Buddhists who lean to the left (i.e., neo-marxists) have to a certain extent altered and purposely ignored certain key elements of Buddhism including altering some of the various traditions that fall within Buddhism such as Zen.
This should be of concern because what is ignored by the work of these left oriented Buddhists is nirvana, karma, and rebirth. Even practice or cultivation 修行 in which one tries to put the Buddha's teachings into practice on a continuous basis is changed into something akin to the practice of “political correctness” with zazen added for good measure.
I have even seen the thin end of the wedge inserted into Buddhism’s door asking Buddhists to be sympathetic towards Islam which Sam Harris has recently characterized as the “Mother lode of bad ideas.” Buddhist sympathy will be wasted. The reason why I say this will be understood towards the end of this blog.
There is nothing all that good to say about leftist ideology since the ideologue is always a person who is a dreamer of dreams; who arises amongst the masses with a promise of a socialist utopia but can’t even supply potatoes to the denizens of this new utopia (look at what recently happened in Venezuela).
Nor is there any need to reproduce Comte's failed and shortsighted Religion de l’Humanité. All that we need to do is to follow the right path that lies within each of us according to the teachings of the Buddha. But more, I have personally experienced it, that fully realizing what animates us is sufficient to help us build a new world where even death is no longer to be feared and there are plenty of potatoes! In the mean time, we must acknowledge that any socialist campaign is doomed to fail, bringing with it more hidden disasters.
This speaks to me of a certain degree of derangement that naturally plagues the human race in one degree or another. It cannot be eradicated by purely external means such as multiculturalism or by some socialist five year plan, but must be overcome through the culture. And there are, it follows, degenerate cultures and advanced cultures in which reciprocity appears to be the cornerstone which enters into the spiritual and social life of a people. Reciprocity happens to be very strong in Buddhism, in the example of karma, which the left leaning Buddhists almost totally ignore.
Also, there is a kind of natural justice or law (dharma)—also based on reciprocity—that guides human interaction which the more advanced culture is tuned into in the example of Japanese culture and at the opposite end, Islamic culture in which the notion of reciprocity is almost totally lacking. This is revealed in Europe in which Muslim immigrants, lacking any sense of reciprocity could not care less about their hosts (this is negative reciprocity in the sense of trying to get something for nothing or feeling entitled).
Those who come to Buddhism leaning to the left will, to my mind, end up destroying Buddhism and Zen. It is like adding more and more water to milk which destroys its nutritional value. Ridding Buddhism of such people by sticking more to the teachings of the Buddha will, I think, over time drive such people away who are too immature to study Buddhism. Unfortunately, looking at the big picture those on the left, the neo-marxists, lack a developed sense of reciprocity which takes the form of insanity and very poor interpersonal relationships. They can never be trusted or relied upon.
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