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He has done tons of work of spreading a very positive message distilling the essence of Buddhist teachings and freeing it from what we know today is superstitio
by stiff 13y ago
He has done tons of work of spreading a very positive message distilling the essence of Buddhist teachings and freeing it from what we know today is superstition. His books, unlike most books in this genre, are almost completely free of "woo", while succeeding in finding a somewhat positive and rational attitude toward life eternal problems, I for one think this is remarkable. I don't see any evidence for him seeking "constant media attention" or being "corrupt", I think he is simply being pragmatic in attempts to improve the world, which is indeed very Buddhist. In any case, I don't care if he is "real" or not, I like the actual "teachings".
Many of those supposedly "real" masters have been meanwhile repeatedly compromised over the years when scandals of sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, military involvement and corruption surfaced. I don't think the cult of the master, or the kind of elitism you are spreading, is very helpful in making the world a better place.
- virtualwhys 13y agoYes, the scandals, no safe haven, our idols themselves sometimes have a shady side ;-) Still, the teaching itself can be authentic at the same time. See Trungpa Rinpoche's "The Path is the Goal" and the fact that he was an alcoholic who had sex with some (many?) of his students. Or, master Seung Sahn's, "The Compass of Zen", and his penchant for alcohol and female students. There are of course other masters in the same boat, a conundrum, the teaching speaks volumes, but their actions do too o_O