Negative Buddhism

I practice zazen, just sitting meditation, because it seems to be the best way to address problematic thought processes. However, there is a particular version of Buddhism that I not only disagree with but intensely dislike.

 According to that version:

A suicide and a Buddhist both aim to end suffering by ending consciousness. The suicide mistakenly thinks that it is sufficient to end the present life. The Buddhist knows (!) that it is also necessary to prevent future lives. Thus, their goal is the same. A Buddhist is merely a better informed suicide.

On this view, it seems to follow that, if more people were converted to Buddhism, then more people would practice celibacy and fewer people would be reborn. Thus, for two reasons, fewer people would be born. The end result would be a planet without any human beings living on it. A standard reply to this would be that greed, hate and delusion, which cause birth and death, are beginningless and endless. Therefore, even if some individuals cease to be reborn, the Wheel will continue to turn. Nevertheless, on this view, an ideal outcome would be the cessation of all human births.

I do not believe in rebirth and, in any case, want to see the opposite, a universe full of intelligent beings perpetually learning and creating. The Buddha, on realizing his enlightenment, did not starve himself to death or remain in solitary contemplation but, motivated by compassion, taught the Dharma for decades. Thus, there was more to his practice than just the ending of personal suffering.

Buddhism preserves a particular form of meditation which can also be found in traditions with widely variant world-views, theistic, soul pluralist etc. Therefore, it is the meditation, not the world-view, that counts.

Three Traditions

Paganism, Christianity and Buddhism are issues in Poul Anderson's works, e.g.:

Veleda, a sibyl of the goddess;

Axor, a Wodenite convert to Jerusalem Catholicism;

Adzel, a Wodenite convert to Mahayana Buddhism -

- so it is appropriate to say what we think about these traditions.

Paganism/Hinduism
While ritually celebrating seasons, solstices and life-stages, we can refer to gods and recognize them as personifications, not as persons. A skeptical philosopher can share a ritual with a hard polytheist. Neither attempts to interrogate or excommunicate the other. That is a whole 'nother tradition.

Christianity And Other Prophetic Monotheisms
Christianity is part of the conceptual transition between ancient and modern civilizations. In fact, monotheisms in general are transitional between polytheism and atheism although these different world-views coexist and interact. They do not mechanically succeed each other according to any conceptual scheme.

Buddhism
The Buddha identified and addressed an inner cause of suffering, tanha, variously translated as "grasping" etc. Each of us can practice meditation between now and death. Spiritually, that suffices. It is not necessary to believe either that rebirth occurs or that the purpose of meditation is to end rebirth. If that were true, then the Buddhahood of all living beings would mean the end of all life on Earth. I want to see the opposite: abundant life, consciousness, understanding and creativity. This accords with Poul Anderson's preferred future for humanity: freedom and diversity.