Author’s Note: What follows is a diary entry included in Alexander Werth’s epic 1947 book that records the events surrounding the momentous Battle of Stalingrad - which occurred in 1942. Werth spent much of the war-years between 1941-1945 ensconced as a BBC Journalist in the USSR and witnessed first-hand the brutality of the Catholic-supported Nazi German invasion - and attempted genocide - of that country’s population. Of course, the USSR was in fact fifteen diverse countries united in their joint other-throwing of the Bourgeoisie and the vicious capitalist system it practiced. At least three of these Republics, although ‘Socialist’, were nevertheless historically and culturally ‘Buddhist’. A number of Red Army regiments were formed containing ‘Buddhist’ men and women who fought bravely to defend the USSR from external attack! Of course, the West exercises a mixture of racially motivated ‘ignoring’, ‘disinforming’ and ‘misinforming’ when it comes to recording Soviet history. Soviet ‘Buddhists’ were good Communists – as Werth records. Furthermore, as we live in changing times in Bourgeois society - the manner in which Werth describes 'Tanya' is a product of his time and considered today as being 'insensitive' at best and 'discriminative' at worst. I certainly do not endorse this type of demeaning narrative. On the other hand, the historical data Werth conveys is infinitely valuable in the face of wall-to-wall US anti-intellectualism. Think for yourselves and make-up your own minds. As the (British-educated) Werth could read, write and speak Russian fluently, (he was born in Russia - but his family migrated to the UK when he was very young), he takes a rather stern and overly critical attitude toward the Soviet method of providing authoritative translation textbooks (conveying correct Russian to Asiatic language translations and vice versa) – which were then deployed amongst the non-Russian populations by specially trained Cadres of young people who could not necessarily understand the language of the non-Russian ethnicities to any great degree (as they did not have to). This Soviet method allowed a few genuine experts in all the included languages to centrally compile these textbooks - which were then printed in their tens of thousands and quickly distributed freely to the masses – thus enhancing communication and cultural exchange. In a very real sense, Cadres such a ‘Tanya’ featured below – acted as a proto-search engine – with the caveat that unlike the universal translators of the modern internet age, the translations she supplied were ‘correct’ and ‘sound’. Once again, if indeed another example is needed, we see the ‘corruption’ of the Lamaist system of landlordism which the Communist Party of China has thoroughly over-thrown in Tibet and China! Although John Snelling – of the Buddhist Society in London – once published a book about ‘Buddhism in Russia’, he did so by completely ignoring the English language evidence provided by Werth, a fellow Britain who had lived in the USSR for many years of his life! After-all, people like Snelling were pursuing the hidden agenda of conforming to the strictures of US anti-intellectualism during the so-called ‘Cold War’ and misrepresenting the USSR through the agency of Buddhism. For the record, I do not agree with the arbitrary ransacking of temples or stealing Buddha statues – as this is the behaviour of the Western imperialists (a process which can be clearly observed in the British Museum). Local people taking matters into their own hands, however, is an issue involving the self-governing of Revolutionary activities, and the situation explained below should be interpreted in this context. (25.9.2023) November 23 (1942) ‘The other day I got to know, through Ludmilla, an enormously fat girl, tall, red-cheeked, and ginger-haired, called Tanya – with legs like Doric pillars. She seems to be vaguely married to somebody – or divorced; I don’t know. Anyway, this formidable fat blonde is said to drive all the Caucasians and Asiatic crazy, whenever she visits their countries. She’s on a good racket. She translates into smooth Russian verse the works of Azerbaijan, Buriat-Mongol, Yakut and God knows whatever poets. She doesn’t know any of their languages, of course, but she is given a literal translation, and then concocts a poem with roughly the same idea, and it’s often called “Translated from the Buriat-Mongol,” etc. It’s a well-paid and well-encouraged racket, and she claims that Stalin himself was delighted with her Buriat-Mongol Poems. It’s done in the name of a closer acqiantance amongst the peoples of the Soviet Union, and these “translators” are given some wonderful facilities by the Writers’ Union. Thus, Tanya, has travelled by plane, ship, carriage, reindeer, sleigh, railway, and every other means of locomotion all over Western Siberia, and Yakutia, and right up to the Siberian Arctic coast, and all through Central Asia and Mongolia, and also the Caucasus. She is full of good stories about life in Yakutia, now quite a reasonably large town, and almost a metropolis in north-Siberian terms, and about all the remarkable adventurous characters one meets there – trappers, and sea captains who sometimes hibernate in the Bear Islands and Wrangel Island. She also tells stories of Buriat-Mongolia – of the secretary of the Obkom who as a youngster became famous for killing the most notorious bandit of the region; he came home one day and threw the bandit’s head on the family dinner-table, much to his mother’s horror. “He has an extraordinary face,” said Tanya, “very and pale, a perfect Mongolian face, with grey temples and black fiery eyes.” He had also led the young people’s revolt against the Lamas. When the Buriat-Mongolian Communists heard Stalin had expressed approval of Tanya’s translations from Buriat-Mongolian, they ransacked a distant temple and presented her with a whole trunkful of Buddhas. When I went to her flat the other day – she shares her house with some other people – I found that she still had a few Buddhas left; the rest had been looted by her friends, while some had been destroyed in the bombing of Moscow last year when there was a fire in the house where she was living. One of the Buddhas she carries around everywhere and seems to be very superstitious about it. She also owns a remarkable brass statue from a Buddhist temple – an unbelievably erotic affair.’ Alexander Werth: The Year of Stalingrad, Simon, (2001), Book III - The Defensive Battle – Chapter V - Moscow in October and November, Pages 327-328 English Language Reference:
0 Comments
The suffering this man unleashed upon humanity has been intense, ongoing and ever-increasing! Like Khrushchev before him, he was an arch 'Trotskyite' who manoeuvred his way into the position of 'General Secretary' of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - and was even 'President' of the Soviet Union between 1990-1991 - whilst he oversaw the final destruction of the then 74-year-old Workers' State! The US, UK and EU flooded the post-Soviet space with perpetuators of religious extremism, fascism and free market economics - a process which has saw ‘minority’ Neo-Nazi (and Neo-Fascist) fringe groups brought to mainstream power in the Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, etc! Although modern Russia is now a poverty-stricken, capitalist country suffering from the fascistic-leanings associated with Pan-Slavism, the Russian State has at least seen fit to unleash its military (the successor to the Soviet Red Army) upon its Ukrainian neighbours to combat the Neo-Nazi ‘Euro-Maidan’ regime which was illegally brought to power in 2014 by the US Obama Administration! The Americans have chosen Neo-Nazism as its primary foreign policy tool as it remains staunchly ‘anti-Russian’ in both its early anti-Bolshevik ‘Mein Kampf’ phase – and in its later post-1945 ‘Soviet crushing’ of Nazi Germany phase! This despicable fascist regime has subsequently been further armed, financed and politically supported by the US, UK and EU – with its military being primed for a major push into the territory of West Russia (advancing the cause of ‘NATO’ in the process)! In reaction, the people of the Crimea voted to leave the Ukraine and join Russia – whilst a number of left-leaning ‘Republics’ were declared throughout East Ukraine – all stating their secession from the Ukraine, their self-determination and their eventual intention of merging with Russia! Although the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi ‘Nationalist’ Battalions were used to ruthlessly destroy a number of these ‘Republics’ - two managed to hold-out for the full eight-years – namely Lugansk and Donetsk in the Donbass region. A UN Report states that between 2014-2022 the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi ‘Nationalist’ Battalions killed between 10,000-15,000 men, women and children in the breakaway region, maiming a further 50,000 people! As a consequence, the military actions of Russia are entirely legal - as Russia is coming to the aid of a population that has declared its ‘independence’ and which has ‘requested’ such assistance! Of course, it is ironic that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are also the successors of the Soviet Red Army, and that the Ukraine is the area that suffered the most during Nazi Germany’s invasion of the USSR between 1941-1945 (killing around 41 million Soviet citizens). Indeed, the USSR took care to build as many defensive areas as possible throughout the Ukraine without openly effecting the quality of life for the local population, in an effort to ‘protect’ the population of the USSR from the threat posed by a NATO ground and air assault! Today, whilst the Neo-Nazi Ukrainians flaunt their Swastikas and their unbridled Western support – Russia abounds with working-class dereliction, racism, religious extremism and religious stupidity, homophobia and an intellectual and cultural poverty that has taken just 31-years to instil into their minds and bodies! Russian people in general are as ‘nationalistic’ as the Ukrainians they are fighting, and the Donbass inhabitants they are liberating! This fact underlies the power of the betrayal that the man pictured at the top of this article unleashed on the people of the USSR! A people that just 31-years ago viewed themselves as being ‘united’ and part of the ‘International Working Class’ - now view themselves as a ‘separate’ and ‘distinct’ (superior ‘Slavic’) race which hates all non-Russians and views the political left-wing of Europe and America (a political left-wing the USSR helped to nurture and grow throughout the 20th century) as being some type of ‘liberal’ conspiracy designed to import homosexuality (which modern Russians incorrectly associate with paedophilia) into Russia as a means to deprive Russia of its natural manliness! All this bourgeoise greed, hatred and delusion had been educated out of the minds and bodies of the citizens of the USSR through their Soviet (Marxist-Leninist) education – but in just 31-years of the bourgeoisie throughout the post-Soviet space taking back control of the means of production – nationalism, racism, hatred and discrimination are the new norms! The capitalist West may criticise the war between Russia and the Ukraine – but behind the scenes the Western leaders will be happy! The capitalist division of labour is nothing less than the division of the working class! When groups of limited self-interest form that possess no underlying and unifying base – then conflict and competitiveness are the inevitable result! When the working class is divided and fighting itself for the petty control of land – then it is too busy to ‘unite’ and form ‘Socialist’ groups that could effectively challenge the status quo! Surely, this is the greatest achievement of the man pictured at the top of this article – who lived just long enough after the collapse of the Soviet Union he engineered to see its constituent people start the processes of killing one another!
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!
This film reminded me of Logan’s Run, the Matrix and Gattaca (with undertones of Minority Report), Filming occurred between October and December, 2000, and was completed well before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center during September, 2001. However, the finished film was not released until 2002 and in the post-911 war-mongering climate in the US – was a monumental cinema and financial failure. Perhaps the central theme of ordinary people rising-up against an oppressive regime did not go down too well with the Bush Administration as it was priming the American population to mindlessly follow its orders to (illegally) invade Afghanistan (and Iraq) in retaliation for 911 – without either country having anything to do with the terrorist attack itself. It is stated that Berlin was chosen for its fascistic architecture – and areas of run-down East Germany – with the produces careful not to mention that the former ‘Socialist’ East German State was ‘devastated’ with the re-introduction of predatory capitalism and that in just ten years, large areas became economically run-down and inundated with neo-Nazi movements whilst being abandoned by the unified ‘German’ State - bereft of financial aid and vital resources, etc. In other words, it was the predatory capitalism of the US that destroyed the infrastructure of East Germany – and not (Marxist-Leninist) ‘Socialism’ that had over-thrown Nazism and carefully re-built the country in the wake of Hitler’s death in 1945! Of course, the ‘Ministry of State Security’ or ‘Stasi’ (1950-19990) was responsible law and order and (from 1952) intelligence and counter-intelligence – for the State of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Its main tasks were to guard the German people from infiltration by US predatory capitalism – and arrest, try and imprison any East German nationals still holding ‘Nazi’ viewpoints. The US packaged this move as a human rights violation and started various media campaigns to have these people released. With the collapse of East Germany in 1999, all these former Nazis were released to great fanfare – and they immediately set about exercising their newly found ‘capitalist’ freedom by re-establishing a vast network of neo-Nazi organisations that still exist and function today! This is the background to the ‘decrepit’ areas the producers of this film claim they used in the former East Germany.
Furthermore, the producers feature images of Joseph Stalin – the ‘elected’ General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – and Saddam Hussein. The former fought Hitler’s fascism to protect the West with the Soviet Union losing around 41 million men, women and children, whilst Saddam Hussein was to be blamed by the Bush Administration (falsely) for being behind 911! An odd choice for so-called ‘deficient’ leaders as both were victims of the capitalist system! The producers also churn-out footage of the 1989 ‘Tiananmen Square’ Incident in China which was revealed in 2011 as a media hoax by Wikileaks - perpetuated by the US and UK media during a time before the internet and when very few people possessed the ability to verify at source what they were being told to ‘think’ by their respective governments! Although many suggest this film is a re-hash of Orwell’s 1984, the situation is a little more complex. George Orwell, as a Trotskyite, was tasked by the UK government to agitate against the Soviet Union through the medium of literature. Orwell’s books are not very well written, but they exist in virtually every school throughout the Western (capitalist) world! His books entitled ‘1984’, and Animal Farm’ are designed to psychologically ‘inoculate’ the minds of young children born within the capitalist system against forming any thoughts in support of ‘Socialism.’ As Orwell recognises the urge toward ‘creativity’ the only distraction his fiction allows is a dalliance with Trotskyism which serves the purpose of directing the individuals straight back into the arms of predatory capitalism! In this regard, Orwell’s misleading and poorly written works serve a similar purpose to the drug ‘Prozium’ found in this film. Whereas Orwell’s work ‘suppresses’ any thoughts in support of ‘Socialism’ - ‘Prozium II’ is a drug administered to all citizens of Libria which is used to ‘suppress’ all ‘emotion.’ The point of this is that the Council which runs Libria has decided that ‘feeling emotion’ is the reason humanity ‘goes to war’, and therefore if ‘emotion’ is stopped – all ‘war’ will cease (as does ‘resistance’ to authority). Orwell suppresses ‘Socialism’ (thus allowing the capitalist system to function normally – which includes raging war), whilst ‘Prozium’ allows for a society to function ‘free’ of warfare although under a totalitarian government (capitalism in decline). As religion is linked to ‘faith’, and given that ‘faith’ is premised upon ‘emotion’ - in an emotionless society, there is no need or inclination for religion to exist. Instead, secular ‘Clerics’ are trained to defend the State against anyone who ‘feels’ emotion. To do this they become expert in advanced martial arts – both armed and unarmed – and are empowered to be judge, jury and executioner. Their job is to destroy anyone who ‘feels’ and eradicate any material signs of culture produce by ‘feeling’ individuals. Every citizen is obligated to take their dose of ‘Prozium’ every day so as to prevent any feelings developing. Not to do this constitutes a ‘sense crime’ which is punishable by immediate death. Prozium creates an ‘unfeeling’ society that lives in the ‘eternal moment,’ That is to say, all citizens of Libria physically exist in the existential moment. This sounds very similar to the Japanese Zen ideology developed in Japan post 1868 (following the Meiji Restoration), which developed to its peak during the 1930s. This was a fascistic distortion of Chinese Ch’an that sort to ‘eradicate’ all human feeling and create a population that only lives in the present moment and possessed no moral qualms in ‘killing’ anyone who opposes the will of the State. To do this, the Japanese State had to ‘abandon’ all Buddhist morality and ethical behaviour and the Buddhist Establishment had to conform. This created an appreciation of the present moment that forgets the past and has no thought of the future whilst being completely ‘amoral’ due to its lack of contextualising emotion. This type of Japanese Zen conditioned millions of Japanese people to mindlessly obey a hierarchical government and kill anyone who opposed its objectives. Not only this, but after WWII, many so-called Japanese Zen masters then transmitted this type of ‘amoral’ Zen to the West where it has become known as ‘International Zen’, even though this type of thinking has been abandoned by most ethnic Japanese people who have reverted back to a more civilised and humane type of Buddhist practice. Clerics in Librium act very much like the Samurai of ancient Japan and the Kempeitai, of fascist Imperial Japan – as they are empowered to kill anyone who deviates from the accepted norms of society. To achieve this the Clerics have developed a deadly ‘Gun Kata’ - which is a set of movements using fire-arms which has been mathematically calculated to kill as many people in the shortest space of time, in such an efficient manner that exposes the Cleric to the least damage. Dear Comrade (Swagatam Chakma)
Thank you for your very interesting email. Marx and Engels both had a very high opinion of Buddhism and had learned about the Dharma from their good friend - Karl Koppen (Early Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism). Indeed, Marx is even recorded as practicing Buddhist meditation to 'rest his mind'! There were at least three Buddhist Republics in the USSR and the Soviets had academic experts tasked with learning about every aspect of Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist culture. In the Soviet movie '1917' a Chinese-Buddhist Temple in the USSR is featured. Of course, in 1928, Joseph Stalin founded an academic department specialising in Buddhist studies. Today, China, North Korea, Vietnam and Laos now pursue the concept of 'Dharma' and 'Socialism' being one and the same in essence! Please feel free to translate any of the BMA- UK articles into the wonderful Bengali language. With Metta Adrian Kind Attention: Mr. Adrian Chan-Wyles PhD Buddhist-Marxism Alliance (UK) Dear Sir, May I introduce myself for a noble task (at least for my nation). I am Swagatam Chakma, a Buddhist by birth, hailing from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Our CHT region is mainly inhabited by Buddhist population, where Islam is being spread very quickly under the patronization of a vested quarter now a days. On the other hand our political leaders of the region considers Buddhism an 'opium', since they are the true communists, as they claim. I did find your articles as blessings, quite useful in eradicating such wrong notions and concepts about Buddhism. If translated into Bengali language and circulated widely in our region, the articles will help us find the right path towards political emancipation and reduce our undue sufferings. Therefore, I would be grateful if you please give me your kind consent/permission to translate and publish the articles into Bengali. Thanking you in anticipation. Best regards, Swagatam Chakma Dhaka, Bangladesh Mobile: 01715-778753 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!
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 Although the Buddha’s assessment of physical reality seems very ‘modern’ in its use of logic and reason, is his notion of enlightenment relevant to a modern world that is dominated by science? What relevance does a Buddhist viewpoint have in a world that no longer accepts religious dogma in a blind and one-sided manner? Even if the Buddhist philosophy is placed to one-side and Buddhist enlightenment is reduced to perceiving the empty essence of the thinking mind, so what? How does this ability assist humanity in a world of measuring matter, observing processes and continuously striving to understand more about material existence? How does the Buddha’s idea of leaving the world help a person living in the modern world understand that world better? Of course, the honest answer is that it does not. Seeing into the empty fabric of the mind does not build houses, feed people or cure diseases. As an ability, it does not generate an income and cannot pay the bills. Leaving the world does not offer any contribution to making the world a better place. For the Buddha, an individual removes themselves from the most obvious causes of physical and psychological suffering. This suffering he associates with the conventional life of a lay-person participating in marriage, child-rearing and working for a living. This includes the activities of commerce, politics and warfare, etc. Interestingly, the Buddha advocates a moving further into abject poverty as all work is abandoned as a manifestation of desire. Once a regular income is denied, then it becomes a matter of sustaining the life of the individual through the indifferent eating of waste-food acquired by the monastic through the act of begging. Even so, as begging does not guarantee a daily meal, a semi-state of starvation becomes the norm. What is the point of this lifestyle? The Buddha states that all of humanity’s suffering stems from the traits of greed, hatred and delusion continuously operating in the mind, which manifest without end through a corresponding set of physical behaviours in the outside world. Cutting-off and uproot these three traits in the mind and the corresponding behavioural patterns will cease to function in the outside world. When the root of humanity’s suffering is permanently uprooted in the mind and purged from the body, then there exist no more suffering-inducing conditions to plague the individual. However, as life in a capitalist society relies entirely upon ‘greed’ and ‘selfishness’, the Buddhist path is obviously ‘anti-capitalist’ and renders the individual impotent and unable to effectively participate in a greed-orientated society. Of course, things are different within a Socialist society, as a ‘selfless’ individual who profoundly cares for the ‘welfare’ of others is exactly this type of ‘altruistic’ society requires for each of its citizens. An enlightenment achieved within a capitalist society proves to the experiencer that all greed is thoroughly incorrect and counter-productive toward the achieving of human happiness. In other words, a genuine Buddhistic experience grants the insight that the world of predatory capitalism is immoral, backward and the source of all human suffering! Capitalism is clearly perceived as existing entirely due to an unquestioning of human ignorance! Once the mind is cleared of its capitalist corruption, then the individual acquires the ability to comprehend not only the higher teachings of the Buddha but also the dialectical meaning contained within the work of Marx, Engels and Lenin! This would suggest that the Buddhist ideology, if pursued within its proper Asian context, leads the practitioner to an innate understanding and comprehension of the ideology of Scientific Socialism as formulated by Marx and Engels, and developed by thousands of other Revolutionary leaders ever since! Of course, bourgeois Buddhism – or that teaching which is mixed with the Judeo-Christian tradition to exclusively serve the socio-economic system of predatory capitalism – is nothing but a ‘bogus’ Buddhism used by privileged ‘White’ people as a leisure activity and simple play-thing. As this is the most common Buddhism functioning in the West, Buddhism in this guise has no relevance for freeing humanity or in the appreciation of Communist ideology. This is the fake Buddhism of ‘feeling good’ and of temporarily ‘escaping’ from the woes of everyday life for short periods of time. No one practicing this ogre of misrepresentation can ever clear their minds of greed, hatred and delusion, as all this ‘playing’ does is strengthen the functioning of greed, hatred and delusion! This shadow of Buddhism ‘strengthens’ capitalism and gives it’s a greater stability in the minds of the practitioners. This is why bourgeois Buddhism is nothing other than a collaboration with capitalism and the exploitation of the working-class! Anyone can read the Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist teachings, and apply the teachings themselves as part of their study of Marxist-Leninist ideology. Indeed, meditating and calming the mind allows for a preparation of the intellect so that it can more readily ‘absorb’ the profound lessons inherent within the teachings of Scientific Socialism and the work of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Che Guevara and Thomas Sankara, etc. Ethnic Buddhist communities in China, Laos and Vietnam use this method to integrate their communities into the Socialist System! It is exactly the same method used by the three or four Buddhist Republics that were part of the Soviet Union! Although Buddhism is certainly not required for the successful learning of Marxist-Leninism, nevertheless, if it already exists it can be useful as a method of working-class empowerment!
|
AuthorAdrian Chan-Wyles PhD - Political Commissar and BMA (UK) Historian & Researcher. Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|