The position of the BMA (UK) is that the Sangha includes (equally) the Laity and the Ordained - and that both constitute a spiritual vanguard in the progression of humanity toward Socialism and Communism! The latest article on the BMA (UK) site seeks to unite theistic monasticism (of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Sufism of Islam) with the Buddhist equivalent: Of course, implicit in this exercise is the acknowledgement that many great evils have existed within religion - and it must be made clear that the oppression and ignorance that holds many religious teachings together is NOT being defended. To sit and meditate effectively is to breakup this "religious" ignorance and the internal pollution that the system of predatory capitalism imports into the interior of humanity! This is the premise of all further Revolutionary action in the (external) material world. Indeed, the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels is a rich and inspiring resource for self-purification. As is the work of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Ho Chi Minh! Genuine religion must be purged of its worldly ignorance and greed! Only Marxist-Leninism-Maoism possesses the moral power to achieve this mighty and crucial task for humanity! It is the lies of the Bourgeoisie that sullies the deep spiritual waters of the Proletariat! The workers possess the only moral right to punish the corruption of the Bourgeoisie - and those who value meditation must assist every worker in this task! Marx never defined the state of "Communism" - simply because he could not! How could he? Basically, the only thing that can be said is that "It is NOT this!" The Enlightenment of the Buddha, I suspect, reflects the state of "Communism" inwardly realised in a material world that was not yet ready to manifest such a sublime (external) reality! Look within and find it for yourself and unite with the Proletariat!
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For the average working-class person, classical music and the works of Shakespeare possess no relevance- as they make no sense. The workers are not conditioned to understand or appreciate these middle-class entities. Shakespeare and middle-class music have evolved out of the socio-economic privilege that is the cultural accumulation of the Bourgeoisie. In reality, this Bourgeois culture should not possess any meaning or relevance for the Proletariat. This is a body of pointless words and sounds imbued with a 'speciality' that only its creators can understand. The irony is that part of the profit generated by the labour of the Proletariat - and stolen by the Bourgeoisie - has provided the detached foundation of these exclusive cultural expression. Who cares 'What light through yonder window breaks?' Where is the food, clothing, medical care and housing in Mozart of Beethoven? The Bourgeoisie, of course, already possess these things and do not need to campaign to achieve these things again. The Bourgeoisie has accumulated the cream of Proletariat profit - kept the toilers completely impoverished - and built its opulent lifestyles upon the bones of the workers. Nice words and melodious notes do not free the mind of the workers from the oppression of the predatory capitalist system. The Bourgeoisie is free in the sense that it is dominant in the exploitative System it invented. The workers are subordinate. Being subordinate - the workers are forced to exist in a manner that sees the mind and body continuously oppressed. This encourages both inner and outer conflict and ensure emotional, psychological and physical violence rules the roost - not nice words or pleasant sounding musical notes. There are two ways forward. One is to reject the working-class and fully align with Bourgeois culture (and give-up any notion of Revolution). The second direction is to overthrow the Bourgeois System - and for the workers to sieze control of the means of production.
If the Roman Catholic Church can spend the last one-hundred years openly supporting fascism - Buddhists csn sit quietly and uproot the greed, hatred and delusion (through Meditation that inhabits the mind! Indeed, 'Nazism' is the development of greed, hatred and delusion into a certain and specific 'frequency' of hatred which is then projected upon hr world! This 'delusion in the ethereal mind' becomes 'destruction in the material world!' Whereas the Roman Catholic Church has Priests and Monks on the ground dashing to and froe between Neo-Nazi Poland and Neo-Nazi Ukraine ('blessing' Neo-Nazi White 'Volunteers' from the West as they head towards a certain death) - Buddhists the world-over start by sitting quietly in a disciplined manner and through regulating the breath and focusing the mind upon whatever Buddhist technique that is preferred - the surface activity of the mind is 'calmed', greed, hatred and delusion 'settle' and are slowly 'disentangled' from how the mind 'interacts' with the physical, and by extension, with the material world! Eventually, as 'essence' of the mind is understood to be 'empty' of 'self' and 'other' - the habit energy that genertes greed, hatred and delusion diminishes and finally is 'extinguished' at source - never to be engaged again! All this a Buddhist can do 'here and now' and does not hae to travel to the Ukraine to assist the Russian Offensive! It should be common-knowledge that at least three Soviet Republics were 'Buddhist' during the days of the USS (1917-1991), although technically speaking, the USSR was not declared until late 1922 - after the Soviet Red Army had defeated The UK and thirteen of her allies, and Germany and six of her allies - in an aggressive war waged by the bourgeois West (with the shadow of the ogre Churchill lurking in the background), which became known as the Russian Civil War (1918-1921), even though it was a massive military incursion that eventually killed around ten million Russian men, women and children! The capitalist West inflicted this war upon Russia and there was nothing 'Civil' about any of it! There has been no recognition, no acknowledgement and no apology issued by the West! The bourgeois West tried to eradicate the USSR again in 1941 - although this time the US and UK decided to keep out of this direct and far more bloody attempt at 'geocoding' the Russian people so that Hitler's Germany could have more 'living space to move into! Germany was assisted by Italy, Spain, the Roman Catholic Church, Hungary, Finland, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria. Raw materials to keep Hitler's armies going in the field were also provided by Sweden, Portugal and Turkey amongst others! This time, the death toll was much higher. Declassified Soviet documents unearthed in 2017 form the Planning Department of 1946 (a department responsible for assessment of needs and policies required to fulfil these needs), state that between 1941-1945 the population of the USSR decreased by a massive 52 million! It was decided that 11 million were due to 'natural' causes whilst '41 million' were due directly to Nazi German (and Axis) war activity in the Western USSR (primarily in the Ukraine)! The numbers were broken down as the Soviet Red Army lost 19.5 million men and women, whilst 21.5 million men, women and children civilians were murdered or otherwise perished!
The proposition is that both Marx and religion are correct within certain boundaries of definition. I suspect that what Marx is criticising is not genuine ‘religion’ per se, but rather what I identify as ‘pseudo-religion’ - or that which passes as religion within the capitalist system. Marx has no choice but to do this as pseudo-religion is a construct designed entirely to support capitalism and draw the spiritual aspect of humanity away from non-greed and firmly into the camp of pro-greed! There is no way that Marx could construct his theory if the structures of pseudo-religion were allowed to stand! This would mean the workers would over-throw the capitalist system only to have it continuously re-established everywhere that pseudo-religion influences! Marx has nothing to say about ‘genuine’ religion as it manifests exactly the same theoretical essence as does the completed historical mission that culminates in ‘Communism’. Obviously, Marx seeks to change the inner world of humanity by transforming the outer (material) world of habitation and activity, although he does recognise that if the workers are to change the outer world they must first wilfully change (or ‘alter’) their inner (conscious) world! This is nothing less than the ‘quest’ adventures found in many (if not all) genuine religious paths. Communism is not religion, however, and must be understood as an ideology entirely outside of religion – but genuine religion does possess the inherent ability to over-lap in places with the Communist quest without contradiction or paradox. A genuine religious path, therefore, can lead a dedicated practitioner to the state of ‘Communism’ within which ALL religiosity is transcended and left behind. In this model, religion becomes a launching pad that is left behind by the rocket of Communism that blasts-off into the space beyond! This suggests that Marxism and Marxist-Leninism must re-negotiate the place of genuine religion in the quest to establish Socialism and then Communism in the material world, as this transformation of humanity will have profound implications for the conscious development of humanity and the means through which humanity pursues existence and seeks-out challenges for the next step that stimulates human evolution!
The German Ideology - Part I: Feuerbach.Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook9/22/2021 [7. Summary of the Materialist Conception of History]
This conception of history depends on our ability to expound the real process of production, starting out from the material production of life itself, and to comprehend the form of intercourse connected with this and created by this mode of production (i.e. civil society in its various stages), as the basis of all history; and to show it in its action as State, to explain all the different theoretical products and forms of consciousness, religion, philosophy, ethics, etc. etc. and trace their origins and growth from that basis; by which means, of course, the whole thing can be depicted in its totality (and therefore, too, the reciprocal action of these various sides on one another). It has not, like the idealistic view of history, in every period to look for a category, but remains constantly on the real ground of history; it does not explain practice from the idea but explains the formation of ideas from material practice; and accordingly it comes to the conclusion that all forms and products of consciousness cannot be dissolved by mental criticism, by resolution into “self-consciousness” or transformation into “apparitions,” “spectres,” “fancies,” etc. but only by the practical overthrow of the actual social relations which gave rise to this idealistic humbug; that not criticism but revolution is the driving force of history, also of religion, of philosophy and all other types of theory. It shows that history does not end by being resolved into “self-consciousness as spirit of the spirit,” but that in it at each stage there is found a material result: a sum of productive forces, an historically created relation of individuals to nature and to one another, which is handed down to each generation from its predecessor; a mass of productive forces, capital funds and conditions, which, on the one hand, is indeed modified by the new generation, but also on the other prescribes for it its conditions of life and gives it a definite development, a special character. It shows that circumstances make men just as much as men make circumstances. This sum of productive forces, capital funds and social forms of intercourse, which every individual and generation finds in existence as something given, is the real basis of what the philosophers have conceived as “substance” and “essence of man,” and what they have deified and attacked; a real basis which is not in the least disturbed, in its effect and influence on the development of men, by the fact that these philosophers revolt against it as “self-consciousness” and the “Unique.” These conditions of life, which different generations find in existence, decide also whether or not the periodically recurring revolutionary convulsion will be strong enough to overthrow the basis of the entire existing system. And if these material elements of a complete revolution are not present (namely, on the one hand the existing productive forces, on the other the formation of a revolutionary mass, which revolts not only against separate conditions of society up till then, but against the very “production of life” till then, the “total activity” on which it was based), then, as far as practical development is concerned, it is absolutely immaterial whether the idea of this revolution has been expressed a hundred times already, as the history of communism proves. I fully recognise that the human species is communal and has evolved from an extended family base that became tribal. Indeed, human collectivity has been the strength underlying human (biological) evolution in general, and cultural development specifically. What, then, is the purpose, value and meaning for humanity (as a whole), for an individual pursuing a solitary path? What does it mean to be 'solitary'? Can a human being be truly isolatory? Is it possible to leave human society completely or even partially? What is it that is being left? From what is the individual removing him or herself from? To where are they relocating? What changes when an individual supposedly 'leaves' society? From a philosophical position it would seem that 'leaving society' might be a 'tautology' - more of a convention than a practical reality, and yet something tangible does appear to 'change'. Firstly, there is an inner change in orientation usually coupled with a concerted change in behavioural patterns. Indeed, 'leaving society' seems to be primarily a decision about abandoning one set of behaviours whilst embracing another. What is abandoned is the ordinary or expected patterns usually associated with the conventions of everyday life. Although there are grades of disengagement from everyday life - the more stringent examples include the rejecting of commercial labour (that is labour for profit), but not usually labour in principle. Personal (amorous) relations are purged from the expectations of the mind and body - as are any associations and interactions with family members and family structures. These are remarkable realignment of outward behaviour, but their purpose is to create an external (sensory) environment that generates the conditions for a profound change to occur in the functionality of the inner psychological and biological processes of the body. An outer physical transformation is required because without this impetus it is doubtful that will power alone could furnish the requisite strength of purpose required to permanently 'change' the frequency through which the mind and body operates. This being the case, is living in isolation in reality simply another definition of collective existence, albeit existing 'outside' of the convention that usually defines what many believe communal living actually is? If course, as the individual living in isolation still inhabits exactly the same physical world after supposedly 'leaving' it - and given that no one disappears or that anything changes to any great extent - it must be the case that 'leaving society' is really a redefinition of the physical phenomena of the world and of the manner in which these processes interact. Nothing changes except how the physical world is interpreted. However, although this may appear to be a superficial definition, throughout human history, it is clear that great historical and dialectical forces have been unleashed and harnessed that have brought down (and established) dynasties, empires, religious movements and social orders, all premises on markers of outer differences and distinctive modes of inner thought. Gods have come and gone, spirits have emerged and been exorcised and many different types of nature worship have come and gone. Yet the ability for a man and woman to live peacefully in the metaphorical (and actual) hills has often provided the inner (and outer) stimulus for great spiritual, artistic and engineering achievements to be conceived in the mind, built through the control of the body and put to use for the benefit of humanity. In this model, the direction of travel is easy to discern - from isolatory inspiration to purposeful application to collective human society in general. How did this happen? What is the pattern that grants this kind of inspiration? It seems that by consciously ‘withdrawing’ an individual is entering a ‘different’ type of collectivity – one that is not necessarily common or obvious to the rest of humanity. There appears to be a ‘gathering’ of inner and outer energy – a combination of psychological creativity and physical strength and healthy robustness! This intensification of the over-all energy available to the participating individual is ‘focused’, ‘directed’ and ‘intensified’ through the act (and experience) of ‘isolation’. It is as the ‘herd’ is seen better from a distance and understood to a greater degree. As an individual is part of the herd – it is the same as stating that the ‘herd is looking at itself in a particular manner’ - and none of this at this juncture has to have anything to do with ‘religion’ as such or even specifically. Taking a step back allows for the human mind to adopt a wider scale of observation and thereby ‘select’ a more effective mode of interactive behaviour that is designed to alleviate the greatest amount of collective suffering with the least (or most ‘efficient’) amount of individual effort. Although perhaps associated with the monkish disciplines – even those undergoing specialist education in the secular world still have to ‘withdraw’ from regular society to attend a school and become a ‘student’. A certain ‘isolation’ from mainstream reality is acquired to define what is a ‘different’ approach to understanding and interpreting reality! It could be that by adopting the meditative style of the monastic – a style of being considered the most ‘efficient’ for self-isolating – the secular student could achieve a much more profound appreciation of their subject matter! The forces of historical materialism, for instance, together with the waves of dialectical transformation could be easily perceived as unfolding through the inner and outer world! Surely, this is the Revolutionary power of isolating for self-education.
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!
Within Early Buddhist thinking – premised upon the content of the Pali Suttas – the Buddha explains that material reality is the basis of all existence, and that the physical body is the basis of ALL aspects of what is collectively referred to as the ‘mind’. Although the Buddha never knew of the physical organ of the ‘brain’ encased as it is in the skull-bone – he nevertheless described the ‘mind’ as emerging from conditions that involve the physical body. Not only this, but the Buddha on occasion referred to certain thoughts as being entirely ‘physical’ in nature! Within his teachings of the Four Noble Truths, the Buddha explained human existence as comprising of a physical body from which emerges sensation, conception, thought formation and consciousness. Within the Pali Suttas he describes why he thinks this with a crystal-clear clarity! For the Buddha, the capacity to ‘think’ is not a matter of a ‘spirit’ being divinely placed the body in opposition to ‘physical’ reality. Although like Marx the Buddha acknowledges the existences and usefulness of the ‘mind’, he is of the opinion that regardless of how apparently ‘ethereal’ the thought-processes might be – they are not in origin a product of a ‘divine-being’ placing his or her spiritual ‘essence’ inside the heart of human-beings! This observation of the Buddha broke the assumed connection of each individual to an assumed but unseen spirit-world that supposedly controlled human affairs from afar and justified the ‘racist’ caste system! This is why the Buddha’s alarmingly ‘modern’ method of defining and assessing physical existence immediately placed him at odds with the Brahmanical religion of ancient India which still holds so much sway over the imagination of modern India! Neuroscientists have recently released research that demonstrates that the brain’s capacity to ‘think’ is a physical act. This confirms the Soviet assertion that ‘consciousness’ is a ‘special arrangement of matter’ and has nothing to do with the existence of an assumed ‘hidden’ realm involving all-seeing spiritual entities with the power to affect each life entirely through a whim! The human brain has evolved the ability to generate the ‘mind’ - which is an ‘internalisation’ of the experienced external conditions that exist ‘outside’ of the body. Originally, human life has three-bodies. First there is the conceived foetus, secondly there is the womb of the mother’s body, which (thirdly) exists within a physical world. These are the multiple worlds available to the ‘new’ human. The ‘external’ world of other human, animals and varying conditions is mediated through the body of the mother for the first ten months of gestation prior to birth. The developing individual ‘learns’ about the external world through the body of his or her mother and as the brain slowly grows and becomes more capable of ‘sensing’. When the baby is born, he or she loses the body of the mother as a mediating device and it must experience the outside world entirely upon its own. Yes, adults may well provide auxiliary care, but reality from now on is strictly a matter of ‘direct’ sensation which is processed in a brain which is forever developing and learning to build an ever more efficient ‘internal’ (holographic) representation of the external world in its interior, or so it seems. There are now only two bodies that a human individual inhabits – the individual (organic) body and the physical (material) body that is the external environment! The biological body – although comprised of a certain biological blue-print – is nevertheless considered ‘unique’ to its owner, whilst the physical environment will be generally the same, albeit comprised of differing conditions, circumstances and survival characteristics. A life of opulence Is generally easier to live than a life of grinding poverty, etc. science, etc. The human mind can predict the past, contemplate the present and speculate about the future. However, other than being ‘aware’ of existential reality that is happening ‘now’ through the senses, the ability to ‘remember’ the past and to ‘speculate’ about the future are skills of pure ‘imagination’ regardless of the accuracy of such capabilities. In other words, these are ‘illusionary’ abilities developed during the course of human evolution, designed to assist humanity with its ability to ‘survive’! These abilities are ‘illusionary’ because they do not pre-exist the birth of the individual, and do not post-exist the death of the individual, as each ability is the product of a fully developed and functioning brain within a living body! Thoughts are hollow constructs within which humanity can ‘imagine’ or ‘import’ any content he or she wishes! This is a remarkable human ability as each thought construct can be ‘imagined’ as containing the entirety of material existence, or ‘speculate’ as to the nature of the infinitesimally small quantum universe! A thought construct in the mind is essentially ‘empty’ in nature so that its interior can be filled-up with whatever content the individual requires – although, of course, the Buddha suggested ‘emptying’ the thought constructs so that their empty nature can be fully comprehended and understood ‘here and now’. Furthermore, the reality of the interior of the thought construct is mostly empty space. This mirrors the construction of material reality in the external world – which is mostly ‘empty space’ with the occasional passing piece of matter. Before the advent of modern science, the Buddha found a way of explaining the nature of the physical universe by having each aspirant ‘look’ directly into their owns minds! Again, the Buddha’s ancient wisdom often dove-tails with the findings of modern science to a remarkable degree! This is why I believe that Karl Marx may well have been influenced by the philosophy of Early Buddhism when formulating his theory of historical materialism! Reference:
Neuroscientists Track Thought’s Trip through Brain http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/neuroscience/thoughts-trip-brain-05648.html Marx and Engels correctly observed that external conditions influence the type of inner psychological and emotional terrain an individual experiences, whilst the functioning mind-set – through thought and action – can influence (and change) how the external environment manifests and operates! These observations can be read in the ‘Theses on Feuerbach’. The type of society a child is born into – conditions the ‘type’ of mind-set the child develops – whilst how an individual ‘thinks’ (following education and other experiences of life) can influence the type of behaviour (and interaction) the individual exerts upon the physical environment. Obviously, the logical suggestion is that a fully functioning physical environment pre-exists the ‘birth’ of each individual – and serves as a ‘rich’ depository of influences that channel the human-mind into a particular frequency of functionality. However, as the human-mind can be further influenced by all kinds of stimulus which direct its thinking-process into multitudinous directions, it is possible that given the right kind of influence, the ‘true’ reality of the external world can be clearly grasped, and a Revolutionary direction of behaviour embarked upon! The thinking is that once a Socialist Revolution is successfully achieved in the outer world – then an entirely ‘new’ inner terrain for humanity is experienced! Where meditation is useful is that it can ‘clear’ the inner mind of the ‘delusion’ and ‘confusion’ caused by the external environment of a capitalist society! Meditation can achieve this as an ‘act of will’ which allows an individual to ‘detach’ themselves from the strictures of predatory capitalism, and whilst still living in a capitalist society, and mould their behaviour in such a way so as to live in a progressive manner that helps assist the development of physical conditions that bring a successful Socialist Revolution ever-closer! This can happen because Buddhist meditation ‘uproots’ the essence of the capitalist system from deep within the habits of the mind. What is this ‘essence’ of the capitalist system? Is is greed, hatred and delusion. Being outwardly ‘non-attached’ to physical stimulus and inwardly ‘calm’ and ‘still’ can only result in the reality of Socialism! This means that by realising ‘empty’ space in the mind is directly linked to perceiving the ‘empty’ space of the physical environment – with the two experiences ‘integrating’ into one reality. This is how Buddhist meditation can bring a further layer of developmental structure to Marxist and Marxist-Leninist ideology. Buddhist meditation allows for the idea that individuals can ‘free’ their minds and bodies from being ‘directly’ influenced by capitalist ideology whilst still physically existing within a capitalist society! Of course, the external reality is still ‘capitalist’, but individuals can ‘detach’ their psychological processes and sensory reactions from the habitual ‘predatory’ nature of the capitalist system. Such an achievement propels the individual into a permanent state of ‘transition’ which has the tendency of moving all thought and behaviour into the direction of Socialism. This is a ‘new’ state of achieving ‘Socialism’ that acts in accordance with the thinking of Marx and Engels – but which was not developed in their writings during their lifetimes. This is despite the fact that Marx and Engels knew about Buddhism (via their friend ‘Karl Koppen’), but never had to time (or experience) to develop a ‘theory’ in this direction. Buddhist meditation, as a method of ‘uncoupling’ the inner-being from the outer capitalist system could well be developed into an objective science free of all religiosity no different to studying the written works of Marx and Engels!
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AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
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