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Comment by jackstraw14 | Hacker News Reader

Buddhism originated from a man sitting very still under a tree for a while.

The core issue I think this article ignores, is a Western buddhist's need to identify their spiritual life with a specific geographic region across the globe. The goal of Buddhism is not to create an alliance to eventually rule the world and compete with evil Western forces, but to develop a way of life through personal enlightenment that allows a better world to emerge.

These constructs in between us and enlightement only have life because of the energy we give to them. When the Dalai Lama talks about ways of finding personal peace, that's because it's the key point that you need before you can even know if your calling is to put your energy toward saving the Tibetan Buddhists.

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> Buddhism originated from a man sitting very still under a tree for a while.

Buddhism originated from a wealthy prince, who enjoyed every aspect of upper-most human life, began to ponder why there miseries exists among humans.

And then he spent the next decade studying with every philosopher he could find, from theists, atheists, agnostics to materialists and then finally decided to figure things out on his own. Only during the last period before his enlightenment did he sit under a tree. His meditations would not have borne fruit without all the experiences that preceded it. Source: raised as a Buddhist.

I second this.

And let's not forget he pursued ascetic practices for six years and nearly starved to death[1], then he sat under a tree with a very particular goal in mind.

[1] He would later characterise these practices as a false path.

"The goal of Buddhism is not to create an alliance to eventually rule the world and compete with evil Western forces, but to develop a way of life through personal enlightenment that allows a better world to emerge."

Suttas of Pali canon, the most ancient collection of Buddhist texts, are not dedicated to building a better world, though they contain advise on how to achieve happier and more peaceful existence. The goal of Buddha's teaching is an escape, a release from the endless cycle of rebirths, that is achieved through renunciation and non-clinging to the world and the concept of "self".

The Budhism in Burma and Sri Lanka is extremely political and virulently nationalistic. Like many others you are cherry-picking.

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