Julius Evola was, by any measure, a steaming pile of turd. But his analysis of early Buddhism is quite interesting, sans BS race theories.
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Pet peeves aside, his key point that modern Buddhism (except Zen) has very little in common with the original texts is not well-understood.
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He thinks Zen is the true inheritor? Interesting. The chan guys saw themselves as very distinct from the "lesser vehicle".
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He goes into a long rant about how it supposedly stemmed from spiritual transmission from Gautama to some prince or another, as I recall it.
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Buddhism's pretty minor till Asoka makes it the state religion of all of India.
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The interesting part the text is the analysis of the techniques & ascesis, not his pseudointellectual ramblings on Aryans, class and so on.
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his picture in Wikipedia is screams "straight up fucking evil", even before I read the bio. Buddhism can offer a lot to such folks.
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Then you see he was a personal friend of Heinrich Himmler...
That's what makes the analysis interesting. It is amoral; stripped bare.
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It becomes apparent that Buddhism doesn't need a moral or religious dimension. The teachings are completely compatible with any value system
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that's one take, but it's very easy to argue against it. Buddha's key insight of compassion/loving kindness sets him on the right path.
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Evola's analysis includes that. But you can easily fit those points into even a Nazi worldview. He takes a lot of effort to do just that.
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the general issue is that enlightenment itself doesn't require a moral dimension. However, it is almost always embedded in one.
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it is FAR easier to work from a position of love/kindness towards enlightenment for a pile of reasons. So, so much easier.
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and doing so serves as protection for the non-enlightened from the enlightened; and as such vice versa.
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Short answer: agreed.
Longer answer: there's more to what I'm saying than just that.
Need to go for a while, will reply properly later.
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