Thursday, January 04, 2024

Mobility across castes

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra

12 hours ago — Savitri has discovered her soul, become one with it. Her being wakes up to deeper possibilities leading to the awakening of Kundalini Force.
6 days ago — About Sri Aurobindo · The Motherarrow_drop_down · Collected Works · Agenda · Revue ... Sri Aurobindo to DilipVolume Two19342 December 1934. Show Page Number No
6 days ago — Sri Aurobindo: The Grand Synthesis. https://auro-ebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/5-Sri-Aurobindo-The-Grand-Synthesis_sq350.png 350 350 Auro e-Books ...
Savitri by Sri Aurobindo – his major poetic work, an epic in blank verse. In Savitri, a legend from the Mahabharata becomes the symbol of the human soul's ...
3 days ago — Standing at Thy Altar O Lord Supreme : Pledge Song to Sri Aurobindo and The Mother by PED A beautiful Audio on Sri Aurobindo and The Mother written by ...
Sri Aurobindo Mama Sharanam - (Pujalal) Vimal Bhide ( Raga: Bhatiyar)

[PDF] FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR

MA ENGLISH - Shakespeare Studies
… UNIT IV - Sri Aurobindo: The Essence of poetry, Style and Substance (from ‗The Future Poetry‘) Dr. S. Radhakrishnan : Emerging World Society,

[PDF] Community Based Participatory Research: Exploring the Value of Indigenous Knowledge for Early Childhood Development

K Padayachee, S Maistry, D Lortan
This paper presents the preliminary findings on a current engaged research that aims to develop through Community Based Participatory Research a framework for Integral Education underpinned by indigenous knowledge in Early Childhood …

[PDF] Community Based Participatory Research: Exploring the Value of Indigenous Knowledge for Early Childhood Development

K Padayachee, S Maistry, D Lortan
This paper presents the preliminary findings on a current engaged research that aims to develop through Community Based Participatory Research a framework for Integral Education underpinned by indigenous knowledge in Early Childhood …

[PDF] Reigniting Race and Yoga: An Open Issue “in the Wake” of Ongoing Crises

S Roth - Race and Yoga, 2023
After an extended editorial process, we are excited to share the seventh issue of Race and Yoga, which includes three peer-reviewed articles, one personal narrative, and three book reviews. The journey to publication for this issue has seen several …

Sri Aurobindo on Memory and conviction of Eternity iiyp.net/lifedivinechap

https://twitter.com/drsbasu2115/status/1742593198382596483?t=bfWYbCmFmY62WYZSJBFMew&s=19

I, Dr. K Elst, challenge CP Rajendran to a public debate on his claim: "This ‘out-of-India’ theory propagated in the [IIT Kharagpur] calendar flies in the face of all the available evidence generated by a spectrum of scientific and sociological studies."

m.thewire.in/article/educat

https://twitter.com/ElstKoenraad/status/1742612556693311913?t=Snbl0fi2JIecBgTrFXsoEQ&s=19

The Varna-Jati is the organisation of Hindu society and it has been in existence for eons, was quite fluid with frequent upward and downward mobility of individuals as well as groups with changing times and circumstances. It was not only stratified but every person and his progeny got branded once and for all with a “caste” after it got recorded in the 1st Census held by the British in 1870s.

And then both the Colonial British governments, their Education system and the Missionaries went about inventing, writing and imparting all sorts of False Atrocity Literature to vilify and demonise Hinduism, with a view to seek converts into Christianity.

Sadly, instead of de-colonising it independent India institutionalised it as the Constitution of India, which I call as the finest False Atrocity Literature.

Strangely, as per the Constitution of India one can convert from one’s birth religion to another, but one cannot convert one’s birth caste to another by remaining within Hindu fold. In other words, the Constitution actually promotes the Colonial and Missionary project of religious conversion of Hindus by not explicitly allowing vertical and horizontal mobility across castes within Hindu society.

Sadly, the #PseudoHindutva RSS-BJP instead of making efforts to undo the damage, has been further crystallising it

Consequently, the self-inflicted irreparable damage done to the Hindu social fabric in the past 74 years of working Constitution of India is enormous and extraordinary in the annals of history.

https://twitter.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1742575876653629733?t=LNvSqqrA2Y5YejWsNxncHQ&s=19

Timeless Elegance of #Sanskrit

Glad to share my thoughts at the Assam State Book Fair's Youth Writers Meet on Sanskrit as a vibrant, living and breathing language. From cognitive development to wellbeing, its impact is profound. 

Let's celebrate #SanskritRevival together!

https://twitter.com/Sampadananda/status/1742542237354078592?t=yKqvUjRed4RGCnxXsC5dMw&s=19

Not India but India's ruling regime lacks humour because it's a Radical Right regime. RW can never have sense of humour because their identity is based on insecure masculinities, perceived victimhood,  jealousy, petty vengeance. Those with low self-esteem can't take jokes.

https://twitter.com/sanjukta/status/1742614928211706153?t=_y01YTONfZbUSMC9adakCQ&s=19

A disturbing realisation after decades in #journalism is that the average citizen, even with a post-graduate degrees, does not have a sense of concept, integrity and factual accuracy to appreciate meaningful perspectives. Random factoids, impressions & interests shape narratives.

https://twitter.com/madversity/status/1741817640581263446?t=4ICrkgwbYF5I_yxCdR5eMA&s=19

Douglas Murray on the absurdity of identity politics. This is an extremist and regressive leftist ideology that denies individuality and reduces everyone to a set of rigid identity groups oppressed by designated villain groups.

https://twitter.com/akazlev/status/1742484121602154536?t=cv0PPaYfyJo_lOSejYzzdA&s=19

Someone with fair amount of objectivity and nuance, and complete access to the Internet doesn't need a teacher. Just need willingness to read history properly. The answers to questions like how many KPs were really killed, expected some due diligence and fact checking from you.

https://twitter.com/ankita_267/status/1505809697890131972?t=SwDPE8_6riBu5CHs55YA1Q&s=19

Post-secular narratives on Kolkata and the Hooghly Riverfront, entailing material politics of making sacred spaces at land-water interfaces, have been seldom discussed in urban planning scholarship.

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1742553990699655192?t=JQQI-QdgK_H8pqGmvY-QhA&s=19

Monday, December 11, 2023

Philosophy of Sri Aurobindo transcends social concerns

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra (b. 1956), Director, SELF (2005), Founder, Savitri Era Religion (2006), and President, Savitri Era Party (2007)

[PDF] How Neo-Nationalism has fuelled the transformation of old welfare-state to new capital-state

D Mohan - The Wire, 2023
This is a two-part review analysis based on the key findings in Oleksandr Svitych’s recent book, The Rise of the Capital-State and Neo-Nationalism, which attempts to provide a political economy approach to the rise of ‘neo-nationalism’ – a populist …

Abrogating Article 370 and Kashmir's exceptionalism: a critical analysis of India's bodies politic

A Bhatia - Critical Discourse Studies, 2023
… The curation of a populist narrative that fosters a protectionist sentiment situates BJP’s primary ideology of Hindutva (conflation of religious and … The 2014 resurrection of BJP, their dispersion of Hindutva, and the perceived disintegration of …

Philosophical and Educational Thoughts of Sri Aurobindo

DR Sirswal - 2023
In this book we included 10 papers from academicians, teachers and research scholars on the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo that touches various aspects of his thoughts. The year-long celebrations to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of …

[PDF] Integration of Spirituality in the Teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo

B Saroj Chandraker - Tuijin Jishu/Journal of Propulsion Technology, 2023
… Sri Aurobindo, in his integral yoga, proposed that human life is a journey towards … Integral Approach to Life: Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga and Vivekananda's call for a holistic approach to life converge in their shared vision of an integrated existence …

[PDF] Swami Vivekananda, Hindu Dharma and 'Social Ethics' in the Nineteenth Century

H Tripathy
… devotion also had a philanthropic role; social service was an integral part of their everyday life in ancient as well as medieval India. … of karma yoga in the context of Hackerian thesis, he says; “there is a far more explicit relationship in the arguments …

[PDF] Missing Links between Veer Savarkar and Rash Bihari Bose: A Historical Study

N De, A Karimganj
Savarkar is an unquestionable nationalist, an ardent anti-imperialist and a fearless freedom fighter, Veer Savarkar had motivated thousands of people both before and after independence. His sacrifice for the motherland still remains in our hearts even …

[PDF] SHOWCASING ANTI-COLONIAL NATIONALIST STRUGGLES

B Dutt - STAGING DIFFICULT PASTS
… Though the RSS is banned, dormant lies the Hindutva politics and deep communalism that refuses to go away even 70 years after … 14 Communalism is a derogatory term used to identify the doctrine that came to be known by name ‘Hindutva’which …

[PDF] “Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet”: A Study of Cultural Dissension in Pankaj Mishra's The Romantics

M NAYAK - Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics Vol, 2023
… In parallel, following the demise of Samar’s mother, his father, with an aura of inscrutability, embarked on a comparable journey of withdrawal from the world by seeking solace within the tranquil confines of Auroville in Pondicherry. This esoteric …

[HTML] A cross-cultural religiology between reductionism and anti-reductionism

G Wang - HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 2023
… , to see the encounter with other’s religion as a personal, and integral encounter in which we do not merely understand other’s religion by … or Brahma, Hinduism teaches four yogas: jnana yoga, bhakti yoga, karma yoga, and raja yoga. Through …

[HTML] The Discourse Analysis of Spiritual Life Zones in Wayne W. Dyer and Muhammad Reza Hakimi's Views

M Khiweh, M Sotoudehnia, M Motia - Comparative Theology, 2023
One characteristic of the modern age is the attempt to separate religion from the secular world, confining it to a specific aspect of life and replacing it with a new form of spirituality. This study compared the viewpoints of Muhammad Reza Hakimi and …

[PDF] MASTERING THE ART OF WRITING: SKILLS, STRATEGIES, AND SUCCESS

AK Uchkunovich - Creativity and Intellect in Higher Education …, 2023
Writing is a skill that transcends professions, cultures, and generations. Whether you're a student crafting essays, a professional composing reports, or an aspiring author weaving stories, strong writing skills are essential. In this three-page article, we will …

Television music curation in the playlist era

M Kaplan - Journal of Popular Television, 2023
… Playlists offer listeners meticulously curated selections suited to fit their taste profile, harnessing the power of curation as an integral facet of music consumption in the twenty-first century. The power of the curation realized by the music …

The view from Mathura: nationalist projections in local perspective

N Tackes - Contemporary South Asia, 2023
… This situation demonstrates how rhetorical and spatial erasure mutually reinforce one another within contemporary Hindutva projects, whereby Muslim sacred territory in India becomes progressively more difficult to access, both conceptually and on …

A Review of “The Making of Contemporary Indian Philosophy: Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya”

Rajan - 2023
… To conclude this section, George Burch’s quote is invoked, emphasizing that the ancient traditions of Sāṃkhya and Yoga, as presented in SSP and SYP, are living philosophies requiring further deliberation. These traditions have faced challenges …

Tagore's Solutions for Colonial Degeneration: Indic Societalism, Nation, Identities, and Communities

A Mukhopadhyay - 2023
This book focuses on Rabindranath Tagore as a social and political thinker revolving around Tagore’s ideas on the seeds of civil society, nation, identities, and communities in the Indic tradition. The author deconstructs Tagore’s concepts …

[PDF] Periodicals and Nation-Building: The Public Sphere, Modernity, and Modernism in Modern Review and Visva Bharati Quarterly

A Singh - Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and …, 2023
… Adhikari Bheda was a practice that gained popularity during the revivalism of Hindutva (as discussed by Sumit Sarkar in “Identity and Difference: Caste in the Formation of the Ideologies of Nationalism and Hindutva”), especially with Swami …

[PDF] Dualistic Realism in Thoreau's Walden

MP Sapkota - Journal of Siddhartha, 2023
… and restraints outlined in yoga. For example, he,“… was a vegetarian, a non-smoker and teetotaler. He remained bachelor throughout his life… (99)”. … Thus, understanding this integral relationship between the Prakriti and the Purusa is to …

[PDF] Hannah Arendt's Vita Activa, Civil Disobedience and Plurality: The Emergence of'Andolan'as an Essential Human Condition in India

S Khalid
… However, such distinct religious or ideologically driven flag hoist emphasizing narrow-sub-nationalism seemingly critical to the mainstream Hindutva nationalism synthesizing state, religion and politics in the country. The conditions of 'Relizens,' 

When the Fourth Pillar Crumbles: Press Freedom in the Time of Right-Wing Nationalism

DS Mini - Journalism & Communication Monographs, 2023
… Today, this has led to a situation where anyone who criticizes Hindutva is accused … Hindutva ideology are readily available. Anirban Baishya’s 2022 article in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies shows how such media ecologies …

Bollywood, Maratha imperialism and Hindu nationalism

K Roy - Small Wars & Insurgencies, 2023
… In 1923, Savarkar published Essentials of Hinduism which constitutes the basis for Hindutva concept. He elaborated this concept further in Hindu Rashtra Darshan (1949). For Savarkar, Hinduism is a spiritual dogma and a derivative of HindutvaHindutva …

Ethno-Nationalist Drivers of the Indian Media Truth-Telling Crisis

A Khan, I Vahanvaty - Re-thinking Mediations of Post-truth Politics and Trust …, 2023
… It is in this confluence between the press and politics, which sped up, especially since the 1990s, that we demonstrate the impact of misleading public opinion, particularly the way it has helped the Hindutva parties in securing electoral gains. In …

[PDF] Censorship and the Nationalization of Dance in India: An Overview from 1947 to the Present

A Chakravarty - South Asian Dance Intersections, 2023
… Hindutva … and Hindutva nationalism gaining momentum on the other, the 1990s marked increasing tussles over the prevailing assumptions of Indian cultural identity. In the context of cinema, this project played out in efforts to censor dance sequences …

[PDF] Alternative Therapies Across Ages: A Psychological Perspective

P Varma, P Rai, A Ranjan
… because of its chronic nature comes up with a lot of challenges and management is an integral part of life for most of those diagnosed. ADHD-diagnosed people are usually indifferent to reinforcement and thereby are motivated less to indulge in any …

[PDF] The neurocognitive cornerstones of creative thought

MMY Chan, MAL RALPH, G Robinson - 2023
… Functional fractionations have been 244 identified along three spatial directional axes33,52,54; the Rostral-Caudal axis represents the 245 level of abstraction (complex-simple) of stimulus-response associations, the Ventral-Dorsal 246 axis is integral for storage …

[PDF] Monumentality, Seriality and Social Intervention: Sculptures from an 11th-century Workshop at Sunari in Eastern Malwa

S Singh, J Levillain - Arts Asiatiques, 2023
… One of these, the statue of Vishnu seated in meditation as “master of yoga,” Yoganarayana, was brought to Gwalior where it is still on … The stakes, as clarified by Ajay Sinha, lie in identifying the innovation, experimentation and individuality …

[PDF] HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL FEATURES OF THE FORMATION OF PHYSICAL CULTURE IN SOCIETY

ЎА Шоназаров - Ethiopian International Journal of Multidisciplinary …, 2023
… Physical culture is an integral … believed that spirit and body exist in an integral way. According to Aristotle, the three types of the … Thus, the philosophical system of yoga is based on the concept that the human body is a reduced …

Pedagogy, Politics, and Betty Dodson's Liberating Masturbation

E Sutton - Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 2024
… While she is recognized as an integral figure in the history of sex-positive feminism and feminist sex education, beyond these scholarly and activist communities she lacks the name recognition of her movement peers in a theoretical …

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

New Age is just Hinduism spiffed up and prettified for a Western audience

 Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra (b.1956), President, Savitri Era Party (2007) and Founder, Savitri Era Religion (2006)

Era Open Forum: Jayanti Ravi, Jayant Bhandari, and Rajiv Malhotra

seof.blogspot.com/2023/11/jayant

Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra (b.1956), President, Savitri Era Party (2007) and Founder, Savitri Era Religion (2006)

Savitri Era of those who adore, Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.

... 

‘Time and Cinema’...
exploring cinematic temporalities - with Deb Kamal Ganguly
25th & 26th November 2023_ 14:30 to 19:00 IST_Online.
To know more visit:
filminstitute.auroville.org/2023/11/09/tim…
@everyone please share! https://twitter.com/RichaRrivu/status/1724514439897252067?t=_CTVgDRGo3vGdamS2hk1pg&s=19

#OPINION | Combination of woman and death, a unique pairing, remains unparalleled in world literature. Bergman’s film and Aurobindo’s modern epic are discussed to highlight this uniqueness: A. Raghuramaraju #Savitri #Birth #Death #SriAurobindo https://twitter.com/ttindia/status/1723931022277165436?t=-AuhBPVTDVU9Fb_Cgv6RBA&s=19

Years ago, in a difficult period of my life, I had looked for philosophical help and explicitly found it in Buddhism and not Daoism, rejecting Daoism and its sudden-liberation views in about the strongest possible terms. But that wasn't the whole story.

I had already been trying to apply the four-stage model of skill development, taught to me by Nancy Houfek, in which one progresses from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence to conscious competence to unconscious competence... the Daoists might have a point.

I am fortunate to see @sachin_rt practice, play and talk about cricket. No greater batsmen than Sachin in modern era..
Virat is very good player - above average bashing up pedestrian bowlers who can't reverse swing (ball change), no bouncers, power play, no macgrath (line) There has been no greater batsmen than @sachin_rt in modern era, no greater cricketer than @jacqueskallis75 . Virat is a very good player… of this generation.. that is I have seen both of them play, practice, think and talk. Aura that intimidated bowlers… Courage when being hit by balls all over body.. Single handedly destroy the best. Carry the team when 5 players took money to lose..I saw it all @sachin_rt never talks about it but we saw it it https://twitter.com/Brahamvakya/status/1724769265641721937?t=Dw94fNWgw3AXRY8U3Z0ISA&s=19

My experience of 38 years within the governments of India and Australia has been priceless. EVERYWHERE I see government corruption and incompetence. It is an instinct, now. The government is the MOST harmful thing in the world. How to minimise its harm must be our main project. https://twitter.com/sabhlok/status/1724556535341400574?t=sE2RwjpeNalCDCzCb5AibA&s=19

,,, 

Are mountains beautiful? loveofallwisdom.com/blog/2023/04/a

Interesting. Classical Indian Buddhist take might be that the only real hope for really alleviating animals' suffering is to wait the eons for a human birth. But agree this kind of suffering-focused ethics is much closer to Buddhism than is one focused on justice/rights/equality. https://twitter.com/loveofallwisdom/status/1686775622717014017?t=XNi7hjL6utPtJjzI-4TuJw&s=19

I have been writing on The Mother & Sri Aurobindo since 2005 and here on X from 2012. I have been trying to bring clarity and transparency to their complex legacy since it's difficult for any newcommer. But unfortunately, people don't read my posts and prefer their own ignorance.

Modernity, in fact, entered with the Europeans and Nehru, no doubt, nurtured it with all his might. He, however, had no means of delivering people from the clutches of religious obscurantism the effect of which we witness today. That task had been ably performed by Sri Aurobindo.

Not lost exactly but suffers from lack of deserved evaluation and dissemination. Thanks for this little help for spreading his name which is so essential for furthering the ideals Nehru represented. It's absolutely necessary to understand how the combination works for India and the world.

The penetration of modernity into Indian society was not complete. But the support of the educated people for Hindutva has turned the clock back. Proper maintenance of the foundations laid by Nehru can only be possible by following the principles of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo.

The Mother & Sri Aurobindo have gifted me the intellectual freedom from imaginary mythology and vain rituals. They have avoided empty promises or lofty miracles. They simply extend the scientific theory of evolution to show how the descent of Supramental consciousness is certain.

Savitri Era Religion is the best means for leading a modern life. No mythology, no rituals, and no traditional customs. Aspiration for Supramental consciousness and surrender to The Mother & Sri Aurobindo are the only basic requirements for being part of this worldwide community.

The philosophy of The Mother & Sri Aurobindo is meant for the whole humanity. No specific institution or location has ownership over it. Anyone living anywhere in the world can turn to them and read their books without having to depend upon someone else. It's direct relationship. https://twitter.com/SavitriEra/status/1724254565279912000?t=a3-EvflpvkQJFPdGNKB1pg&s=19

Go for original. Not their disciples, not their ashrams, not their followers https://twitter.com/B_S_Gupta/status/1724664894132543822?t=tU6NxplLSmYDN64zUsNQAA&s=19

Went to Aurobindo Ashram, advertised as a place where people can attain moksha. Was instructed to kneel before and touch my forehead to Aurobindo's and Mother's grave. Felt like imperialism to me to be honest... Yes, I was impertinently shooed away from the library because it was lunchtime. https://twitter.com/postsfromunder/status/1724461379963453474?t=49nY6OKWGCIHonXgnx3VKA&s=19 

Visiting their bookshop, instead, would have been more enlightening and humbling. Mapping exercise and the right direction in life, therefore, is so important! Many people return back from Auroville thinking, mistakenly, that it's the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Yes, brick and mortar have their limitations everywhere. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, therefore, have left behind seventy volumes of their writings to be accessed online, free. twitter.com/B_S_Gupta/stathttps://twitter.com/SavitriEra/status/1724646032792064188?t=cwYkEfmgqhm238DZXw2aMw&s=19

Well, Buddha, much like Jesus, never actually wrote anything so there’s a wide range of opinion on what his message actually was. And on top of that the Buddha seems to have endorsed a skeptical or apophatic position on a lot of metaphysical questions, so two Buddhists might… https://twitter.com/Bazoonga31/status/1724355929918046365?t=yfjhLq3O24iQWGAc1bbW8g&s=19

well, Buddhism was originally some sort of atheistic idealogy, but humans being humans started worshipping Buddha. “If you encounter the Buddha, kill him!” is an important line from some schools of Buddhism that is close to the original. https://twitter.com/tollcopier/status/1724334591467467074?t=42Di17kjcndeaFHa3bYo3g&s=19

"Eastern spirituality" concepts in the West seem more directly tied to the transcendentalist movement in Western philosophical tradition. Recasting it may be a reaction to Western philosophy being "claimed" by conservative reactionaries for much of the 20th Century. https://twitter.com/IanJSpalding/status/1724391837132005530?t=cRxu7uHnoA2PRUCzxU4RxQ&s=19

I've seen it argued that western buddhism is better viewed as a new religion which arose from spiritualism and theosophy in the late 1800s. https://twitter.com/CyberpunkPlato/status/1724386612384002353?t=wiGygVidiXunHvjAQcjoiA&s=19

interesting overlap here with Westerners treating even classical western thinking as secular - see how much of "stoicism" nowadays is basically just self help totally divorced from the religious context it originated in. https://twitter.com/orc1917/status/1724284792886513877?t=qoUB2A4c5IlhAuxhiolULA&s=19

Always entertained by the shock of some western Buddhists when they encounter what Buddhism is in practice to thr great majority of its adherents https://twitter.com/LegoRacers2/status/1724273596191879522?t=LcfaZXZjAznm1XhrUdZUbg&s=19

I think it's also that Western education about Buddhism focuses mostly on the teachings of the Buddha himself, which doesn't really tell you much about how the religion is practiced. Like you wouldn't know much about modern Christianity just from reading the teachings of Jesus. https://twitter.com/BlighttownNIMBY/status/1724593776931524875?t=T5kpLjCsC19O97T7hSl8kQ&s=19

Same with Daoism. Arguably an even greater divergence there between how it is practiced as a religion in China and how it is understood in the West via people reading the Dao De Jing as a sort of self-help text. Then again most major religions bear multiple interpretations. https://twitter.com/WarioArgento/status/1724492261033980305?t=UqymV49LTUtymrl5QY3bpA&s=19

No what this person is saying is bizarre. I've spent plenty of time in Buddhist countries, and they pray and so forth but Buddhism is completely different from the Catholic Church. It's also a bit weird to expect every Buddhist to have memorized the"wheel of mara" etc https://twitter.com/TLiterarian/status/1724430308156604876?t=77qN6RQ3qafIPsSVi0p8Ng&s=19

I’d say most of us Westerners who are into Buddhism look at it from the pragmatic dharma lens. But this is lucky because, of course, rituals and prayers are not liberative. It is insane luck to have access to the practices without the attached dogma. https://twitter.com/BeraHugs/status/1724302610159546512?t=BYX90e_AQ5JcdmLC64hliw&s=19

You nailed it. Although there are some merits to approaching a religion intellectually at first, the drawback since colonial times has been the appropriation and draining of important religious aspects of Buddhism. They tend to be looked down upon by westerners. https://twitter.com/shiladharma_/status/1724410149652050374?t=0YImxkZ3YQaOM_7RZP7uhA&s=19

I disagree with this - i think it's much more similar to newly converted Christians who've actually read theology talking to people who go to church becuase their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents did https://twitter.com/NathanB60857242/status/1724514206202896693?t=xIMXfTVP_mvWiyD2Y6aj8w&s=19

An ex-Buddhist here, and I think it's quite the contrary. *We* want to see mysticism and depth where there's none. The grass always seems greener on the other side, but when we jump the fence and look around for a bit, yup, it's the same grass. https://twitter.com/makingthematrix/status/1724467130299511169?t=iXN31AT9vKHCAsEijhDQPg&s=19

It's important to keep in mind that Buddhism has mixed with native faiths in various places it has spread to. Japanese Zen seems to be particularly appealing to Westerners due to its "minimalism", which stems from the Japanese maintaining Shintoism as a separate religion https://twitter.com/BunniNor/status/1724436723726205345?t=P0n0OlT3_fhUJMmOORwALg&s=19

It’s similar with Hinduism, I think. I’ve believed for a long time that so-called “New Age” is just Hinduism spiffed up and prettified for a Western audience. Though that, as with so many other things, may be an oversimplification. https://twitter.com/joea64/status/1724392990985097313?t=-2KkH0wbAHDa4OL8PU4T2w&s=19

Great book about this is "What Makes You Not a Buddhist" by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse. https://twitter.com/Jahaza/status/1724487476671099259?t=xnoSxdB9VO2heF7CY_qfpQ&s=19

I'm not a Buddhist so I don't want to step on toes here but I think a lot of westerners are introduced to Buddhist concepts through texts tailored to western secular sensibilities that diminish, distort, or even disparage aspects of the religion considered too mystical https://twitter.com/LegoRacers2/status/1724274549850587170?t=wNTdqW2YFz9fPl5b9vFF3w&s=19