The Buddha’s explanation as to ‘why’ suffering and dissatisfaction exist within the human mind and the material environment is as good an explanation as any other theory found in Social Science, Psychology or Psychiatry. Past and present lives, when viewed genetically and collectively then take on a new scientific meaning when detached from the dogma of religiously motivated individualism – a mistaken mind-set which perfectly mirrors the Bourgeois ideal state of unbridled ‘individualism’ defined as being the ‘perfect’ (and preferred) mode of predatory capitalism! Of course, from a dialectical position, what we experience today will inevitably dictate how material life will unfold in the future. This intprets the past, present and future existences as taught by the Buddha as coinciding with the past from which the present as emerged – and the ‘future’ into which the present will ‘develop’. Indeed, outside of the superstitious meaning often encouraged amongst the Buddhist laity – it is an established fact that the Theravada Sangha of ordained monks and nuns discuss past, present and future lives in exactly this manner (Abhidhamma) – clarify this issue further by specify the ‘past’ life equals the past moment, the ‘present’ life equals the present moment, and the ‘future’ life equals the life yet to come. Around two to three-thousand years ago, when very few people could read and write, the ordained Buddhist monastic seemed a world apart from the average lay-person. There was good reason for this separation which probably does apply to contemporary life in all but the materially poorest of places. Whatever the situation, the agency of theistic ‘faith’ should NOT replace materially-derived ‘wisdom’. Of course, where literacy is unknown, then faith tends to be the strongest. Ancient India was both poor and illiterate and so the Buddha’s Enlightenment offered a strand of awareness which required the open rejection of ordinary existence. This was, in effect, the rejection of religious-based ‘faith’ – and yet amongst the ignorant masses – ‘faith’ continued to function as a very powerful force and still does. This misinterpretation is encouraged in the West as the theistic religions that have historically dominated these countries have been ‘faith’ based. This is why Buddhism in the West is falsely presented as just another version of the Judeo-Christian religion – when it is clearly (dialectically) far superior to these theistic paths. The philosophy of ancient India, particularly that found within Buddhist ideology, intersects perfectly with the thinking that undermines modern science. India, even before ancient Greece, is well-known to have developed a system of material interpretation of reality. The Buddha seems to have developed his system of interpreting reality from within this system of understanding and explaining existence. The Buddha, whilst experiencing material reality, purified his perceptual understanding so that he realised the ‘essence’ of the human conscious ability – which is used to ‘sense’ the world through the six-senses that comprise the inner and outer body and the physical environment within which it exists. Worshipping the Buddha as a ‘God’ – or continuing to worship the ‘polytheism’ of India – was to miss the dialectical point that the Buddha was making. Perceiving the ‘essence’ of perception is an interesting challenge.
0 Comments
DPRK: Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Sends Congratulatory Message to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic! (29.3.2023)
Sangha Kommune (SSR) Blog: DPRK-Lao Relations - Flower Basket (112-2023) Vientiane General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party President of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos Tonglun Seesoul Comrade On the occasion of the 68th Anniversary of the Founding of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party - I send warm congratulations and Comradely greetings to the General Secretary and all members of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party! For the past 68 years since its Founding - the Lao People's Revolutionary Party has successfully organized and led the struggle of the Lao people to achieve independent development and prosperity of the country - while resolutely overcoming all kinds of challenges and difficulties at home and abroad! Today, under the precise leadership of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party headed by Comrade General Secretary, the Lao people are making new strides in the struggle to implement the decisions of the Party's 11th Congress. I wish for greater achievements in the responsible work of Comrade General Secretary for the strengthening and development of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the welfare of the Lao people. In this aspiration I expresses a firm conviction. General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Kim Jong Un March 22, Juche 112 (2023) Pyongyang (End) www.kcna.kp (subject 112.3.22.) North Korean Language Article: http://www.kcna.kp/kp/article/q/35104d969cc6fb7cd36765b8ef06b3f8.kcmsf 경애하는 김정은동지께서 라오스인민혁명당 중앙위원회 총비서,라오스인민민주주의공화국 주석에게 축전을 보내시였다 비엔티안 라오스인민혁명당 중앙위원회 총비서 라오스인민민주주의공화국 주석 통룬 씨쑤릿동지 나는 라오스인민혁명당창건 68돐에 즈음하여 총비서동지와 라오스인민혁명당의 전체 당원들에게 열렬한 축하와 동지적인사를 보냅니다. 라오스인민혁명당은 창건후 지난 68년간 내외의 온갖 도전과 난관들을 과감히 극복하면서 나라의 자주적발전과 번영을 이룩하기 위한 라오스인민의 투쟁을 승리적으로 조직령도하여왔습니다. 오늘 라오스인민은 총비서동지를 수반으로 하는 라오스인민혁명당의 정확한 령도밑에 당 제11차대회 결정관철을 위한 투쟁에서 새로운 전진을 이룩하고있습니다. 나는 라오스인민혁명당의 강화발전과 라오스인민의 복리를 위한 총비서동지의 책임적인 사업에서 보다 큰 성과가 있기를 축원하면서 우리 두 당,두 나라사이의 전통적이며 동지적인 친선협조관계가 앞으로도 끊임없이 강화발전되리라는 굳은 확신을 표명합니다. 조선로동당 총비서 조선민주주의인민공화국 국무위원장 김정은 주체112(2023)년 3월 22일 평 양(끝) www.kcna.kp (주체112.3.22.) Dear M
Thank you for your interesting email: The Buddhology of Marx and the Development of Historical Materialism The above is the essence of my research over the years. Certainly, the USSR academics treated Buddhist philosophy with a certain deference - as did Marx and Engels. Modern China follows exactly the same path and has shown considerable interest in this work - as have academics from Laos and Vietnam, etc. The British academic Trevor Ling - independently to myself - also suspected some type of systemic link between the thinking of Marx and Buddha (Professor Zhao Yuezhi in China also shares my views). When Buddhism is stripped of all its accrued 'religiosity' (which is both 'alien' and 'contradictory' to the ideology of Early Buddhism) a system of proto-Marxism is laid bear. A soft materialism arises that recognises the material (and 'primary') reality of the physical world - whilst fully acknowledging the 'conscious' conundrum that defines the historical, existential and prophetic predicament that humanity finds itself within! The Buddha also provides the first ever human documentation of a theory of evolution in the 'Agganna Sutta' (which I am sure pre-dates anything the Greeks were churning out - probably by two-hundreds or more). Remember that in China the Buddha is around 500-years older than Western academics have decided - a position shared by a number of Indian scholars who reject the Eurocentric dating. Certainly, as wise as he was, the Buddha could not read or write and was 'illiterate' whilst remaining 'highly educated' in all practical and linguistically transmitted arts - a status of learning in accordance with his High Caste (Khaitriya) social positioning (he was taught martial arts, seduction, political studies and all the known spiritual learning - but through practical instruction which did not rely upon the written word). In this older dating, the Buddha lived between 1029/28 - 949/48 BCE - assuming he lived 80-years! If this was the case, then the Buddha's use of a logical, dialectical mind - pre-dates the Greeks by at least 500-years - and strongly suggests the flow of mind development was from East to West! As always, think for yourself! Kind Regards Adrian Chan-Wyles Update: Directive Number 13 – The BMA (UK) Supports Russia’s Anti-Fascist ‘Special Operation’3/8/2022 Dear Gillian
What is interesting is that after decades of effective inner and outer martial arts practice, I have arrived at a profound 'stable' state of mind, body and spirit (whatever that is). This journey has traversed many inner and outer levels or states of being. Mostly, this has included a logical approach to physical training motivated by 'doubt' a) in the process itself, and b) in my ability to keep-up the practice or c) to carry-out the prescribed practice correctly. This 'doubt' was inward whilst the physical 'outer' Chinese martial arts techniques were superb and highly effective. This 'doubt' (which ceased to function about 14-years-ago in c. 2007) acted like a force of magnetism drawing my 'uncertain' inner-being toward to the solid and stable outer-structure of the martial arts techniques and how they might be used in self-defence (function) and mind and body health and fitness (longevity). There is now a great awareness. A great all-embracing sense of psychological being that appears to be united with mind, body and environment. This unity I term 'spiritual' because all this seems 'transcendent'. Of course, whilst being driven on by the inner doubt to practice physical martial arts (as a form of 'armouring' against external attack), I also committed myself to intense Ch'an meditative practice as a means to 'uproot' this doubt which all motivating throughout my entire life to 'take action' in many different arenas - it also contained an element of 'weakness'. As I interpreted this 'weaknesses' as a major problem that a) held me back in a state of fearful 'non-action', or b) sabotaged physical actions so as to render all exertion completely pointless! The mind 'cleared' and 'expanded' - it became all-embracing so that the body stopped appearing to be 'outside' of it and took its place entirely within psychological awareness. Although I had my initial experiences of the realisation of a 'still' and 'empty' mind with its awareness expanding and embracing all things around 1990 - it took another 15-years for this experience to settle-down (2005), and about another two or three years for all vestiges of 'doubt' to completely dissolve (2007/8). What did happen around 1990, however, is that my physical use of outer Chinese martial arts technique deepened, expanded and matured, and since the time of 'teaching' in my own right (as opposed to 'training' under a teacher) - I have never lost a fight in the training hall. (Around a year before this experience, I was following a strict Chinese (Mahayana) Buddhist 'monastic' regime and sitting in meditation for hours a day practicing the hua tou 'Who is hearing?' Suddenly, whilst sitting in my 'cell' and without warning, my mind 'ceased to move' becomingly utterly and completely 'still'. This was accompanied by deep sense of permanent ecstasy! My Chinese teachers correctly taught me with 'silence' - whilst my Western teacher Richard Hunn (1949-2006) - my Western Ch'an teacher - correctly taught me with words! Ironically, he drew my attention to the authentic Chinese Ch'an texts. 'Neither be attached to the (realised) inner void - nor hindered by (the 'external') hindering phenomena'. It was deep within the 'silence' of my Chinese Ch'an Masters (including Chan Tin Sang [1924-1993] that I discovered the poignant meaning of Richard Hunn's spiritually 'vibrant' words. This is how I knew that Richard Hunn was correct in his understanding. Later, this dual instruction [into non-duality] led to the next shift in perspective This occurred a year later after a further period of intense practice, and was a product of a complete change or 'turning about' [see the 'Lankavatara Sutra'] at the deepest essence of the mind. It was such a profound and important 'first principle' that I nearly omitted it from the list of all the important events! I was once meditating sat on the ground outside 'returning' all sensory data 'back to its 'empty ground' essence - when a cool and refreshing Summer's freeze blew gently across my face. Suddenly, my mind instantaneously 'turned the right way around' immediately abandoning its previous 'inverted' functionality and appeared to 'expand', assume an 'all-embracing' position of being, whilst this 'new awareness' thoroughly permeated the physical-body and penetrated the physical universe throughout the past, present, and future! This permanent shift in psychological and physical manifestation changed 'me' from the DNA-chemical foundation upward and influenced all the views and opinions I now hold!) This includes not only transforming the experience of sparring with students (which is now unified experience premised upon wisdom, loving kindness and compassion) - but also manifested within the otherwise 'brutal' realm of 'honour fights' whereby unknown and unfamiliar individuals suddenly turn-up at my training hall and (disrespectfully) ask to spar! They wish to gain fame and fortune through 'out of control' violence which involves (for them) the 'beating' and 'exposing' a local (Chinese) gongfu teacher! How did this happen? I think whereas my opponents were still motivated by a deep and profound sense of 'doubt' (often involving a profound 'self-hatred') - I no longer experienced this 'doubt' which 'divides' human-beings during combat. Doubt by this time in my life had become nothing more than a profound sense of enhanced 'awareness' full of compassion and understanding. This is all held in place by a physical (martial) ability that can use 'gentleness' just as easily as 'harshness' to 'control' or 'regulate' physical interactions. Signed: Adrian Chan-Wyles [陳恒豫 - Chan Heng Yu] (22.11.2021) - '釋大道' (Shi Da Dao) Witnessed and Authenticated by Yau, Gee-Cheuk [邱芷芍] (22.11.2021) - 'Gee Wyles' - Wife of Adrian Chan-Wyles Nikunja Vihari Banerjee (1897-1982) was much respected as an 'original thinker' as a professional academic employed by Delhi University. I first came across his work through his book entitled 'The Dhammapada' (which appears to have been posthumously published in 1989). My academic background in the UK is in 'Spiritual Metaphysics' - which means I specialise in the study of the history, culture, philosophy and political thought associated with religious movements and their impact upon the material environment. As a 'non-theist' I do not subscribe to any theistic path even though it is my duty to understand 'what' and 'how' each particular school of thought operates in an objective and non-judgemental manner. This is why I was interested in the work of NV Banerjee, as he too also seemed to share an interest in Marxist ideology and its relation to Buddhist thought. As part of my broader political activities, my function is to persuade and reassure religious groupings about the importance of their siding with the rigours of a Socialist Revolution (Marxist-Leninist) and their contributing to the building of a 'Communist' society!
I have found the work of VN Banerjee to be naïve, deficient and sometimes reminiscent of ‘Trotskyesque’ distortions of the truth! His work on the Dhammapada is arbitrary and shockingly moribund – as he even gets the Pali title incorrect! The term ‘Dhammapada’ literally translates as ‘Truthful Path’ - with ‘pada’ said to imply a ‘foot taking a step’, etc. VN Banerjee opts for translating ‘pada’ as ‘sayings’ - whilst completely negating the intended symbolism contained within this typically ‘Buddhist’ notion. This error is compounded when just a few pages on VN Banerjee admits that the Pali word ‘apadam’ actually means ‘trackless’ (as in ‘no footsteps’ are present)! He then continuously asserts that everything stated within Buddhism is evident within Christianity – whilst further suggesting that the Dhammapada has been ‘polluted’ by the very ‘theistic’ elements found in other religions! This observation is incorrect. The Dhammapada represents the diversity of the Buddha’s teaching even at the point of his death – when his community of monks certainly did not all agree on what ‘was’ and ‘was not’ said by the Buddha. Whilst pointlessly re-arranging the order of the 423 aphorisms which comprise the Dhammapada – VN Banerjee makes the only factual comments in the entire book when he observes that the Pali term ‘citta’ (mind) as used by the Buddha does not imply a ‘consciousness’ acting in opposition to ‘matter’ - but is rather a mind-concept which is itself a form of rarefied matter (an awareness ‘this side’ of matter). He also asserts that the Dhammapada – with its emphasis upon ‘right action’ as juxtaposed to ‘wrong action’ - probably aligns the Dhammapada Sutta with the Vinaya Discipline. Even so, and despite describing the thinking of Early Buddhism as ‘naive realism’, VN Banerjee fails to mention that the peculiarly ‘modern’ thought of the Buddha may well have preceded the Greeks and perhaps even influenced that development (particularly if the Buddha lived around 500-years earlier than many Western scholars assume). Another area of contention, is VN Banerjee’s equating of Buddhist ‘emptiness’ (sunyata) with ‘nihilism’ - an allegation clearly refuted by the historical Buddha at numerous times through his lifetime. Buddhist philosophy, regardless of school, rejects the extreme notions of ‘eternalism’ and ‘nihilism’ as flawed view of reality. In this regard, VN Banerjee’s viewpoint that the ‘Vijnanavada’ trend of thought within Mahayana Buddhism represents ‘subjective idealism’ denotes a Western-derived disregard for the correct interpretation of Buddhist ideology. Even the founders of the Yogacara (‘Yoga-practice’) School confirm that they agree with the Buddha that the ‘mind’ (citta) is ‘impermanent’ and is comprised of the forever fluctuating ‘five aggregates’. This being the case, nothing ‘permanent’ or ‘long-lasting’ can arise from ‘consciousness’ or ‘conscious-awareness’ of the external, material world. Human perception DOES NOT generate the material objects it senses in the external environment (as if ‘sensing’ is an act of ‘creation’) – but merely ‘registers’ that these objects are a) present and b) the qualities and characteristics of said objects. The ‘Vijnanavada’ therefore, emphasises that the pathway toward ‘Enlightenment’ is primarily through the mind (and secondarily through a disciplined body) - with an onus upon the rarefied arrangement of matter from which consciousness arises, manifests and eventually returns. None of this VN Banerjee ‘sees’, ‘understands’ or ‘acknowledges.’ VN Banerjee’s assessment of the Dhammapada is pointless as it is obvious that he possesses no genuine knowledge regarding the Buddhist teachings. This is why his book on the subject represents an exercise in futility. This brings me to VN Banerjee’s other book under consideration – namely his ‘Buddhism and Marxism – A Study in Humanism’ (1978). Again, this is a thorough (and probably ‘deliberate’) misreading of the work of Classical Marx, as contrary to the claims of VN Banerjee, Marx mentions throughout his work that human existence is a continuous interconnection between the ‘material world’ and the ‘conscious’ mind. This is obvious from a study of the ‘Theses of Feuerbach’ by Karl Marx – and numerous other works such as the ‘German Ideology’, etc. Throughout the Paris Manuscripts, for example, this idea is explored over and over again. Despite this very real acknowledgement of ‘consciousness’ - VN Banerjee writes that Marx possesses no teaching on consciousness and as a consequence, has evolved a thoroughly ‘materialist’ ideology. This is VN Banerjee falling into the trap of ‘Metaphysical Materialism’ that has been soundly rejected by all Marxist thinkers. Like the Buddha, Marx acknowledged that material reality is permanently entwined and integrated with humanity’s conscious striving to apprehend the environment for survival purposes. This being the case, it is interesting that VN Banerjee claims that both Buddhism and Marxism have ‘failed’ to save humanity from its self-imposed suffering. How would he know? What is his objective framework of reference? The reality is that Marxism and Buddhism are alike in many ways and I suspect that VN Banerjee is busy representing the Western (capitalist) view of reality which attacks and denigrates any opposition to its dominance. This is why he has targeted ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Marxism’ in his work, because he knows that in this instance East and West are in full accord and that this alliance must be broken and discredited at its source. The problem haunting VN Banerjee is that he does not appear to possess enough knowledge of either subject to ‘pull-off’ his mission’s objective! He has no idea that Marx and Engels learned about Buddhism from their friend Karl Koppen, that both Marx and Engels praised Buddhist philosophy (equating it to the thinking associated with the Classical Greek World) - or that Marx once practiced the ‘emptying the mind’ meditation practice of Early Buddhism when recuperating his health whilst resting by the sea. My own research suggests that the Buddha’s theory of ‘Dependent Origination’ (as the ‘Chain of ‘Becoming’) equates philosophically with Marx’s theory of ‘Historical Materialism’ - suggesting that Marx may well have been influenced by the underlying thinking of Buddhist ideology – albeit modified for the contemporary, Western world. To finish with, I would like to reject VN Banerjee’s assertion that Marxism sanctifies violence. Both Marx and Buddha defined a ‘false consciousness’ as comprising of an ‘inverted’ (habitual) mind-set which interprets the chain of events involving material processes as being the ‘wrong way around’, or ‘back to front’, etc. To remedy this, the Buddha changes the way the interior of the mind interprets the outer world – whilst Marx advocates the changing of the outer world as a means to change the functionality of the inner world. The bourgeois, capitalist system – which VN Banerjee undoubtedly represents – inflicts a continuous policy of psychological and physical violence against the working-class as a means to keep the masses firmly in their place and performing their task of generating profit from their labour. When the workers attempt to ‘resist’ this continuous level of inner and outer violence inflicted upon them – the controlling bourgeoisie ‘intensifies’ its violent actions and issues the accompanying propaganda statements that it is the oppressed workers who are being ‘violent’ and the bourgeoisie they are attacking are the ‘victims’. This is a classic example of an ‘inverted’ reality. This is the preferred interpretation of reality for the bourgeoisie (as it hides their true objectives) - but its logic is entirely ‘back to front’! Therefore, contrary to the ridiculous assertion of VN Banerjee that ‘Marxism is violent’ - it is the bourgeois status quo that routinely uses violence against the masses. All that Marx added to this interpretation is that the ‘working-class has a right to defend itself from these attacks!’ The ability for the working-class to defend itself is a legal right as it pre-supposes an already existing physical threat to safety that must be ‘resisted’ if survival is to be assured! Again, with VN Banerjee ‘blaming the victim’ as he expertly does throughout his work – this Is yet another clear example of his ‘inverted’ thinking and instinctive support for the bourgeoisie and their system of predatory capitalism! Although VN Banerjee’s assessment of the work of Karl Marx is deficient in my opinion, as it lacks many of the basic insights that most bourgeois academics take as granted even if they are instinctively opposed to Socialism. In this regard, VN Banerjee privileges Western (bourgeois) thinking as if he were a ‘White’ European who has settled in India and established a curious and inquisitive colony! He is, in this instance, an Asian mouth expressing a distinctly ‘Eurocentric’ attitude! In this regard, VN Banerjee appears to reflect that other victim of European colonisation – Hu Shih – who as a youth was taken from China as a punitive measure against Chinese resistance to Western invasion, and quite literally ‘brain-washed’ into rejecting ALL Sinocentric-thinking and into adopting as his own opinion the implicit attitude that ALL Asian thinking is ‘deficient’, ‘inferior’ and ‘sub-standard’ when compared to ALL forms of bourgeois ‘Western’ thinking (that is not ‘Marxist’ or sympathetic to ‘Marxism’). Hu Shih was the product of (Western) bourgeois social engineering as he grew-up to instinctively support ALL Eurocentric attitudes, assessments and interpretations, and give the false impression that Eurocentric imperialism was both morally ‘right’ and spiritually and physically ‘good’ for the minds and bodies of the Asian people – an attitude that directly opposes the views of Karl Marx! For the Western (bourgeois) world to succeed in its project of ‘wiping-out’ an ‘independent’ Asia that can stand alone in its opposition to any and all Western hegemony! Through people like VN Banerjee quite naturally allowing himself to be influenced by the Western system – he is assisting the passive colonisation process that ‘inverts’ the Marxist project of ‘exposing’ it at every turn! This ‘inverts’ Marxist ideology and gives the false impression that Marxism is the ‘illness’ rather than the ‘medicine’! The irony is that VN Banerjee’s translation of the Dhammapada Sutta does have merit when compared with the others available (generated by scholars sympathetic to the Buddhist world-view). He provides the Pali text in both the Devanagari and Roman script. This follows the Western tradition of presenting the original Pali text in (Western) phonetic transliteration – whilst presenting an Indian alphabet, so that certain scholars can check the accuracy with the original ‘source’ material. The Dhammapada Sutta is organised to inform the average reader in ancient India of the Buddha’s path from ignorance to ‘Enlightenment’ - and from the ‘mind’ being the central-point of where the training is carried-out once the physical body is suitably ‘disciplined.’ Once the experiences of everyday life are explained and dealt with – then the chapters traverse toward the ‘Enlightened’ state as a ‘monk’, an ‘Arahant’ and a ‘Brahmin’, etc. This is by no means an unusual organisation for a Buddhist text in the Pali tradition – and yet VN Banerjee states that he ‘sees no reason’ for this structure! This is similar in dereliction of opinion to VN Banerjee stating that Marxism is a ‘religion’ when in fact Marx firmly ‘rejected’ the ‘inverted’ thinking that underlies ALL theistic religiosity. This aligns with the usual bourgeois disinformation that says Marxism ‘rejects’ religion and is atheist – whilst simultaneously asserting that Marxism is a ‘secular’ ideology that ‘mimics’ all aspects of established religion whilst denying the validity of the theistic construct. Again, this assertion makes no logical sense. The religionists – according to Marx – construct images and patterns that exist ‘nowhere’ than within the psychic fabric from which they emerge, and then ‘mistake’ these images and patterns as independently ‘existing’ in the external universe (free of any connection to the mind that creates them). Established religions then construct powerful political and physical structures designed to control society and privilege the Church! None of it is ‘true’ as its entire edifice is premised upon a false theory of reality. This thinking is ‘inverted’ because a fallacious ‘thought in the head’ is mistaken for a real ‘structure in the external world.’ As Marx advocates ‘material’ science over religious ‘superstition’, the only ‘truth’ worth knowing is that of the correct, scientific understanding of the material universe, and the results of this reflected in the mind as cultivated patterns of thought manifestation. Therefore, a ‘non-inverted’ mind-set according to Marx is the consequence of the scientific analysis of the environment and the ‘correct’ corresponding thought patterns that are ‘conditioned’ into the thinking mind as a consequence. Marxism, by logical definition, therefore, cannot be truthfully referred to as a ‘religion’ in any sense of the word. Marx rejects the inverted thinking that defines a) religious thinking, and b) the maniacal search for profit that defines the bourgeois system of predatory capitalism. The point missed by VN Banerjee is that modern manifestations of established religiosity fully support the predatory capitalist status quo and its liberal political structure – as such an arrangement privileges and maintains the Church in its dominant and anti-working-class position. Marx supports the working-class seizing the means of production and depriving the bourgeois system and its religious structures of ALL political power and influence – this is why Marx ‘rejects’ the inverted thinking that defines the bourgeois system and its religious structures. The Buddha, oddly enough, also defines ‘delusion’ as an ‘inverted’ mind-set which is polluted by a false duality that misinterprets the external world and generates suffering-inducing (internal) mind-states that are riddled with the three-taints of greed, hatred and delusion, etc. For Marx and Buddha – it is the ‘removal’ of this inverted mind-set through education which sets humanity on the path of true peace, tranquillity and freedom from suffering. Communist ideology firmly rejects ‘terrorism’ or unwarranted violence as the vast majority of the victims of such violence are invariably the working-class! Whenever terrorists attack the bourgeois system – it is the bodies of the working-class that are torn asunder by bourgeois weaponry! Furthermore, overtime the bourgeois punish the working-class through systems of education that ‘brain-wash’ working-class children into unquestionably accepting their own exploitation at the hands of the bourgeois as being ‘normal’ and being ‘beyond’ any reforming or alteration. Again, VN Banerjee applies his ‘inverted’ thinking by falsely stating that it is Marxism which is inherently ‘violent’ - when in fact the truth is the other way around! Whereas Marxism rejects the inherent violence of the bourgeoisie – it is VN Banerjee who is using his expertise to ‘blame the victim.’ Dear M
The problem is a lack of genuine Buddhist material in the West. However, the book 'What the Buddha Taught' by Walpola Rahula is a sound Theravada text that explains that the Buddha rejected the notion of a spirit as opposed to matter. Indeed, the Buddha even described 'thought' as a material phenomenon. The Buddha, like Marx, stated that human suffering is premised upon an inverted mindset that perceives things the wrong way around. The answer to eradicate this inversation and develop a true consciousness. The Buddha defines reality through the Four Noble Truths. This contains the Five Aggregates explanation of reality. The Buddha places the world of matter as being primary, from which emerges sensation, perception, thought formation and consciousness. Consciousness only exists as long as the human sense organs are in regular contact with the physical world. No contact (such as in death) no consciousness. The Buddha also says that when greed, hated and delusion are fully uprooted, then a practitioner realises that there is no rebirth and no divine realms, etc. Trevor Ling has written a number of books about the similarity of Buddhist ideas and Marxist thinking. Marx learned his Buddhism from his friend Karl Koppen (a renowned Early European expert upon the subject) - but his excellent books have yet to be translated from their native German into English. Marx even writes to a friend saying that he had tried Buddhist meditation to help relax his mind: https://buddhistsocialism.weebly.com/when-karl-marx-practised-buddhism.html The Soviets appear to have known about this association as Joseph Stalin opened a Buddhist Academic Centre in 1928 as a means to gather and focus good quality work about Buddhist thought. You might be interested in this: https://thesanghakommune.org/2017/02/21/ussr-fi-shcherbatskoy-1866-1942-expert-in-buddhism/ Best Wishes Adrian Dear M
The BMA (UK) caters as a focal point for many different people of various backgrounds. As such, there is no rigid membership - just fluid ideas all heading away from capitalism and towards Socialism (as Marx and Engels explained). We all bring our own requirements, so to speak, and collectively work it all out! My job is that of key researcher for the BMA (UK) which involves stripping away all the bourgeois layers of misrepresentation and appropriation that is used to mislead the masses in the West! Basically, Buddha becomes Christ and enlightenment becomes God. The next step is to brainwash the practitioners into believing that there is no difference between the theism of Christianity and the non-theism of Buddhism! This prepares the psychological and physical ground for conversion to bourgeois Christianity, and on it goes! Genuine Buddhism is nothing like this and very close to the Dialectical approach of Marx and Engels! Indeed, these last ten years of my research has been to 'prove' this hypothesis and the evidence is clear. It is an association which is common place in China and I have made good contacts with professors over there - all of whom agree with this observation. In this regard, meditation becomes a means through which working class people can take control of their own minds and purge them of ALL bourgeois conditioning! This method can be used even before any type of formal education as anyone can sit and meditate and reorientate their minds toward a thoroughly proletariat world view. The Buddha dialectically discovered a form of Scientific Socialism 2,500 years ago and expressed it in a Revolutionary manner using concepts familiar to his culture and his Epoch - but like Marx and Engels, he also used the current situation, terms and common understandings to generate a new view of the world that only really makes sense to humanity today, and only then to individuals who have already studied Marx and Engels! When the mind is thoroughly emptied of its contexts, then the only remaining reality is that of Scientific Socialism! Of course, this turns out to be the only real reality when everything else is understood to be bourgeois, delusive nonsense! We can either live in our imaginations or clear our minds and occupy the dominant position of dialectical prominence and advanced understanding and behaviour! Best Wishes Adrian Once the mind is emptied of all its reflective junk and habitual patterning of responses – there is nothing left but the reality of ‘matter’ and the ‘space’ within which it manifests. Within the universe, ‘space’ is by far the most prevalent aspect of reality – with ‘matter’ forming a relatively small amount of data. In the mind, this outer reality appears reflected in the reality that ‘thoughts’ appear to ‘arise’ (and pass away) within a boundless and ‘empty’ space. Although probably ‘imagined’ - this inner manifestation of the outer universe certainly seems to be a valid reflection. This explains why Buddhist ideology traditionally equates thought-constructs with material objects – and the psychic-space they appear within - with the outer space that sets things apart and serves to define exactly where physical things are in relation to one another. It just so happens that the philosophical conclusions of Quantum Theory – which explains the outer and inner world – does appear to coincide with Buddhist thinking, in as much that sub-atomic particles (like ‘thoughts’) seems to arise out of nothing in the void, and return to the void once their function is complete. Of course, just ‘why’ this seems to be the case is a matter of conjecture if it is acknowledged that the mind exists within the brain and has no real way of ‘knowing’ exactly what is going on outside of its bony entombment. The fact that the brain constructs the mind and uses the senses of the body to the extent that it does is truly remarkable! This is correct even if it is acknowledged that all the knowledge the brain possesses is ‘imagined’ and is something like a very well-constructed, educated guess. If a practitioner, however, sits and ‘empties’ the mind of all its conditioned junk, he or she will arrive at an innate appreciation of the pristine matter that comprises the universe! We are nothing but ‘matter’ that has become aware of its own presence – with everything else merely being a matter of construction! There is no other reality beyond this material reality. This remains true no matter how much the human mind would like to imagine otherwise. Indeed, the human capacity to ‘imagine’ has been one of the driving forces behind human evolution, to the extent where humanity is now prepared to admit this reality and transition beyond it! Marx quite clearly saw through the ‘fog’ of religion – which is a type of pseudo-science developed around human frailty and longing. Religion is not real no matter how sincere our wish in its constructs might be. Belief does make that which purely ‘imaginary’ manifest as if it were materially ‘real’. Buddhist meditation ‘empties-out’ the garbage so-to-speak, and conveys humanity into a purely ‘modern’ state of mind that is able to directly perceive the material reality of existence, and fully comprehend the ideology of Marxist-Leninism!
|
AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|