When I began studying Buddhism with a teacher, the first thing I heard was to stop striving for perfectionism and stop being proactive. These were very much values of the West.
Instead we were to love ourselves unconditionally with all our faults and we were to name them all. The goal being to let go of our identities we have imposed on ourself and being more and more authentic and spontaneous in our relationship with the world.
The New Age movement in the West managed to bastardize Buddhist's teachings to conform to their ideal of perfectionism and proactivity. So they have convinced people to do affirmations, a very proactive approach and be positive regardless of how they really feel and practice political correctness. Also they have even found a way to lay guilt trips on sick people by telling them it is all in the mind and obviously their mind is not functioning properly.
This is as far away as possible from Zen or other Buddhist practices...and the pathetic result is that young people are imprisoned within themselves and their lives more than ever before...and losing unconditional acceptance for their own flaws, because they are not allowed to admit to them, they are more intolerant and judgemental of others, thus losing empathy for the suffering of others. Which makes them egotistical navel gazers, happily relating to only machines.
Life is messy...machines are very orderly.
It is no wonder fascism is on the rise in the world.
Instead we were to love ourselves unconditionally with all our faults and we were to name them all. The goal being to let go of our identities we have imposed on ourself and being more and more authentic and spontaneous in our relationship with the world.
The New Age movement in the West managed to bastardize Buddhist's teachings to conform to their ideal of perfectionism and proactivity. So they have convinced people to do affirmations, a very proactive approach and be positive regardless of how they really feel and practice political correctness. Also they have even found a way to lay guilt trips on sick people by telling them it is all in the mind and obviously their mind is not functioning properly.
This is as far away as possible from Zen or other Buddhist practices...and the pathetic result is that young people are imprisoned within themselves and their lives more than ever before...and losing unconditional acceptance for their own flaws, because they are not allowed to admit to them, they are more intolerant and judgemental of others, thus losing empathy for the suffering of others. Which makes them egotistical navel gazers, happily relating to only machines.
Life is messy...machines are very orderly.
It is no wonder fascism is on the rise in the world.
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