Spending 5 years in Thailand I've learned that Buddhism while funamentally different from other religions in the best ways operates just the same in practical reality. It's almost like classification and status is inherit to any group activity and not in a good way unfortunately.

To give perspective on the "dark" side of Buddhism I highly recommend "Come and See" documentary on Netflix which is hard to explain without spoilers but it's a great illustration of how everything evolves into a crab eventually.

It's not on my Netflix unfortunately and I just find this Russian anti war film: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See

Seems like it's only available on Netflix in Thailand. So you'd need a VPN that has a server in Thailand or find it somewhere else. Here's the IMDB page though: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10985730/

Found it: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_and_See_(2019_film)

The idea of collections of humans without hierarchy is beyond delusional.

I am a Buddhist but it is hard to say I am serious or I would be living alone in the woods.

Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy.

Sogyal Rinpoche telling his female students he is going to give them a dharma lesson by sleeping with him. In a metaphorical sense though I think that is what most students are looking for actually too and of course they find it.

For me personally, I don't want to wake up yet. I am still enjoying this dream.

<Nearly all Buddhist teachings IMO are bullshit and just enforcing natural hierarchy.>

That is as sweeping a statement as one could make about Buddhism.

Ditto more or less. Refreshing to hear a sane word.

Do you do your vipassana with concentration-prep, or do you do it dry?

I do it dry mself.

I guess it's the same problem as with the all-loving god of Christianity and the people who claim "God hates ...'.

Who's decision was it to call the website a "university"? Was that my decision, or his? The decision to call it a "university" is what makes me want to clarify what peer-perceived credentials he might have to that extent.

If you were considering enrolling in a university, would you look into the reputation of that university? I'll bet you would. You'd want to know what it's reputation is like. Well, I'm offering insights into that, and yes his seniority got pulled into that description. He's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. In the Theravada world, this would be almost universally discouraged (it isn't just me who feels this way): trying to run a website while still quite a junior monk. There's no way my own teacher would have approved of it. Theravada culture is conservative - guilty as charged there.

As to his wisdom: I've never actually lived with him, so I can't comment on what he's like. He seems astute enough from my dealings with him. No complaints from me, other than that choice of the word "university". These sorts of things - someone's wisdom - can only be seen with time. As to his choices of what he curates on his website: I agree there's a lot of great resources listed there. My tastes and his are a little different - which is to be expected - and I wouldn't say there are any "red flags" to speak of. It's a solid website. Please don't be discouraged from checking it out. I'm not trying to stop anyone from going explore it. Thanks for taking the time to check out Theravada Buddhism. :)

PS: I have a personal little indie website here: https://bhikkhu.ca/ ...but I don't go so far as to call it a "university". It's a personal website, which doesn't make itself out to be anything more than that.

A student asked the teacher, “teacher can you teach me?” And the teacher asked “can you?” The student said “no” and then they were both silent.

I'd expect a buddhist teacher to be a lot more chill. You took issue with him calling himself a "dean" while he only called himself a librarian. The website is called a "university" but obviously he's not pretending to be a real credentialed university, it's just a cute website title.

Here you had a good chance to reflect and backtrack. But no, he's quite a junior monk to be running his own website. Well, I'm not even a monk and run my own website, how about that?

I agree with you.

He seems so full of hate and preconceptions that it almost sounds like a troll.

Also who calls himself a monk and spends time on social media? Not that it’s supposed to be forbidden but social media is basically the death of attention…

What's the problem with a monk sharing wisdom on social media? Somebody has to spread the word.

The supposed wisdom isn't really apparent in this case.

> I'd expect a buddhist teacher to be a lot more chill.

Not me. Teachers are like anyone else; they come in all shapes and sizes. They have personalities, passions and emotions, just like everyone.

Many people forget this. It’s unfortunate.

I’m not teacher, but my interpretation of Buddhism isn’t to not say “damn!” When you stub your toe. But rather to question why you said “damn!” When you stubbed your toe.

How many actual Buddhist teachers have you met?

Depending on your definitions, somewhere between one and three.

I’ve seen people take a screenshot of a Reddit comment/thread and caption it “Reddit moment” when Reddit is a bullseye caricature of itself unironically.

Thread OP is a real treat of an HN moment. From the guns blazing to the HNer-cum-religion-expert to the pedigree mocking to the “Not a real X >:(“ all from going ballistic over “university” appearing in a title on a helpful website.

> I'd expect a buddhist teacher to be a lot more chill.

The perception that monks can never exhibit emotion or should always be relaxed is a purely American idea and a stereotype.

https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic...

I'm not American, I'm a European.

(the perception that a random poster on the internet is American is a purely American idea and a stereotype ;-)

"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."

Probably every culture has something to say about pretentiousness, false prophets, stolen valor, etc.

I think this is just a case of friendly fire.

u/esbeeb got fluffed up, commented in public, and is now in a public food fight.

Better would have been to keep this private. Now his best PR/diplomatic move would be to say he'll confer with the "chief librarian" offline and he's sorry for all the fuss.

We've all been there.

PS- Yes, I know, this koan is most often interpreted to mean one should tackle one's own preconceptions. I'm making a point. Before getting dramatic, first get curious.

Let me give you a really good piece of spiritual advice: Don't harsh other people's yum.

Secondly, Buddhism isn't a corporate ladder with annual promotions, it's a set of understandings. 10 years or 10 hours, it's not the time that matters, it's the understanding. Maybe examine why you're really putting down this guy's effort? Is it really about him, or is it about how you feel about yourself?

Also: don't allow yourself to be goaded by this comment, or by this situation, everyone's intentions here are positive. If they are wrong, let them be wrong. With that in mind, my final word: Give yourself the validation you need, or give up on the need entirely.

Don't yuck my yum.

Don't harsh my mellow.

Do marsh my mallow.

> Buddhism isn't a corporate ladder with annual promotions

Apparently there are different schools of Buddhism, some focuses more on "corporate ladder" than others... So...

You should probably try out some other religion, because Buddhism isn't working out for you

Actually, the Buddha was critical of other teachers and practices when he felt those teachers and practices were not teaching what leads to the end of the suffering. Some people misapprehend Buddhism to be a kind of wet mop that just sort of sits there.

That's because they have done literally no research into Buddhism, they just have some kind of orientalist stereotype of it that they got from watching kungfu movies and expect reality to conform to that idea

Buddhism is concerned with truth. That's a hard problem! But it ends up with the same solutions as in science: you DO in fact need to listen to experts, and you need to take peoples education into consideration, but it might not be the end of the conversation.

Why do you think that your strange stereotype of Buddhism would have anything to do with actual Buddhism?

The actual doctrine is closer to “not-self” but it’s still a part of the teachings that one should not compare oneself to others. It’s such a shame that some of the representatives of the Buddhist tradition don’t practice that, which leads to the perception that “it’s all the same,” as someone else commented here.