Criticism of Buddhism
Encyclopedia
The criticism of Buddhism, much like criticism of religion
in general, can be found from those who disagree with or question assertions, beliefs or other factors of various schools of Buddhism
.
Some Buddhist denominations, many predominantly Buddhist nations, and individual Buddhist leaders have been criticized in one way or another. Sources of criticism can come from examples such as agnostics, skeptics, anti-religion philosophy, proponents of other religions, or by Buddhists espousing reform or simply expressing dislike.
, a prominent proponent of New Atheism
and practitioner of Buddhist meditation
claims that many practitioners of Buddhism improperly treat it as a religion, and their beliefs are often "naive, petitionary, and superstitious" and that this impedes their adoption of true Buddhist principles.
Some critics claim that Buddhist adherents and leaders have been materialistic and corrupt with an improper interest in wealth and power rather than pursuit of Buddhist principles. There have been a number of well-publicised sex scandal
s involving teachers in emerging Western Buddhist groups.
, the Sukhothai Kingdom
, and the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. In Sri Lanka
especially modern monks frequently involve themselves in nationalist politics, although the Buddha never condoned political involvement beyond passive advisory roles. Sri Lankan peace activists such as A. T. Ariyaratne
have however also drawn on Buddhism for inspiration.
East Asian Mahayana
Buddhists also often received state support. The Zen priest Brian Daizen Victoria documented in his book Zen at War
how Buddhist institutions justified Japanese militarism
in official publications and cooperated with the Japanese Army
on the battlefield. In response to the book, several sects issued an apology for their wartime support of the government.
Christopher Hitchens
summarizes these issues as a specifically Buddhist desire to "put their reason to sleep, and to discard their minds along with their sandals". However, this is in contrast to the Buddha's teaching:
Hitchens changed gears when he wrote in 2010 for the cover of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, "...Stephen Batchelor adds the universe of Buddhism to the many fields in which received truth and blind faith are now giving way to ethical and scientific humanism, in which lies our only real hope."
Buddhists also have a record of both passive and active nonviolence
, often reflected by national culture. In Burma, monks have advocated nonviolence during the 2007 anti-government protests
amongst many other occasions; Engaged Buddhism
arose in Vietnam
as a means of protest prior to the Vietnam War
. (see pacifism
)
Buddha himself is quoted in the Dhammapada
as saying:
, the official Chinese government
stance has been that the Dalai Lama helped to orchestrate the unrest and violence. A Chinese Ministry of Public Security spokesperson claimed searches of monasteries in the Tibetan capital had turned up a large cache of weapons, including 176 guns and 7,725 pounds of explosives.
is a branch of Japanese Buddhist scholarship which aims to reform Buddhism through critical examination of its practices and philosophy.
Many individual schools of Buddhism are criticized by other practitioners as spiritually insincere, including Sōka Gakkai, the Dhammakaya Movement
, and participants in the Dorje Shugden controversy
. The San Francisco Zen Center
has been one focus of controversy in the United States.
, however, has stated that he is in favor of a Buddhist synthesis with Marxist economics, as he believes that internationalist
nature of Marxism shows compassion to the poor, which is in line with Buddhist teachings, while capitalism
is concerned only with gain and profitability.
, nuns had such problems like safety if they were to be ordained the same way as monks who traveled around in the forest and between cities. Thus, more rules have to be created for nuns, for instance: nuns are forbidden to travel alone.
Alexander Berzin referred to the Dalai Lama having said on occasion of the 2007 Hamburg congress
taken from Berzin Summary Report
, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger criticised Buddhism in 1997 as "a spiritual self-absorption" without "concrete religious obligations". However, he was not being asked about Buddhists in general but only about Catholics who practice Buddhism.
Criticism of religion
Criticism of religion is criticism of the concepts, validity, and/or practices of religion, including associated political and social implications....
in general, can be found from those who disagree with or question assertions, beliefs or other factors of various schools of Buddhism
Schools of Buddhism
Buddhism is an ancient, polyvalent ideological system that originated in the Iron Age Indian subcontinent, referred to variously throughout history by one or more of a myriad of concepts – including, but not limited to any of the following: a Dharmic religion, a philosophy or quasi-philosophical...
.
Some Buddhist denominations, many predominantly Buddhist nations, and individual Buddhist leaders have been criticized in one way or another. Sources of criticism can come from examples such as agnostics, skeptics, anti-religion philosophy, proponents of other religions, or by Buddhists espousing reform or simply expressing dislike.
Not true to Buddhist principles
Criticisms include the beliefs that among the various Buddhist cultures and institutions, not all are true to original Buddhist principles. Sam HarrisSam Harris (author)
Sam Harris is an American author, and neuroscientist, as well as the co-founder and current CEO of Project Reason. He received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Stanford University, before receiving a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA...
, a prominent proponent of New Atheism
New Atheism
New Atheism is the name given to a movement among some early-21st-century atheist writers who have advocated the view that "religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized, and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises." New atheists argue that recent...
and practitioner of Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation
Buddhist meditation refers to the meditative practices associated with the religion and philosophy of Buddhism.Core meditation techniques have been preserved in ancient Buddhist texts and have proliferated and diversified through teacher-student transmissions. Buddhists pursue meditation as part of...
claims that many practitioners of Buddhism improperly treat it as a religion, and their beliefs are often "naive, petitionary, and superstitious" and that this impedes their adoption of true Buddhist principles.
Some critics claim that Buddhist adherents and leaders have been materialistic and corrupt with an improper interest in wealth and power rather than pursuit of Buddhist principles. There have been a number of well-publicised sex scandal
Sex scandal
A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...
s involving teachers in emerging Western Buddhist groups.
War and violence
Michael Jerryson argues that Buddhism has been connected to government since its genesis. This "inability to conceive of a state without Buddhism alludes to a kind of religious nationalism," and this is found in a variety of Buddhist conflicts. In medieval Southeast Asia, there were a number of Buddhist states, including the Pagan KingdomPagan Kingdom
The Pagan Kingdom or Pagan Dynasty was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute the modern-day Burma...
, the Sukhothai Kingdom
Sukhothai kingdom
The Sukhothai Kingdom ) was an early kingdom in the area around the city Sukhothai, in north central Thailand. The Kingdom existed from 1238 till 1438...
, and the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa. In Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
especially modern monks frequently involve themselves in nationalist politics, although the Buddha never condoned political involvement beyond passive advisory roles. Sri Lankan peace activists such as A. T. Ariyaratne
A. T. Ariyaratne
Sri Lankabhimanya Ahangamage Tudor Ariyaratne is the founder and president of the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka.-Biography:...
have however also drawn on Buddhism for inspiration.
East Asian Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
Buddhists also often received state support. The Zen priest Brian Daizen Victoria documented in his book Zen at War
Zen at War
Zen at War is a book written by Brian Daizen Victoria, first published in 1997. The second edition appeared in 2006. The book focuses on the history of Zen Buddhism and Japanese militarism from the time of the Meiji Restoration through the Second World War and the post-War period...
how Buddhist institutions justified Japanese militarism
Japanese militarism
refers to the ideology in the Empire of Japan that militarism should dominate the political and social life of the nation, and that the strength of the military is equal to the strength of a nation.-Rise of militarism :...
in official publications and cooperated with the Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
on the battlefield. In response to the book, several sects issued an apology for their wartime support of the government.
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
summarizes these issues as a specifically Buddhist desire to "put their reason to sleep, and to discard their minds along with their sandals". However, this is in contrast to the Buddha's teaching:
Hitchens changed gears when he wrote in 2010 for the cover of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, "...Stephen Batchelor adds the universe of Buddhism to the many fields in which received truth and blind faith are now giving way to ethical and scientific humanism, in which lies our only real hope."
Buddhists also have a record of both passive and active nonviolence
Nonviolence
Nonviolence has two meanings. It can refer, first, to a general philosophy of abstention from violence because of moral or religious principle It can refer to the behaviour of people using nonviolent action Nonviolence has two (closely related) meanings. (1) It can refer, first, to a general...
, often reflected by national culture. In Burma, monks have advocated nonviolence during the 2007 anti-government protests
2007 Burmese anti-government protests
The 2007 Burmese anti-government protests were a series of anti-government protests that started in Burma on 15 August 2007...
amongst many other occasions; Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
arose in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
as a means of protest prior to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. (see pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
)
Buddha himself is quoted in the Dhammapada
Dhammapada
The Dhammapada is a versified Buddhist scripture traditionally ascribed to the Buddha himself. It is one of the best-known texts from the Theravada canon....
as saying:
Accusation of violence
After the 2008 unrest in the Tibetan area of the PRCPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, the official Chinese government
Government of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
stance has been that the Dalai Lama helped to orchestrate the unrest and violence. A Chinese Ministry of Public Security spokesperson claimed searches of monasteries in the Tibetan capital had turned up a large cache of weapons, including 176 guns and 7,725 pounds of explosives.
Buddhist self-criticism
Critical BuddhismCritical Buddhism
Critical Buddhism is a trend in Japanese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shirō. According to Lin Chen-kuo, Hakamaya's view is that "Critical Buddhism sees methodical, rational critique as belonging to the very foundations of Buddhism...
is a branch of Japanese Buddhist scholarship which aims to reform Buddhism through critical examination of its practices and philosophy.
Many individual schools of Buddhism are criticized by other practitioners as spiritually insincere, including Sōka Gakkai, the Dhammakaya Movement
Dhammakaya Movement
-Origins:It was founded by the Thai meditation master Phramongkolthepmuni - a celebrated meditation master and the late abbot of Wat Paknam Bhasicharoen, Thonburi...
, and participants in the Dorje Shugden controversy
Dorje Shugden controversy
A controversy arose in the late 1970s when the Fourteenth Dalai Lama started to speak out against the propitiation of Dorje Shugden, which has intensified since 1996 when he issued an "explicit ban", suppressing the practice within the Tibetan exile community....
. The San Francisco Zen Center
San Francisco Zen Center
San Francisco Zen Center , is a network of affiliated Sōtō Zen practice and retreat centers in the San Francisco Bay area, comprising the City Center or Beginner's Mind Temple, the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, and the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. The sangha was incorporated by Shunryu...
has been one focus of controversy in the United States.
Marxist criticism
Several critics have criticized Tibet for maintaining a feudal society that exploited peasants and treated them like serfs. The current Dalai LamaDalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
, however, has stated that he is in favor of a Buddhist synthesis with Marxist economics, as he believes that internationalist
Internationalist
Internationalist may refer to:* Internationalism , a movement to increase cooperation across national borders* Internationalist, socialists opposed to World War I* The Internationalist Review, an e-journal founded in Maastricht...
nature of Marxism shows compassion to the poor, which is in line with Buddhist teachings, while capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
is concerned only with gain and profitability.
Feminist criticism
Buddhism has been criticized because it treats women, particularly women monks, as inferior to men. Most schools of Buddhism have more rules for bhikkuni (nuns) than bhikku (monk) lineages. Buddhists explain that in the time of the BuddhaBuddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
, nuns had such problems like safety if they were to be ordained the same way as monks who traveled around in the forest and between cities. Thus, more rules have to be created for nuns, for instance: nuns are forbidden to travel alone.
Alexander Berzin referred to the Dalai Lama having said on occasion of the 2007 Hamburg congress
taken from Berzin Summary Report
Christian criticism
Before becoming the present Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger criticised Buddhism in 1997 as "a spiritual self-absorption" without "concrete religious obligations". However, he was not being asked about Buddhists in general but only about Catholics who practice Buddhism.
See also
- Bulssi JapbyeonBulssi JapbyeonThe Bulssi Japbyeon is a late 14th century Korean Neo-Confucian polemical critique of Buddhism by Jeong Dojeon...
- comprehensive Confucian refutation of Buddhist doctrines. - Criticism of ChristianityCriticism of ChristianityThroughout the history of Christianity, many have criticized Christianity, the church, and Christians themselves. Some criticism specifically addresses Christian beliefs, teachings and interpretation of scripture...
- Criticism of HinduismCriticism of HinduismSome aspects of practices committed by Hindus have been criticised, from both within the Hindu community and externally. Christian critics argue that Hindu philosophy and mythology is very complex and does not conform to normal Christian logic. Overt depiction of sexuality in Hindu idols, imagery...
- Criticism of IslamCriticism of IslamCriticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
- Criticism of JainismCriticism of JainismJainism has been criticized in one way or another by proponents of other religions, and by Jains espousing reform or simply expressing dislike.-Fasting to death:...