Community: the fall of true religion

I think most would agree that we cannot directly experience another person’s experience amounting to a kind of super telepathy.  This is not to say that it is completely impossible.  If we claim to have had the experience of awakening (sambodhi), it would be  difficult to share with others except indirectly through words.  Others might even suspect that we're deluded.

It almost goes without saying that there are many sharable things but gnosis, sambodhi, or jñâna are not.  We can even share ideas and fellow-feeling but sharing the first hand experience of awakening to true reality is unsharable.

For Buddhism, its soteriological path, which is open to all, is supposed to lead to awakening.  However, the task of communicating this path to others by which they might save themselves through gnosis proves extremely difficult, even for a Buddha.  To fully awaken, one must transcend the allure of the temporal world and the psychophysical body (skandhas).  This is extremely difficult.  Few wish to do it.  

Faced with such a difficulty, religion as we know it begins to take shape and grow as a consequence.  If the direct experience of awakening to the absolute is at the heart of mysticism then religion, by contrast, can only teach an ungrounded mysticism which never gets past sensory consciousness; which relies, instead, on symbols, robes, rules, certification, religious buildings, music, art, etc., in which piety leads the way.  With all this, religion ends in devotion to the community which is opposed to the life of the muni or anchorite.  This community interest, which can only minister to worldly concerns, is really the fall of true religion (sad-dharma) where mysticism or gnosis should dominate but has been shut out.  This has already happened to Judaism and Christianity but not entirely to Buddhism.

 

Comments

[Imperishable Night]

if everything becomes a matter of community, the authentic and mystical can become lost ... but at the same time, one of the three Jewels is the Sangha , let's not forget

pop buddhism creates sanghas that are not arya-sangha, which are not a community of noble ones (arya-pudgala)

a true sangha, however, is a community of noble ones it is a different thing and can't be criticized

[azanshi]

Flanked by such prolific American Buddhist writers like Robert Thurman (translator of Vimalakirti sutra) , brittish Bettany Hughes explores “Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World”. A beautiful documentary, far away from american hysteria and maniac mindgarbage ala demon producer Bruckheimer style.

This calm documentary takes the viewer on a great visual tour through the asian countries tocuhed by the most radiant and profound teachings ever offered to mankind. Well worth a view. Good to recharge your buddhist batteries in a world drowning in the suffering wars and monetary greed by abrahamic god freaks.

Docu. Review here:

http://www.nerditorial.com/entertainment/seven-wonders-of-the-buddhist-world-bbc-two.html

Download film torrent here. (756 MB movie). Avi

http://www.torrents.net/torrent/1729821/BBC.Seven.Wonders.of.the.Buddhist.World.PDTV.XviD.MP3.MVGroup.org.avi/

Enjoy, and remember, white boy, joko beck pop-buddhism is harmful to your health.