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That doesn't sound like a very Buddhist thing to say? I thought Buddhists were supposed to be about "no ego", not "don't listen to this guy because I'm more sen

That doesn't sound like a very Buddhist thing to say? I thought Buddhists were supposed to be about "no ego", not "don't listen to this guy because I'm more senior/got more titles than him".

wraptile 3y ago
Spending 5 years in Thailand I've learned that Buddhism while funamentally different from other religions in the best ways operates just the same in practical reality. It's almost like classification and status is inherit to any group activity and not in a good way unfortunately. To give perspective on the "dark" side of Buddhism I highly recommend "Come and See" documentary on Netflix which is hard to explain without spoilers but it's a great illustration of how everything evolves into a crab eventually.
- snthpy 3y ago
  It's not on my Netflix unfortunately and I just find this Russian anti war film: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See
  - wraptile 3y ago
    Seems like it's only available on Netflix in Thailand. So you'd need a VPN that has a server in Thailand or find it somewhere else. Here's the IMDB page though: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985730/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985730/
- snthpy 3y ago
  Found it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See_(2019_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See_(2019_film)
- laratied 3y ago
  The idea of collections of humans without hierarchy is beyond delusional. I am a Buddhist but it is hard to say I am serious or I would be living alone in the woods. Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy. Sogyal Rinpoche telling his female students he is going to give them a dharma lesson by sleeping with him. In a metaphorical sense though I think that is what most students are looking for actually too and of course they find it. For me personally, I don't want to wake up yet. I am still enjoying this dream.
  - kinleyd 3y ago
    <Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy.> That is as sweeping a statement as one could make about Buddhism.
  - swayvil 3y ago
    Ditto more or less. Refreshing to hear a sane word. Do you do your vipassana with concentration-prep, or do you do it dry? I do it dry mself.
croes 3y ago
I guess it's the same problem as with the all-loving god of Christianity and the people who claim "God hates ...'.
esbeeb 3y ago
Who's decision was it to call the website a "university"? Was that my decision, or his? The decision to call it a "university" is what makes me want to clarify what peer-perceived credentials he might have to that extent. If you were considering enrolling in a university, would you look into the reputation of that university? I'll bet you would. You'd want to know what it's reputation is like. Well, I'm offering insights into that, and yes his seniority got pulled into that description. He's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. In the Theravada world, this would be almost universally discouraged (it isn't just me who feels this way): trying to run a website while still quite a junior monk. There's no way my own teacher would have approved of it. Theravada culture is conservative - guilty as charged there. As to his wisdom: I've never actually lived with him, so I can't comment on what he's like. He seems astute enough from my dealings with him. No complaints from me, other than that choice of the word "university". These sorts of things - someone's wisdom - can only be seen with time. As to his choices of what he curates on his website: I agree there's a lot of great resources listed there. My tastes and his are a little different - which is to be expected - and I wouldn't say there are any "red flags" to speak of. It's a solid website. Please don't be discouraged from checking it out. I'm not trying to stop anyone from going explore it. Thanks for taking the time to check out Theravada Buddhism. :) PS: I have a personal little indie website here: https://bhikkhu.ca/ https://bhikkhu.ca/ ...but I don't go so far as to call it a "university". It's a personal website, which doesn't make itself out to be anything more than that.
- cgio 3y ago
  A student asked the teacher, “teacher can you teach me?” And the teacher asked “can you?” The student said “no” and then they were both silent.
- tasuki 3y ago
  I'd expect a buddhist teacher to be a lot more chill. You took issue with him calling himself a "dean" while he only called himself a librarian. The website is called a "university" but obviously he's not pretending to be a real credentialed university, it's just a cute website title. Here you had a good chance to reflect and backtrack. But no, he's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. Well, I'm not even a monk and run my own website, how about that?
emptysongglass 3y ago
Actually, the Buddha was critical of other teachers and practices when he felt those teachers and practices were not teaching what leads to the end of the suffering. Some people misapprehend Buddhism to be a kind of wet mop that just sort of sits there.
- bowsamic 3y ago
  That's because they have done literally no research into Buddhism, they just have some kind of orientalist stereotype of it that they got from watching kungfu movies and expect reality to conform to that idea
boxed 3y ago
Buddhism is concerned with truth. That's a hard problem! But it ends up with the same solutions as in science: you DO in fact need to listen to experts, and you need to take peoples education into consideration, but it might not be the end of the conversation.
bowsamic 3y ago
Why do you think that your strange stereotype of Buddhism would have anything to do with actual Buddhism?
ArturoVM 3y ago
The actual doctrine is closer to “not-self” but it’s still a part of the teachings that one should not compare oneself to others. It’s such a shame that some of the representatives of the Buddhist tradition don’t practice that, which leads to the perception that “it’s all the same,” as someone else commented here.

That doesn't sound like a very Buddhist thing to say? I thought Buddhists were supposed to be about "no ego", not "don't listen to this guy because I'm more senior/got more titles than him".

wraptile 3y ago

Spending 5 years in Thailand I've learned that Buddhism while funamentally different from other religions in the best ways operates just the same in practical reality. It's almost like classification and status is inherit to any group activity and not in a good way unfortunately. To give perspective on the "dark" side of Buddhism I highly recommend "Come and See" documentary on Netflix which is hard to explain without spoilers but it's a great illustration of how everything evolves into a crab eventually.

snthpy 3y ago
It's not on my Netflix unfortunately and I just find this Russian anti war film: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See
- wraptile 3y ago
  Seems like it's only available on Netflix in Thailand. So you'd need a VPN that has a server in Thailand or find it somewhere else. Here's the IMDB page though: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985730/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985730/
snthpy 3y ago
Found it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See_(2019_film) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See_(2019_film)
laratied 3y ago
The idea of collections of humans without hierarchy is beyond delusional. I am a Buddhist but it is hard to say I am serious or I would be living alone in the woods. Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy. Sogyal Rinpoche telling his female students he is going to give them a dharma lesson by sleeping with him. In a metaphorical sense though I think that is what most students are looking for actually too and of course they find it. For me personally, I don't want to wake up yet. I am still enjoying this dream.
- kinleyd 3y ago
  <Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy.> That is as sweeping a statement as one could make about Buddhism.
- swayvil 3y ago
  Ditto more or less. Refreshing to hear a sane word. Do you do your vipassana with concentration-prep, or do you do it dry? I do it dry mself.

croes 3y ago

I guess it's the same problem as with the all-loving god of Christianity and the people who claim "God hates ...'.

esbeeb 3y ago

Who's decision was it to call the website a "university"? Was that my decision, or his? The decision to call it a "university" is what makes me want to clarify what peer-perceived credentials he might have to that extent. If you were considering enrolling in a university, would you look into the reputation of that university? I'll bet you would. You'd want to know what it's reputation is like. Well, I'm offering insights into that, and yes his seniority got pulled into that description. He's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. In the Theravada world, this would be almost universally discouraged (it isn't just me who feels this way): trying to run a website while still quite a junior monk. There's no way my own teacher would have approved of it. Theravada culture is conservative - guilty as charged there. As to his wisdom: I've never actually lived with him, so I can't comment on what he's like. He seems astute enough from my dealings with him. No complaints from me, other than that choice of the word "university". These sorts of things - someone's wisdom - can only be seen with time. As to his choices of what he curates on his website: I agree there's a lot of great resources listed there. My tastes and his are a little different - which is to be expected - and I wouldn't say there are any "red flags" to speak of. It's a solid website. Please don't be discouraged from checking it out. I'm not trying to stop anyone from going explore it. Thanks for taking the time to check out Theravada Buddhism. :) PS: I have a personal little indie website here: https://bhikkhu.ca/ https://bhikkhu.ca/ ...but I don't go so far as to call it a "university". It's a personal website, which doesn't make itself out to be anything more than that.

cgio 3y ago
A student asked the teacher, “teacher can you teach me?” And the teacher asked “can you?” The student said “no” and then they were both silent.
tasuki 3y ago
I'd expect a buddhist teacher to be a lot more chill. You took issue with him calling himself a "dean" while he only called himself a librarian. The website is called a "university" but obviously he's not pretending to be a real credentialed university, it's just a cute website title. Here you had a good chance to reflect and backtrack. But no, he's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. Well, I'm not even a monk and run my own website, how about that?

emptysongglass 3y ago

Actually, the Buddha was critical of other teachers and practices when he felt those teachers and practices were not teaching what leads to the end of the suffering. Some people misapprehend Buddhism to be a kind of wet mop that just sort of sits there.

bowsamic 3y ago
That's because they have done literally no research into Buddhism, they just have some kind of orientalist stereotype of it that they got from watching kungfu movies and expect reality to conform to that idea

boxed 3y ago

Buddhism is concerned with truth. That's a hard problem! But it ends up with the same solutions as in science: you DO in fact need to listen to experts, and you need to take peoples education into consideration, but it might not be the end of the conversation.

bowsamic 3y ago

Why do you think that your strange stereotype of Buddhism would have anything to do with actual Buddhism?

ArturoVM 3y ago

The actual doctrine is closer to “not-self” but it’s still a part of the teachings that one should not compare oneself to others. It’s such a shame that some of the representatives of the Buddhist tradition don’t practice that, which leads to the perception that “it’s all the same,” as someone else commented here.