Friday, May 3, 2013

Forget Zizek on Buddhism; check out engaged Buddhism

An IPS thread was started on one of Zizek's talks on Buddhism. So far most opinion, including my own, is that it's pretty much useless unless you've imbibed the Kool-Aid.  I prefer this article:

"While I’m sympathetic to many of Žižek’s criticisms and aims, I feel that 1) his sloppiness in appropriating Buddhist thought and 2) his narrow ideological bent make him difficult to take too seriously.


"The problem, turning to Spirituality and Buddhism, is that these can be mere distractions from the real problems in the world....people are not looking squarely at these and other problems and fighting to correct them, but are instead pouring their time and money into new spiritual practices, quite often including aspects of Buddhism. We don’t complain to our managers (and union reps) when our job becomes overly demanding and pay and benefits are cut. Instead we join a meditation group or pick up yoga or talk to a psychic, or all three."

This is more akin to my own criticisms. And what 'engaged Buddhism' is attempting to rectify.

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