I will start by saying that this post is not aimed at discrediting specific or general tenants of the Buddha's teachings. As a matter of fact, I believe an ethical practice of the scientific method requires adherence to secularized aspects of the Buddha's core teachings of compassion for others and self, and non-attachment to particular viewpoints and ways of working with the world in order to be of most service to living beings throughout the multi-versal universe. That is how hurtful behaviors and social practices can be discarded, and healthful behaviors and social practices can be identified. We don't even need to do harm to those who choose to do harm to others if we move with an accurate awareness of their condition and compassion for their safety and our well-being. Why not honestly try to help those who cannot and do not comprehend or accept the larger whole we're all interdependent with through clinically sound, therapeutic, and evidence-based therapy interventions? I'm not the one to develop such programs, but it would be worth considering as the planet's climate becomes more erratic, and all life becomes increasingly threatened by the ignorance and small-heartedness of the people who have influence and are actively using it in this world.If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change.
-HH XIV Dalai Lama
No. No, this post is not intended to contradict Buddhism, or to expand it, or diminish it. I would like this post to serve as a friendly warning from a past present to an unknown future present about becoming too complacent and comfortable in doctrines and behaviors that may end up being considered the pinnacle, apex, and/or final word on a given topic. History has shown that for all the wonderful things the human brain can do in creating abstract concepts out of thin air, and making them have real physical consequences in this pinball world of cause and effect, it is still far from finished in an evolutionary sense, and it is even farther away from being anything that could be considered pinnacle or apex. Most animals on Earth haven't done the amount of damage humankind has singularly inflicted on the environment and its component species of life, and its all done because a few people with more wealth and influence than sense are certain that they are right and not in the wrong. Every unruly ego (individual or collective) has its reason for being as it's being, sometimes not for bad intentions or purely self-serving reasons either. But, the empirical karmic damage inevitably takes its toll, and today's solutions become the causes of tomorrow's problems; the peasants spawn their own corrupt and tyrannical class, the abused become the abusers, and so on, and so forth. Compromises compromises; it's all trade-offs only.
So be careful about even the most cherished beliefs and sacred of texts. How you define and regard them says more about your character and perspective than it does about the multi-versal universe itself, and the multi-versal universe, is the place we all need to make our homes and lives within for an undefined period of time. Most animals know not to defecate near where they eat and drink. If only humans had the honest ability to recognize that basic need as a matter of intuitive know-how, and recognize when they're near to that point of transgression to avoid violating themselves and their chances of survival. But no. The sewers are still left combined with the water systems, if sewers exist at all in the first place. Trash still is left to collect everywhere, animal habitats are still encroached on instead of reusing land for other purposes, core species are killed, and we continue to refuse to do what is needed to meaningfully protect ourselves from the catastrophes climate change will create for us through our ignorance and non-response to it. That's just a starting list of how elected and appointed officials are going to cause sociocides throughout the world through their mismanagement and ignorance. And if elected leaders are to blame for what is happening in our world to us, then it stands to reason that we, ourselves, are the only ones left to blame as individuals. Because they can't be leaders if we choose to not elect them. That's how the karma falls on each of us, for our complacency in countering it.
Anyway, good luck! Stay strong! And don't forget to never be bogged down by your own ignorance of your own ignorance. Don't sacrifice the truth for comfort. Hopefully this helps everyone somehow.
