Original Buddhism preached a kind of original sin called desire. This
was very much contrary to eastern thought at the time. In the west bad
is bad as an entity and in the east bad is bad if it is inefficient or
has cause and effect negative repercussions. Buddha's Maya, was the
first real eastern devil. So avoiding maya (the illusion of the world)
means letting go of attachments and expectations. Most can give up lust
or gluttony but have a hard time letting go of the love for their child
or knee jerk compassion for total strangers. When all attachment is
gone, one feels a universal love for everything and eventually becomes
Buddha, the enlightened one. They spiritually leave this earth and
attain Nirvana (non-existence, the Buddhist heaven.)
Modern, western Buddhism substitutes Stoicism (mastery of the emotions) for nirvana, and in this sense is a psychology practice rather than a spirituality practice.
It is true that everything we want to eat, protect, hold onto and love hurts us usually as much as it heals us, because everything in life has two sides, but to me, the idea of stoicism is a form of death, and I am here to endure the pain of desire and experience it, not reject it and live in a bubble. Buddhism to me is just eastern Catholicism, watered down by modern users to a pop psychology tool.
Modern, western Buddhism substitutes Stoicism (mastery of the emotions) for nirvana, and in this sense is a psychology practice rather than a spirituality practice.
It is true that everything we want to eat, protect, hold onto and love hurts us usually as much as it heals us, because everything in life has two sides, but to me, the idea of stoicism is a form of death, and I am here to endure the pain of desire and experience it, not reject it and live in a bubble. Buddhism to me is just eastern Catholicism, watered down by modern users to a pop psychology tool.
The original question:
