> A Tibetan teacher liked to say that westerners think that Buddhism is all calm and peaceful, and that compassion is soft and gentle The excellent Youtube Cha

> A Tibetan teacher liked to say that westerners think that Buddhism is all calm and peaceful, and that compassion is soft and gentle The excellent Youtube Channel "Religion for Breakfast" touched on this subject toward the end of his "Buddhism Has a Lot of Hells" video[1], where he explained that it's a case of orientalism (in the 'Edward Saïd' sense). In this case, since Buddhism was mostly imported in the west by hippy-style counter-culture movements, and since it was presented as an alternative to judeo-christian values, there was a tendency to omit things (like the concept of hell and damnation) that wasn't deemed foreign (to western culture) enough. If one is interested in the history of religion, then I heartily recommend both "Religion for Breakfast" and "Let's talk Religion" Youtube Channels, they are truly amazing both in breadth and in quality. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKWmMLlSPsM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKWmMLlSPsM