i recently learned about the buddhist concent of dependent origination, which states that all phenomena arise in dependence with other phenomena. this was surprisingly similar to my idea of dialectical materialism, and it got me thinking about how buddhism could be reconciled/combined with a marxist world view. has anybody here read books or articles on this topic?
obviously not everything buddhists believe (reincarnation is an obvious example) is going to jive with marxism but that doesn't mean it's worthless to try to analyze one in terms of the other
Death to America
thank you for sharing this, your experience with buddhism is much deeper than i could possibly have hoped for when i asked this question! i think this confirms what i already thought about organized religion, having been raised catholic. if i were to explore buddhism more fully, it would definitely be on my own, rather than in association with any particular sect or practicing group. thank you again
Death to America
You're welcome.
That seems reasonable to me. Keep in mind my experience may not be representative. I will also say my experience as a lay temple member vs. the priesthood training were almost opposite and I was caught very off guard. From what I remember, Tendai is dying off in Japan. CIA-pedia says 2.8 million practitioners in Japan, 5.3 million for Zen, vs 22 million for Pure Land and 10 million for Nichiren. My point being that although Tendai is a significant sect that incorporates practices from the others, it's one small slice of Buddhist traditions. I know basically nothing about Theravada or Tibetan Buddhism.