@OortCloudAtlas with @erik_davis on current developments in American Buddhism. Hopeful new directions!https://techgnosis.com/deconstructing-yourself-2/ …
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Eight years ago I ranted about the baleful hegemony of “Consensus Buddhism”—which boiled down to “It’s nice to be nice. Also, mindfulness.” And I suggested it was imploding. It’s over now! And diverse, more-substantive alternatives are emerging.https://vividness.live/2011/12/31/one-dharma-whose/ …
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Whereas the political hegemony of Consensus Buddhism is visibly over, its memetic dominance lingers. In particular, all the new alternatives seem to be mostly recycling mid-20th-century export Theravada. Harder-core versions maybe, but can’t we find other sources of inspiration?
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Of course, but some serious rethinking is required.https://soundcloud.com/imperfect-buddha-podcast/52-ibp-critical-turn-1 …
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Yes. Excellent point. In fact I was going to go on to rant about that but figured everyone had had more than enough ranting already
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More rants.
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I was going to say that Buddhist innovation has always started with a creative misreading of scripture. You need to understand what problem the author was trying to solve in their historical context, and find an analogy with the problem you have in your historical context.
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Replying to @Meaningness @OortCloudAtlas and
(This requires understanding scripture as written by people struggling with historically-situated cultural problems, rather than Ultimate Truths From God. I think most Buddhist innovators, going back 2000+ years, have at least semi-understood this.)
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Replying to @Meaningness @OortCloudAtlas and
So you deliberately misread the text as suggesting solutions to your different problem. If there’s a structural analogy that works, this is productive. Especially when you try to turn it into a new way of meditating.
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Exhibit A is the invention of modern meditation by creatively misreading Pali Abhidhamma, which is speculative metaphysics, as if it were meditation instructions, which it isn’t.
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Replying to @Meaningness @OortCloudAtlas and
In a close parallel, early tantra was invented in large part by misreading Mahayana Buddhological metaphysics as meditation instructions. (It’s interesting to speculate about why this worked, in both cases, but it would just be speculation…)
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Replying to @Meaningness @OortCloudAtlas and
Throughout Buddhist history, scripture has been mainly regarded as too holy to be relevant to reality. Innovation comes from trying to take it seriously and put it into practice. The creative part is choosing which bit to take seriously, and how to make the fairy story relevant.
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