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Date: December 10, 2022 10:44AM
https://vividness.live/protestant-buddhismProtestant Buddhism
Many Western Buddhists would consider the following ideas obviously true, and perhaps as defining Buddhism:
Everyone can potentially attain enlightenment
Religious practice is your personal responsibility; no one can do it for you
You don’t necessarily have to have help from monks to practice Buddhism effectively
Non-monks can teach Buddhism; celibacy is not essential to religious leadership
Ordinary people can and should meditate; meditation is the main Buddhist practice
Careful observation of your own inner thoughts and feelings is the essence of meditation
Ordinary people can, and should, read and interpret Buddhist texts, which should be available in translation
Ritual is not necessary; it’s a late cultural accretion on the original, rational Buddhist teachings
Magic, used to accomplish practical goals, is not part of Buddhism
Buddhism doesn’t believe in gods or spirits or demons; or at any rate, they should be ignored as unimportant
Buddhism doesn’t believe in idols (statues inhabited by gods)
Buddhist institutions can be useful, but not necessary; they tend to become corrupt, and we should be suspicious of them
Everyday life is sacred
These ideas come mainly from Protestant Christianity, not traditional Buddhism. They are not entirely absent in traditional Buddhism. However, mostly, in traditional Buddhism:
Only monks can potentially attain enlightenment
Religious practice is mainly a public, ritual affair, led by monks; the lay role is passive attendance
There is no Buddhism without monks
Only monks can teach Buddhism, and celibacy is critical to being a monk
Only monks meditate, and very few of them; meditation is a marginal practice
Meditation is mainly on subjects other than one’s self
Only monks read Buddhist texts, their interpretation is fixed by tradition, and they are available only in ancient, dead languages
Essentially all Buddhist practice is public ritual
Much of Buddhist practice aims at practical, this-world goals, by magically influencing spirits
Gods and demons are the main subject of Buddhist ritual
Buddhists worship idols that are understood to be the dwelling-places of spirits
All reverence is due to the monastic, institutional Sangha, which is the sole holder of the Dharma
Everyday life is defiled, contaminating, and must be abandoned if you want to make spiritual progress
Buddhism is still understood and practiced this way in much of Asia.