By
Erich Vieth on May 06th, 2009
One of Andrew Sullivan’s readers wrote to say that Buddhism had two fundamental flaws:
A) It dodges the issue of death “through the conceit of reincarnation.” and
B) It “blames victims for their circumstances (karma).”
Succinct and persuasive arguments, in my mind. Yet I, just like this reader, am sympathetic to many of the other ideas offered by Buddhism.
Related posts:
- Is it good to crave knowledge? Nietzsche vs. Buddhism
- Sam Harris on problems with religious moderates and agnostics
- A few more problems with the “literal truth” of the Bible
- The problems with mass marketing aimed at children
- Big problems with how we nominate our president
About the Author
Erich Vieth is an iconoclastic attorney, musician and writer living in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. He and his wife Anne Jay have two daughters, aged 9 and 11.
Buddhism was one of the many options I studied during my years of spiritual exploration. While it holds a great deal of wisdom, it still relies on the afterlife as a source of reward. Because you are supposed to strive towards a permanent afterlife (no more reincarnations) life is characterized as suffering. Even understanding that it’s a comparative term, I really couldn’t see living my life as something I had to endure to make myself good enough for Nirvana. No Boddhisatva, I!
Alison - I think the concept of afterlife is one thing that turns me away from religion entirely.
I’d prefer to be remembered for my deeds and my impact. I don’t need (or intend) to hang around forever.
When life was ’short and generally brutal’ - I suppose an afterlife was appealing: a release from aches and pains and trouble. I prefer to work for a longer productive life on earth, than hope for everlasting life afterward. I’d rather do good things now - simply and selfishly to improve the environment for myself and my family, but with the side effect of improving it for everyone else too.
Waiting for god, I’d be tempted to do ‘just enough’, rather than ‘as much as I possibly can’.
In any case - that is only a dilemma for those who believe. I don’t.
There was an Asian-Indian man who talked to a tree, and asked, “how many more lives must I live?” The tree replied, “as many leaves are on this tree.” The man gave thanks and accepted his fate.
Not everyone has a Saul(Paul)experience; to be knocked off and blinded for 3 days on the way to Damascus…and then preach the Gospel like there is no tomorrow. Sometimes, the caboose(unemotions) runs the train.
Tony, I believe our politics are expressed from our eternal beliefs. I know it changed my political biases. Now, I understand you more. How sad and lonely it must feel that this physical life is all we have?
Rabel: That you think it “sad and lonely” to reject supernatural (I would call it “sub-natural”) explanations, shows that you don’t understand Tony (or me or many of the other authors at this site).
From my viewpoint, it is neither sad nor lonely to live the life you actually are living on Earth. It is full of amazing things. You can connect with wonderful people, many of whom also life fully in this world. When you live in this world, morality and meaning come from deep down in your bones; they are not imposed on you from the outside. Therefore you earn who you are and what you accomplish through your thoughtfulness and your hard work. You don’t see life as a treasure-hunt, where you gain a big prize by bowing down to a despot (even a kindly despot) or by uttering words you consider to be “magic” because they come from a “holy” book.
Rabel - how constrained your life must be to think mine sad and lonely.
Far from ’sad and lonely’ my life is full of human riches. Friends and family, music, art, science, and literature. Even work that I enjoy.
My contributions are what fuel me - the contributions of others guide me - the thanks and friendship of others is my reward.
The magic in my life is the joy I see in my children when they master a goal.
I don’t need a sky fairy for any of that.
I feel sad for you that your human life is so empty you need to fill it with superstition.
Funny, in my experience of Buddhism there is neither a focus on reincarnation, nor a desire to get to some other spiritual plane. And I personally think one misunderstands karma if one sees it as a cosmic boomerang of retribution and payback.
What I get from studying authors like Thich Nhat Hanh and Mingyur Rinpoche (2 different approaches to Buddhist theory)is a means for living well in the here and now. We live best when we live mindfully present in whatever we are doing and opt out of the worry, compulsive what ifs and constant monkeymind so common in our present world.
This type of Buddhism is more about waking us up to the clarity, compassion and ability to live in the now within us through meditation and mindful practice - so as to allow us (and others)to escape suffering.
I like this quote:
Suffering recedes to the extent we let go of the framework of grasping. The mind that grasps is the mind that sets us free - Mingyur Rinpoche
So, for me, and at least in this type, Buddhism doesn’t point us anywhere other than ourselves in our here and now. I find that amazingly satisfying and challenging. It has awakened me to a new level of awareness and possibility for compassion.
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“A bodhisattva is someone who has compassion within himself or herself and who is able to make another person smile or help someone suffer less. Every one of us is capable of this.” Thich Nhat Hanh
Tony, that is exactly what drove my epiphany towards atheism. No matter what spiritual belief you might choose, there is always the possibility that you’re either following the wrong one, or doing it wrong. You won’t know, supposedly, until after you’re dead - and nobody’s ever had a credible encounter, personally, with a dead person to make sure they’re on the right path. The anxiety it caused knowing that there was no way to be sure until it was too late was very high. I’m the kind of person who asks “is something wrong?” before it’s obvious that there is, and apologizes and admits mistakes so that communications with other people don’t shut down. (Partly because of this, Rabel, my life is anything but lonely!) I’m no pushover, and have lively discussions with people who disagree with me that never escalate into arguments - much easier to do in person than on the internet, to be sure! The feedback is immediate; I know where I stand with people, so I never have to wonder if I’m doing right or wrong. No time is wasted in fruitless worrying about eternal punishment for an innocent mistake.
The interesting thing is that this allows me to live in the now, to be here and aware and mindful. Buddhism and some of the other practices I tried in order to accomplish this never did, and required a great deal of work as well. It’s amusing and ironic that abandoning spirituality made me more “spiritual” than pursuing it ever did.
Hi all So true. Buddhism is flawed because it is based on the premises of reincarnation and karma, probably two non-existants. Buddhism is also flawed in some other ways. There is a great deal of emphasis on getting to Nirvana i.e. enlightened as a single person. We have had a fair number of enlightened persons, sages and prophets. However it hasn’t done more than rippled the surface of our existence. Why? Because Buddhism talks about personal enlightenment. There is nothing personal about our lives. We can’t live alone in any contributory way for long periods. So new buddhism is the only hope for current buddhism. That will be when we become enlightened together as one rather than individually one after the other.