http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_anarchism
Apparently, it's a theory of anarchism all on it's own.
"Buddhist anarchists believe that both the State and Capitalism lead to oppression"
It sounds like the same sect of communism that the "libertarian socialists" hold to. I knew it was a religion, but this is ridiculous!
Yeah, it is pretty much a type of libertarian socialism. I don't know what their plan is for bringing it about...
Buddha seems like he might have been a cool dude (if he was real), but I always found the whole "end of suffering" motivation to be futile.
You might wanna explain that a bit more, TronCat, as "end of suffering" (satisfaction of wants) is pretty much what Mises is all about
How do we define 'suffering'? Is it the same for everyone?
And what is 'enlightenment'? It seems kinda' vague to me.
Well, Buddhism in it's nature doesn't equate suffering with something that is a capitalistic issue, or at least most of the time. More of the time it's talking about inner depression and what not.
Didn't Buddha leave his family to find 'enlightenment'?
Haha yes, in fact he did. I don't know why we're ripping on Buddhism only. I hate to quote Bill Maher but he was right when he said that "religion is like a golden horse in a room of comedy."
Buddhism seems alright. The Dalai Lama is a dictatorial scumbag though, no matter how Yoda-like he seems.
I've enjoyed the Bhagavad Gita (not Buddhist) more than any other 'religious' text. It's wonderfully poetic, and complex.
I used to like Buddhism, I thought it's story was great.
Until I discovered Zen at War. Now I think it's just as corruptable as any religion.
To be fair, Buddhism wasn't initially intended as a religion, only a philosophy. Some argue that Christianity wasn't either intended as a religion (or at least not in its current form), as Jesus says like "The kingdom of God is within" and he wasn't a fan of people with Pope-like positions - ""Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets." (Luke 20:46)
While this is true, I do think that there are many things throughout the Buddhist canon that would count as definately being more religious. You could call all religions philosophies, and it's made me want to chew the stuffing out of my couch when I think about where you draw the line between religion and philosophy. But overall I think that if there is a religion out there that comes closest to being a philosophy, it's Taoism (although later on it became corrupted by deities which people through in)
Taoism always seemed interesting to me. I know Bruce Lee initially considered himself a Taoist, and the inspiration can be seen in his book 'The Tao of Jeet Kune Do'.
I'd recommend The Bhagavad Gita, it's a great piece of work that goes back before Hinduism went dumb.
Yeah, in fact I own a beautiful edition of "Tao Te Ching." I know in an interview Bruce Lee stated that he wasn't religious, but he did say that Taoism was his main influence (and that he rejected Confucianism).
Oh yeah, that's the one I forgot. Confucianism is practically atheist. The only way it could ever be considered a "religion" is through the Confucian temples located in Taiwan and China, where people literally worship him for his wisdom.
And I haven't heard of the Bhagavad Gita, I'll definately look in to it, thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H7Jibx-c0
Still the most powerful quote for me. Haunting.
I can't imagine how the man must have felt throughout his life. Using all of that scientific knowledge to bring ultimate power to the most evil collective known - the state.
By the way, if I were to take on a religion, I'd have to say it would be Shinto.
Look, you can spend all day on the wikipedia anarchism page. I'm surprise that there hasn't been more attention drawn to this
Ha! That's insane. I mean, I love my dog, but seriously? Don't these people realize that we're killing plants when we eat them?
@TronCat
What are your thoughts on Shinto?