Every Buddhism group in my area is full of woke political ranting. To be completely fair and unbiased I don’t want the opposite either. If a sangha is ranting about non-woke politics I would also be displeased. Likewise, even if the entire sangha agreed with me on every political point I would still see them regularly talking politics at dhamma events, and especially during formal dhamma talks, as deeply problematic.
The suttas are unequivocal on the matter: the ordained are not to talk politics (AN 10.69, etc.).
I am not ordained, and neither are the other lay people I’ve practiced with, but if the quickest way to nibbana is to follow the Buddha’s teachings surely ignoring and doing the opposite of what he instructed the ordained to do is often counterproductive.
I left Facebook when I realized that “Buddhism” was reaching that same demographic that you speak about. I was reaching up to 30k views, but it was all a different demographic than I wanted to speak to. That is why our Bodhisatta did not wait a week to become human with all of this tech that can reach the world in a click. It is useless. I am at a loss for words for you… but I just said a few.
Thank you, Venerable, for your response. I appreciate your videos that you post on youtube. So at least some of your audience is the right one. At least I hope I’m part of the right one lol! I recently enjoyed your video about house cats being protected from negative kamma by being denied live prey. I had struggled with keeping my cat indoors because it’s unnatural and she wants to be out killing! But you made the excellent point that letting her kill would be very, very bad for her kamma. So, keep her inside and give her food that she does not kill and she may get a better rebirth in the future than if I let her slaughter birds and mice all day every day.
I think it would be better for you to avoid going to places where you encounter this. We live in an age of declining religious observance; when you see ordained monks breaking the rules, it can be deeply disappointing. It’s discouraging, and one almost feels like simply losing hope, sitting back, and waiting for Metteyya.
If the environment itself is already detrimental, being part of it only makes matters worse. It is like eating fruit that is rotten on the inside simply so that you can say you ate something; there is nothing good in that. It is better to refrain from associating with them than to put yourself in such an environment.
Perhaps there is some way to allow the cat to go outside by giving it enough food so it does not have the desire to kill.
However, just like any human criminal, if it is a danger to others, then you must take action.
Perhaps a cat leash can be used. “Getting rid of a cat” more or less means bringing it to a shelter and it staying in a cage for the rest of its life. If the shelter is not a no-kill shelter, then it will get killed within a few months. By default, you can assume that nearly all shelters will kill their animals (the workers at these shelters have one of the highest suicide rates). Blue-haired liberals will march in the streets for the right to kill their unborn babies and to kill their aging grandmother with a terminal illness. I am not sure what they will say about killing cats in animal shelters, but PETA, which is synonymous with extreme liberalism, is supportive of having shelters kill their animals.
Indeed. Thank you, Venerable. You make excellent points. I would never get rid of my cat. Which is good because of your points about most shelters. I don’t think she will tolerate a leash. However, your words make me consider that I need to figure out how to let her outside in such a way that she cannot kill. I know when I was young our outdoor/indoor cats would eat a big free meal and then go kill birds anyway. Since the cat was too full to eat, it would leave the bird on the doorstep as a “gift.” I think I will build a catio, which is an outdoor area for the cat to enjoy the outside but where it cannot kill anything, and is also itself protected from predators. That and possibly a cat backpack made of fabric mesh that the cat can see out of so it can go on walks with us but not require a leash.
Agreed. Thank you for your input. I have had a lot better progress practicing alone than I did with training even directly under the head abbot of a temple. Granted, it was a Zen temple, as that’s what was near me, but I still expected better. Instead, the formal dharma talks sometimes involved whatever current thing was in the news and became rants about politics that had precious little to do with dhamma.
I am glad that you are making progress along the path. You should know that Zen in the West is not traditional Zen; it is a Westernized, cheapened version. It is, quite literally, a form of modern, materialistic spirituality, secular wellness, and this kind of stuff (very similar to the nonsense that fills every corner of the internet about yoga sessions, energy, chakras, and so on). Most of them have little understanding (if none at all and I am not exaggerating) of traditional Zen as it is practiced in Japan by members of the tradition, so you’ll be a little disappointed if you’re hoping to learn anything of real value from it.
In addition to all of this (which is already very objectionable in itself), that “abbot” and those under his supervision are priests and not monks. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya monastic lineage began to die out in Japan centuries ago until it became extinct nowadays, and it has since been displaced by the Bodhisattva precepts and various institutional regulations, so there is no traditional Vinaya system there anymore. Therefore, you should be aware that they are not monks and do not observe celibacy in the first place. This conceptual confusion is very common in Western Zen communities, where you will find members describing themselves as “monks” even though they are not. This contrived identification was invented as a way of avoiding being perceived as different in comparison with other traditions.
So, you see? The more you look into the whole thing, the worse it gets, haha.
Thank you. You are right. I learned everything you said, which is why I quit Zen a long time ago. The abott of the temple I used to frequent was, indeed, married, and lived the life of a layperson during the week and larped as a monk on the weekends, basically. Now I’ve found that some scholars are pushing it even further. It’s not just an issue with defining monasticism. It’s possible that the entire Zen tradition is a fabrication, and that their practices can be needlessly extremely harmful and dangerous. Further, it is argued that, even if we grant the highly unlikely situation where Zen is legitimate and a good idea, they still have an issue where, by their own teachings, it is impossible to actually practice Zen.