Agree on the political corrupting, with perhaps a couple of exceptions here and there. I say smiling being
a elected member at a very small local level of the democratic party in the us(it happens to be a very small form of service for me). To be clear I am not representing the democratic party in any official respect in any manner on this board, I consider them other than at a local level and in a few exception in congress... wholly corrupted.
On this specific....if one examines the site. there is not much here to concern
six or so total comments specifically on the site, with perhaps one of the six going beyond actually just reading the title. All discussions in March within a week or so of another. A fair amount of likes stated(80 or so) I didn't bother to check but suspect that is much of nothing.
Interestingly one new link of sorts coincideing with this post roughly, maybe aware of traffic due to this post he decided to actually put some content on.
Years ago there was a group of near as I can tell three people that decided to start their own buddhist internet religion with no lineage and some quite faulted early on racist views. They accumulated probably about 10 or so followers. On research it appears that one of the main movers was a sometimes employed sometimes not, libertarian(who ran unsucessfully for some very minor local office), affiliated with fulen gong(not to aspirage that belief), actor who considers himself a actor because they showed or used his back in a subgrade movie if such could be called that. The others....near as I could tell one was trying to sell books on his site the racist inclined one(setting up sites to sell things was very popular at that time) and another(tried being a monk for a day or two to my dim recollection) was selling other things on his site like curiously t shirts and other things, curiously liked to cook very much.
A whole lot of trouble ensued in the internet community over the years over the actions of just these very few if examined not particularly well educated individuals. The sites still exist though perhaps the traffic is gone.
Now due to facebook the main mover has moved on, utilizing this to accumulate about 1000 or so followers to continue with his various items. He is very happy about that.
So is exemplified how a very very small group can create perceptable havoc due to the internet.
I personally have witnessed internet being used by tamil tiger supporter(married to shrilankan tamil) to smear buddhism with allegations of monks destroying hindu temples and other things.
The political environment is quite quite a larger issue and we as users must be very attentive to check the veracity of our information and where our information is coming from before posting. Political agenda now abounds on the internet sometimes in very very subtle ways...these things can be found out if one has the time. Where things are coming from and why....the internet never dies all recorrds remain forever(functionally). Governments do actually try to influcence content in varying very subtle means and as the prior poster states....this is a wholly corrupted issue as far as a buddhist is concerned....all is expendable all truth for agendas expense.
We have at least in the US one out of ten peoples being diagnosed and treated at some time in their life for mental illness. There are quite a few million peoples in the us presently. That is a lot of people having problems. It can be reasonably assumed some are in the active period of their illness, I'd just guess at least a hundred thousand or so at any time. Buddhism and other things new age sites health food, extreem right wing and left wing politic, and such seems to attract these people in their active part of their illness. It can be assumed some of these have access to internet facebook and twitter and do post things perhaps reflecting their illness but not obvious to all.
As expressed with the self made internet buddhist religion a very very few many leave a very very large disruptive trail because of the properties inherant to the internet. One person can for instance produce very many identies to show concensus support and very many other things.
We who have been on the internet for years and years know the tricks and have seen it all play out over the span of 15 years or so now.
People who have entered midstream so to speak have not seen this evolve and sometimes may be caught unawares. Not aware of how down and dirty corruped this thing may be at times entirely self serving.
So this specific...I conjecture one person perhaps a unemployed freelance writer from Michigan with a particular agenda...
Not to worry, like with those three he will eventually move on. The trouble he can create....all only with our complicance.
So much ado about nothing. As I mention perhaps this is a joke or satire of sorts to a sickened mind. There is always some basis for their actions in fact but as with the self made internet buddhist religion when studied there is no relationship to fact. Agenda marked similiarily to political or governments agenda with self interest.
The particular self agenda may be myriad varied and not readily obvious.
Could be a fervent theist trying to disrupt the buddhist community. Could be a fervent buddhist new convert trying to appease himself with a minor very minor view of this thing. Could be a real political agenda of a government or some such. Could be a real agenda of a religious group for agenda not quite obvious....could be simple mental illness.
Any number of could be's.
A real thing....the members he states as elected representatives of his buddhist party....are elected officials who are not members of his party but people who happen to be elected buddhists...part of the democratic party I think by politic.
So not to worry the representative of buddhism to the west. east south north or otherwise and or others that may seem like him or others of same geographical area starting parties and such....wasting our time only are they. As was that internet religion years ago.
No personal notation is made nor intended to anyone on this board at this time nor to any particular faith buddhist or otherwise self contrived or otherwise....all my statements are conjectures....could be this could be that. I feel free in stateing....all is not as it seems.
My critical and basic point being that, (all the specifics are for portrayal and not to be considered necessarily as actual people places or things) ...
all is not as it seems.....
I don't want to unintentionally disparage innocents who may appear similiar to those described by my examples. It is best to keep this in the context of hypothetical....many are similiar considering there are more than 400 million of us in the US.
"This order considers that progress can be achieved more rapidly during a single month of self-transformation through terrifying conditions in rough terrain and in "the abode of harmful forces" than through meditating for a period of three years in towns and monasteries"....Takpo Tashi Namgyal.
