> Gautama emphasized a practical "middle path" rather than some extremist monastic malarkey
If I remember, enlightenment was not found in the extremes under Kaundinya.
That message really seems to be lost I think. Both in the purposeful following of an extreme ideal, or in not being mindful of extreme habits.
Even if one is not a Buddhist, the concept of the middle path can be wonderfully freeing from expectations of extreme ideologies that sometimes ferment under civilizations.
Re:What Soldiers Eat, By Country
by silentbicycle on Monday September 06, 2010 @03:09AM
(#1666136)
Yep, the Buddhist stories say that he spent a while as a rich prince, then some sort of eXtreme(TM) yogi, and neither really worked out for him.
The popular American impression of Buddhism is pretty weird - historically, it's heavily skewed towards Japanese Zen Buddhism, but secondhand, from the Beats* . The way people talk about Zen, you'd think it had antioxidants or something.
* Due to their infatuation with the San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki, etc.
I've found it useful time and time again to be wary of recent converts of all stripes, whether it's Veganism, Objectivism, Haskell, etc.