Robert USMC Contacts the BMA (UK) (1.5.2017)
By Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD
The Vietnamese Ch’an Buddhist Monk Venerable Thích Quảng Đức Confronts US Imperialism (1963)
A few days ago, a message arrived at the Buddhist-Marxism Alliance-UK (BMA-UK) inbox. Although the email address for ‘Robert USMC’ is fake (a cowardly action for an apparent ‘US Marine’), his email has certain comedic value, the details of which are as follows:
From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: New Form Entry: Contact Form
Date: Monday, May 01, 2017 18:07
Submitted Information:
Name: Robert USMC
Email: [email protected]
Comment
Your whole argument is philosophically unsound. The ideology that has killed more Buddhists in the 20th century than anything else has nothing remotely to do with Buddhism. Marxism is a violent subversive ideology and you are funded by notorious individuals like Soros and global Marxist. Your whole website is subversive. Don't bother to respond. Just know that we are on to you. Long live the republic. An American
The problem the rightwing possesses is its perennial lack of intelligence, and its inability to understand history, context and correct research methodology and effective debating technique. Add to this an innate inability to speak, read or write English (even ‘American English’) correctly, and you are left with the average KKK member, redneck, and even a certain type of ‘White’ liberal. At least with these deficiencies, they are easy to spot, and can be seen coming a mile away (even a ‘country mile’!). Both Marx and Engels thought very highly of Buddhism (with Marx dabbling in it at one time), whilst the Soviet Union dedicated an entire research faculty to its study, and the Buddhist establishments in China, Vietnam and Laos have actively participated in the Socialist Revolution. In Vietnam, for instance, leftwing-leaning Buddhists were at the fore-front of Vietnamese resistance to the highly destructive (and racist) US imperialist invasion. Even in Asian countries that are not Marxist-Leninists, individual Buddhists and Buddhist associations often hold Marxist-Leninist opinions, and use these ideals to work for social justice amongst the poverty-stricken populace. In fact, the only deliberate associate between a Buddhist establishment and the political rightwing, as far as I can discern, has been in the US colony of fascist-leaning Japan.
Of course, this is not to say that US-style Islamophobia has not been successful in infiltrating traditional Theravada Buddhist institutions, such as those found in Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand, for instance, where certain head monks have abandoned the Vinaya Discipline and taught their disciples to manifest greed, hatred and delusion, incorrectly stating that this perverse doctrine is inaccordance with the Buddha’s proscription against greed, hatred and delusion. The bloody consequence of these Buddhist monks in the pay of the CIA, is the disturbing film footage and photographs of the battered and torn bodies of innocent (murdered) Muslim men, women and children, together with the equally battered and torn bodies of innocent (murdered) Buddhist men, women and children. The point is that correct Buddhist philosophy is always away from the greed, hatred and delusion that underlies all racist and murderous thoughts and actions. Even in this case, however, these types of deluded monks are not following the rightwing proper, but merely bare greed, hatred and delusion through the manipulation of others. These stupid monks have fallen into the trap of mistaking ignorance for wisdom, and wisdom for ignorance – turning the world upside down, and falsely believing the ‘inverted’ mind is the ‘enlightened’ and ‘non-inverted’ mind. This is when the secular perceptual science of Buddhist philosophy sinks into the mire of religiosity and theistic delusion. This madness is cured by the injunction of Marx to dispel the false consciousness (through education), and by the Buddha to uproot greed, hatred and delusion, whilst realising (through meditational development), the ‘emptiness’ of theistic essence (i.e. ‘atman’ or ‘soul’).
The person listed above as ‘Robert USMC’ makes one essential error (amongst many) in his ‘all or nothing’ rhetorical assault upon the ideological premise of the BMA (UK). He a priori does not demonstrate any understanding of that premise, but this is not his greatest philosophical error. Whilst (incorrectly) claiming that Marxism has killed more Buddhists in the 20th century than any other ideology, he makes the schoolboy error of omitting the inconvenient fact that throughout the 20th century, it has been the US military operating throughout Asia – either overtly or covertly – in such places as Tibet, China, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Okinawa and Japan, that killed more ethnic ‘Buddhists’ than any other ideology. What ideology was the US pursuing? This is easy to answer – the ideology of vicious and brutal capitalist greed, assisted by the Christian Church. This US attempt to annihilate any and all racial and cultural difference from the world failed, because Buddhist populations en masse, took-up the Marxist-Leninist cause and inflicted such psychological and physical defeats upon the US, that the forces of capitalist imperialism were driven out of their lands. Currently, White racists in the US feel particularly empowered by the election of President Trump – an ardent racist, sexist and greed-orientated maniac currently occupying the White House. However, although other countries have a right to defend their sovereignty against any and all US aggression – it is not violence that will bring down ‘capitalist’ America, but rather its own stupidity. Once a Socialist America is created by its own people, the world will be a better and safer place.
©opyright: Adrian Chan-Wyles (ShiDaDao) 2017.