those premises; and then one "sees" that those premises "are true".
The final straw was that some notable Buddhists that I knew were/are avid Trumpistas.
What's your point? — 180 Proof
Yes, you're right. And by the time I had become acquainted with 'Buddhism as a philosophy', I had committed myself to studying contemporary philosophy from an almost Hellenistic perspective (encountering Pierre Hadot's work some years later confirmed this approach for me). By then, as a hybrid Pyrrhonian-Epicurean with strong affinities for absurdism & (early) pragmatism, there was no need to revisit Zen practice. Also, simultaneously learning to appreciate Jazz from the roots to its fruits, as they say, helped me to fulfill my philosophical study as a "spiritual exercise" so deeply that nearly four decades later it still sustains me. Perhaps Buddhism would have done so as well but it just didn't take back then; had I not went for Zen, who knows? No regrets. As I don't recall who said it: many paths lead up that dark mountain to its summit.Perhaps you didn't delve into the philosophy, as in Zen it is not emphasised. . . . — FrancisRay
No. I replied because you asked for 'anything else of interest', and so I tried to suggest your reasons for having problems with Buddhism were poor. . .y
Have you distanced yourself from Buddhism? — baker
From this remark, I suspect for you "a study of philosophy" entails seeking something that transcends the human condition (i.e. a rational – reliably methodical – way to go beyond human reason) like "ultimate truth", no? Elaborate.↪180 Proof
I see we have very different ideas about what constitutes a study of philosophy. — FrancisRay
Of course, Buddhists will typically say that I have distanced myself from Buddhism "for the wrong reasons" or that my "reasons for having problems with Buddhism were poor". Always blame me, what else.No. I replied because you asked for 'anything else of interest', and so I tried to suggest your reasons for having problems with Buddhism were poor. . . — FrancisRay
Of course, Buddhists will typically say that I have distanced myself from Buddhism "for the wrong reasons" or that my "reasons for having problems with Buddhism were poor". Always blame me, what else.
But there were also Buddhists who told me flat out that I had no interest in the Dharma and that my time would be better spent in other pursuits. — baker
Nonsense. If that were the case in metaphysics, then there'd be wide consensus, or agreement, of long standing on those "results", which there never has been.There is only the results of logic and reason, and we cannot simply take or leave them. — FrancisRay
Nonsense. If that were the case in metaphysics, then there'd be wide consensus, or agreement, of long standing on those "results", which there never has been. — 180 Proof
There isn't one without the other.Might it be true that you're distancing yourself from the people calling themselves Buddhists who you've met, rather than the teachings? — FrancisRay
Maybe they are fools, but maybe they know the truth. Maybe the teachings in the Pali Canon were never meant to be taken at face value.I gained the impression that you had no complaints about the doctrine, only the fools you had encountered.
Like you say:However, it might be better spent in more congenial company, by the sound of it, and perhaps another tradition would be more appealing. . .
My point is simply that in metaphysics there is no choice of paths. — FrancisRay
Maybe they are fools, but maybe they know the truth. Maybe the teachings in the Pali Canon were never meant to be taken at face value. — baker
Have you taken the Secondary Bodhisattva Vows?since for me Buddhism is the Mahayana — FrancisRay
Have you taken the Secondary Bodhisattva Vows? — baker
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