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It is not all in the mind
A Buddhist just posted this in a Buddhist group:
The first of the Eightfold Path is Right View (knowing the truth). Sufferings are self-inflicted. The world happens as it is. Nobody has control over it. You only have control over how you react to it. When people do something that hurts you, it’s not intentional, it’s out of habit. When you react and hate them for who they are, it’s not out of understanding but also out of habits.
For a long time, I have wondered why Chinese Buddhism has not one shred of progressivism. Actually, it is worse. Historically, it has been a regressive religion. Many Chinese Buddhists use religion as a way to escape the world. It is a tradition that has no example of fighting for social justice whatsoever. But why is it so?
I recently published a two thousand words article in a Buddhist magazine on this very issue. Chinese Buddhism is biased towards idealism. There is this belief that one can end one’s suffering by oneself, through meditation and the cultivation of wisdom. If suffering is all self-inflicted, then it can also be removed by oneself. In that case, there is no need for social-engagement. There is also no need for social change.
Such thinking is extremely troubling. It is basically saying that suffering is all in one’s mind. But is that so? Is the Coronavirus all in the mind? Is…
