Post: #1

Any practitioners of Buddhism here? If so what are your experiences with it? Is it beneficial for masculine growth?

I know of a few practitioners who report an increase in masculine qualities such as courage, confidence, self-reliance etc.

Post: #2

Don't know much about it, but from what I understand of it, I don't see why it could be followed by a masculine man. Seems like it is a similar ideology to stoicism. But all of the white Buddhists I know are the liberal, vegan, environmentalist type. So watch out for that, you don't want to get pulled into that community.

Post: #3

(04-30-2016 07:39 PM)Cortés Wrote:  Don't know much about it, but from what I understand of it, I don't see why it could be followed by a masculine man. Seems like it is a similar ideology to stoicism. But all of the white Buddhists I know are the liberal, vegan, environmentalist type. So watch out for that, you don't want to get pulled into that community.

True but actual Buddhism doesn't require one to be all those things. Western Buddhists who are liberal, vegan, environmentalists are a relatively new species in the Buddhist world.

Post: #4

Look to the man who started it. Siddhartha Gautama. A spoiled little brat who couldn't cope with the fact that life is tough and he would one day die. A man who abandoned his own family to escape reality opting to "seek enlightenment". Sure.

Authentic Buddhism is rooted and centered around monastic life. Men dodging societal responsibilities and choosing to beg for food. If Buddhism could be summed up I think it would be "why bother". Your purpose in life is to mentally prepare yourself for death and avoid suffering or hardship. And hope that's it. Far from masculine. Which is why liberals are attracted to it like moths to a lightbulb.

Any ideology embraced by Hollywood and other lefty loonies is guaranteed to not give you the peace and fulfillment a man is looking for.

Life is hard, embrace it as such and let it mold your character.

Post: #5

Bingo, mate! A religion based on worshiping a deadbeat dad as the paragon of virtue?

It's the perfect religion for to the navel-gazing boomers, and the ethos of the 1960s where things started going pear-shaped. Screw that "enlightenment".

Post: #6

"Western Buddhism" is a creation of hippies in the 1960s. It has little to do with Eastern Buddhism.

Spiritual Virility in Buddhism by Julius Evola

http://www.counter-currents.com/2013/06/...-buddhism/

Post: #7

I do not claim to be an expert on Buddhism though I've read a few books on the subject from a wide range of perspectives including western surfer buddhist bros to Japanese style zenvu, and I live among Thai buddhists so here are my thoughts.

Before I came to Thailand I expected everybody to be very chilled out, I never expected such crazy driving as if the people truly believed in resurrection.

Within Thailand Buddhism is less of a religion like Christianity where you practice your faith weekly and more of a cultural exercise with family to 'make merit' which means going to the temples in the locations your ancestors lived and paying respects on a monthly less consistent basis. I like this aspect of Buddhism in Thailand I think that it keeps families together and helps Thais understand their country.

In my experience organized dogma exists in society to mask psychological conflicts regarding our desires without solving the root problem. Christianity has always been about sexuality and while in early days it was adopted in Rome to give the rulers divine provenance it has always been about the things western cultures get all tied up about which is sexuality. Emphasis on virginity marriage very anti prostitution and traditionally puritanism and baptism as adoption especially in earlier times.

Buddhism on the other hand emphasizes materialism rather than sexuality. Does this mean people from buddhist countries are not materialistic? In my experience quite the opposite especially in a city on the Liberal end of the spectrum like Bangkok where the culture has shifted against the tide of traditional conservative societal values. In fact Thai people can be some of the most materialistic people in the world posting photos of not what they've bought at clothing stores but instead just the stuffed bags of brand name status symbols.

Like many societal philosophies, a broader term than religion, there are advantages to the collective such as very low unemployment, .5% in Thailand I think I last heard. This is because buddhism emphasizes people to fill their role in life and to be satisfied an fulfilled with whatever hand of cards they have been dealt.

If you are learning Buddhism in the west you are surely going to be learning something much different from Buddhism I've seen in SEA and China, I would assume something closer to Japanese Buddhism which I hope somebody can cover accurately in this thread.

Here is an interesting piece on desire and buddhism which might be interesting to consider

P.S. My personal life philosophy is a combination of stoicism and daoism.

Post: #8

SE-Asian-American who was raised Buddhist here.

The above posters who basically said "Western Buddhism" was created by hippies and Hollywood in the 60s are correct.

Monastic life - like in any other religion - is supposed to only be for monks and nuns, not lay people.

Lay people are expected to earn merit by positively contributing to society - working, raising families, helping friends, etc.

Post: #9

Buddhism is a big word.

This is for example, one of the Buddhist canons, the Pali

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...itaka1.jpg

Post: #10

(04-30-2016 10:11 PM)Spectrumwalker Wrote:  Look to the man who started it. Siddhartha Gautama. A spoiled little brat who couldn't cope with the fact that life is tough and he would one day die. A man who abandoned his own family to escape reality opting to "seek enlightenment". Sure.

Authentic Buddhism is rooted and centered around monastic life. Men dodging societal responsibilities and choosing to beg for food. If Buddhism could be summed up I think it would be "why bother". Your purpose in life is to mentally prepare yourself for death and avoid suffering or hardship. And hope that's it. Far from masculine. Which is why liberals are attracted to it like moths to a lightbulb.

Any ideology embraced by Hollywood and other lefty loonies is guaranteed to not give you the peace and fulfillment a man is looking for.

Life is hard, embrace it as such and let it mold your character.

There's definitely a strong apathy component to Buddhism.

When you start wading too deep into those spiritual waters and try to separate yourself from the physical world into that of the "spiritual" world with nirvana as the ideal everything starts looking pointless. The pointlessness is emphasized in buddhism.

Achieving ultimate non desire and breaking the cycle of rebirth is the pinnacle of the faith. There's a belief in purity of body, mind, and spirit which is frankly worth as much as a wrinkly ballsack in the real world.

Hardcore buddhists also tend to blame human flaws on punishment from past misdeeds. That means all those cripples and retards? Yeah they fucked up in their prior life. That's not only a fatalistic outlook but completely asinine. However it's a view shared by many Buddhists.

I would not call Buddhism redpill but there were great empires who had Buddhism combined with Hindu traditions as their foundation during conquest.

It's hard to wrap my head around how they justified that and worked it into daily life but the proof is there with the Khmer and many other empires around the SEA region a millenia ago.

Post: #11

I think some people are missing the point.

I would look not at the religion but the early teachings, which show that the Buddha was probably the worlds first great psychologist and some kind of genius, to be able to examine his own mind like that.

It's not miles away from the writings of Marcus Aurelius at all, but Buddhism does not have the masculine reputation that Stoicism does. It can be looked at as Stoicism taken to a deeper level.

Post: #12

I've used it as a psychological tool and meditate, yet I don't consider myself a Buddhist.

It's hard to argue with the original teachings are they are just reality. Impermanence, dissatisfaction, and 'non-self.' I ignore the weird stuff that goes into reincarnation, turning into animals and all that jazz. Also ignore Hollywood idiots like Steven Segal, Richard Gere, etc. who just say laughable things like "I don't care about money or power." and treat the Dalai Llama like he's a God.

Reality is Tibet was a horrible place and a feudal society for most of it's history. You had an elite priest class and regular Tibetans living in horrendous conditions. So of course he wants to go back to be king and kick out the Chinese. That's why I find all his politicizing hypocritical. He's not the peaceful holy man he portrays himself to be.

Anyway, if you put all that aside meditation does have benefits if practiced regularly. The biggest being increasing your ability to focus, emotional control, and understanding your mind.

These benefits carry over to daily life, as your experience is much 'brighter' than a normal person. It's hard to explain, but the best way is like being in the zone. The more you meditate the more 'in the zone' you are in day to day life.

It's also been helpful to me in sports, especially when dealing with pain. If you change your perspective to 'You are just a temporary feeling and not all that you appear.' it's much much easier to deal with discomfort. But you need to have the basis and have meditated to understand how we're really just a bundle of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions that come and go.

Post: #13

(05-01-2016 11:57 AM)Neo Wrote:  Anyway, if you put all that aside meditation does have benefits if practiced regularly. The biggest being increasing your ability to focus, emotional control, and understanding your mind.

I meditate on a daily basis and agree with you. 30min after I wake up and another 20-30 in the evening.

The part before sleep helps me to sleep more deep and without 'noticeable' dreams.

Neo, how much do you practice per day?

Post: #14

Buddhism as a religion must have something going for it.

Thailand (mostly Buddhist) people are the happiest, friendliest, cheerful and carefree culture I have experienced.

If you are going to believe in sky fairies, at least pick one that makes you happy.

Post: #15

You get the same vibe in most of the Philippines though, and a number of other countries with other faiths.

Post: #16

Vietnamese raised by a Buddist family here. Given the country is majority Buddism, its people is one of the most aggressive, greedy, and reckless people I've ever known.

I think you need to separate Buddism as a religion vs a set of values.

As a religion I have nothing to do with it for the reason pointed above. Mostly, the whole idea of "absence of suffering = absence of desire" is freaking bullshit. Without desire we might as well euthanize ourselves and sit around picking cabbages.

As a set of practice however I find plenty of values in it. The heavy emphasis on family values and the continuation of your line for one, the calm mind (helps great dealing with flakes/rejection), the utter determination to perfection (soul or body)

Shinto-buddism, especially the more aggressive form as practiced by the samurai and warrior monks is more to my liking.

Western buddism is bullshit. That's like putting a skirt on a man. Unless you are Scottish (even then...), you can't pull it off.

Post: #17

This has been part of my path to self-mastery, but perhaps not as most people would envision. My father was sent to China in the early 70´s (and my grandfather fought there in the late 1930´s). My mother made an arrangement with my father for my studies while we were there. I attended a Monastery and was taught martial arts. This created bonds that I continue to have to this day with classmates some of who are now senior monks at a few monasteries in China. Buddhist principles were at the forefront, however, my teacher was from the Vajrayana tradition of the Bon (which goes back many millennia before Buddhism). The most important thing in the tradition is the relationship between student and teacher (master) as the details are passed down via oral tradition (my teacher has since passed, but his teacher still lives). I have connections to Nepal and Tibet (which at one time included parts of south western China).

In a general sense, the greatest thing that is missing from the Buddhist tradition is the focus on doing in the outer world. As you practice over decades, however, this is not always the case, depending on your tradition.

The mental disciplines, insights and practices in these traditions far outshine what exists in western psychological traditions (in my opinion). I have approached the tradition more from a psychological perspective, but the spiritual part has influenced me as the decades have rolled forward.

The historical Buddha Gautama was not the first Buddha. There had been others who had walked the way before him. He was not a god, a prophet or any kind of supernatural being. He was one who was born, lived and died a human being (achieving enlightenment after according to their tradition). A remarkable human being, who discovered a way of achieving true wisdom, compassion and freedom from suffering. He is said to have rediscovered an ancient way to a destination/state of being that had been covered up and forgotten. Through his own efforts he was able to find the way out of suffering to liberation. The word Buddha means the Awakened One, coming from the Sanskrit root budh – ´to wake´. He was a man who had woken fully, as if from a deep sleep, to discover that suffering, like a dream, is over.

There were three basic traditions that came as a result of teachings of Siddhartha Guatama that were orally transmitted for almost 500 years in the monastic community before they written down in the Pali Canon. These three were the Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, along with a fourth-Zen Buddhism-that grew out of Mahayana and has gained increasing popularity in the West. Here are a few generalizations, and that is all they are, generalizations.

The Theravada tradition centers around the Pali scriptures, By studying these ancient texts, meditating, and following the Eightfold Path, Theravada Buddhists believe they will achieve Enlightenment (Nirvana). There is a strong emphasis on the monastic community. This type of Buddhism is dominant in Southeast Asia

The Mahayana tradition developed out of the Theravada tradition some 500 years later and focuses on the idea of compassion and centers on the Bodhisattvas, who are beings that work out of compassion to liberate other sentient beings from their suffering and become as the Buddha. This type of Buddhism is more dominant in East Asia

The Vajrayana tradition focuses on the belief that the physical has an effect on the spiritual and that the spiritual, in turn, affects the physical. This type of Buddhism is more dominant in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia and the Russian republic of Kalmykia,



Zen Buddhism is said to have originated in China with the teachings of the monk Bodhidharma. Zen Buddhism treats zazen meditation and daily practice as essential for attaining Enlightenment, and deemphasizes the rigorous study of scripture.

The Buddhist Society has overviews of the different scripture sets, including the Pali Canon, Sanskrit Canon, Mahayana texts, Tantric texts, and the Tibetan and Mongolian Canon. Most of these can be found on-line.

Buddhism is generally a system based on practice and individual experience rather than on theology or dogma (although it exists), the different forms that have emerged differ less in what they believe the Buddha´s teachings to be rather in how they believe Buddhism should be practiced in daily life.

The Buddha did not teach that a God created the Universe. He pointed to a great Law or Dharma running through everything that exists. It is by living in accordance with this Law that true Wisdom and Compassion and hence Freedom from suffering may be achieved. Suffering may only be overcome, however, by being confronted and lived through.

The foundations of Buddhist tradition and practice are the Three Jewels: 1) the Buddha, 2) the Dharma (the teachings), and the 3) Sangha (the community). Here are a few basic principles.

The 12 linked chain of Causation teaches the interconnectedness of all things and in particular the law of Karma and the mechanism by which we create a world of suffering for ourselves and others, and the opposite; the way to live that reduces suffering for all, and leads to liberation.

The 3 signs of being; 1) Change 2) Suffering 3) no ´I´

The 4 Noble Truths; 1) The Noble Truth of Suffering 2) The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering 3) The Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering 4) The Noble Truth of the Way leading to the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path.

The (Noble) Eightfold Path; 1) Right View. 2) Right Thought. 3) Right Speech. 4) Right Action. 5) Right Livelihood. 6) Right Effort 7) Right Mindfulness. 8) Right Concentration. The Wheel is the symbol of the Dharma and is shown with eight spokes which represent the (Noble) Eightfold Path.

The 3 Fires; 1) Desire/Thirst, 2) Anger 3) Delusion.

I am not a practicing monk, but I have practiced (physically and mentally) with the monks throughout my years. To answer the OP more directly, my experience is that it is not generally beneficial to masculine growth as transformation and sublimation of the masculine is often (not always) taught, but I am of the opinion that it can be beneficial to personal growth especially when done in concert with a martial art where some of the more masculine traits may come forth.

Post: #18

There's definitely a big difference between how Buddhism is treated and thought of in the west as it is in the East. I've noticed a lot of Westerners who are interested in Buddhism tend to do it in rebellion to the Abrahamic faiths they've been raised on so they tend to over-emphasize how it's an atheist system which isn't even true because while there isn't a supreme creator God there are many lower case g gods, demigods, and other supernatural beings which you will find pretty much almost every other religion.

The way Buddhism is practiced in Asia is pretty much the way every other religion is practiced by the average adherent with people praying for divine assistance, rituals and ceremonies meant to cultivate divine favor, veneration of relics of holy men - I remember visiting a huge temple in Taiwan once they had a tooth that was supposed to be one of Buddha's teeth and was held in a room where people could go pray before it. A lot of these hipster Western Buddhists that have been mentioned in this thread love to talk about how Buddhism isn't "really a religion" and love how it's not full of the same "superstitions" they think their native faiths have while being completely ignorant that people like them are in the minority and the majority of Buddhists practice their faith the way the fundie Christians they disdain practice their own faith.

Post: #19

Perhaps "Western" "Buddhism" is superior in certain ways since it strips away that cultural baggage.

"If you meet the Buddha, kill him."

Post: #20

(05-03-2016 02:03 PM)RexImperator Wrote:  Perhaps "Western" "Buddhism" is superior in certain ways since it strips away that cultural baggage.

"If you meet the Buddha, kill him."

Western buddhism comes with its own set of baggage though. And a far more cumbersome set at that, by virtue of it being imported, rather than being organic to the culture that created it.

Furthermore, it was imported with an agenda, to undermine Christianity and disrupt western traditional values.

Post: #21

When you say that, are you thinking along the lines of Alan Watts or Arthur Schopenhauer?

Post: #22

I guess more along the lines of Blavatsky and Alice Bailey. They are connected with Alan Watts, who was part of the London Buddhist Lodge. That lodge was set up by Theosophists, whose driving theology is essentially luciferian. As such, their main objective was to undermine Christianity, and a lot of this was achieved by co-opting eastern philosophies.

More broadly, western buddhism and imported eastern mysticism were the religious element of a modern globalist socialist utopia (hippies, new age). It was basically a wildly successful social engineering project which started in the middle of the 19th century with Blavatsky and culminated in the 1960s, taking over the boomer generation and upturning western/Christian culture.

Post: #23

Does it not occur to you that perhaps people just got bored of Christianity and it's monopoly in the West and wanted to bring in fresh ideas from the East. .

Post: #24

(05-04-2016 08:18 PM)Atheistani Wrote:  Does it not occur to you that perhaps people just got bored of Christianity and it's monopoly in the West and wanted to bring in fresh ideas from the East. .

Guys have been spouting Buddhism in the West for at least 50+ years. Furthermore, Christianity's grip on Western thought has become tenuous as of late. The West has been kowtowing to "alternative" religions for a long time.

Post: #25

(05-04-2016 08:18 PM)Atheistani Wrote:  Does it not occur to you that perhaps people just got bored of Christianity and it's monopoly in the West and wanted to bring in fresh ideas from the East. .

Right, just like people just got bored with the patriarchy and its monopoly and wanted to bring in fresh ideas. Yes of course, people were sooo narrow-minded back then, thank G.. uh I mean vishnu for progress.

Are you familiar with the works of Gustave Le Bon, Edward Bernays, Walter Lippmann, Ivy Lee, or the influence of the Frankfurt School, the Tavistock Institute and the constellation of sister foundations?

Social engineering is a science that has been so brilliantly fine-tuned that people are made to eagerly embrace toxic and subversive change as progress. It's one of the driving mechanisms of cultural marxism.

You want to undermine a country or a culture, you go after its religion, its national character, its traditions (particularly traditional gender roles).