Freedom Ain’t Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose
Says Horgan,
But what troubles me most about Buddhism is its implication that detachment from ordinary life is the surest route to salvation. Buddha’s first step toward enlightenment was his abandonment of his wife and child, and Buddhism (like Catholicism) still exalts male monasticism as the epitome of spirituality. It seems legitimate to ask whether a path that turns away from aspects of life as essential as sexuality and parenthood is truly spiritual. From this perspective, the very concept of enlightenment begins to look anti-spiritual: It suggests that life is a problem that can be solved, a cul-de-sac that can be, and should be, escaped.
There are plenty of other challenges that Horgan presents in the article, but I agree with him that this element presents, I think, one of the most challenging aspects of wrapping one’s head around a contemporary practice of Buddhism.
May 4, 2009 6 Comments
