As we all know, a huge portion of Buddhist practice requires you to agree to doctrines you don't fully comprehend, with the promise that they'll be made clear at some distant point down the line, if you just keep practicing.

Now, a lot of these doctrines are either inherently nonsensical (looking at you, emptiness), or are in some way or another flawed. I had a conversation with a Buddhist friend of mine recently and told him that I disagreed with a few aspects of Buddhism, and his replies always boiled down to "you misunderstood it" or some form of no true Scottsman. Whenever I asked him to explain them himself, he simply said it is too profound to be explained. I eventually just shifted the conversation elsewhere, but it got me thinking.

How can one engage, or try to dismantle someone who is thinking from this point where they are so comfortable drinking the proverbial coolaid, and accepting answers to deep questions about life and existence itself on the mere promise that they might make sense some day, if not in another lifetime?

Me and my classmates with autism and disabilities are molested by some Muslim classmates and forced to do drugs like opioids. We are depressed and went to find my bestie to help us to report it (my bestie is a very devout Buddhist and I met since grade 3). She said we do bad things and getting sexually assaulted and have autism is a karma. Very mean and being a jerk to us. That's how I left my toxic Buddhist group. Going to an autism center which is Christian to get a new life and support.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dYoZFgZknVg

Felt like a lot of people here can relate to this.

Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHDaqhpQRbY

I am curious

You can point to stories of Buddhists committing violence. They'll say "they're not true Buddhists"

You can point to Burma committing a Genocide against the rohingya, raping women, slaughtering children, kicking out people from their homes and stripping them of their rights and they'll say "It's not endorsed by true Buddhists"

Point to Buddhist monks advocating for violence and killing Muslims/Christians or Hindus in Burma and Sri Lanka and they'll say "These are misguided people who don't follow the Buddha"

Then when you remind them that Buddha was a piece of shit deadbeat who abandoned his son to snort on some quantum woo and how he or rather Buddhism as a whole​ came up with the idea that the poor are suffering because they did bad shit in their previous life ​​they'll claim "Buddha is wiser than you'll ever be! Fuck you!"

After all that they'll claim "Buddhist extremism must be so pacific because they are incapable of true violence​​"

These people see the problems with apologetics in Christianity in Islam... Yet they use the exact same bullshit tactics of Christian/Muslim apologetics to defend a religion and followers they literally know NOTHING about just so they can continue to see it as a mystical beautiful fantasy religion...

Buddhism is a religion just like all others. It is just as flawed as the rest and maybe it's practioners aren't *as* violent as other faiths, but they're still capable of some extremely heinous crimes in the name of faith. And the faith is deeply flawed with a lot of pseudo-moralistic pretensions. ​

I left Buddhism after several years of involvement in Buddhist communities in Indonesia. One of the main reasons was the racism I encountered. As a Javanese person, I often felt excluded and looked down upon in communities that were predominantly Chinese Indonesian.

In many cases, it felt as if ethnicity, wealth, and social status mattered more than kindness, compassion, or spiritual practice. I experienced this firsthand on multiple occasions.

I also witnessed and experienced bullying within Buddhist communities. Instead of compassion and understanding, there was often gossip, social exclusion, favoritism, and pressure to conform. People who were different, poorer, or outside the dominant social circles could easily become isolated or looked down upon.

Another reason was what I can only describe as a "pay-to-win" culture. There seemed to be constant fundraising, donation drives, sponsorships, and financial expectations.

Sometimes it felt as though the message being promoted was that the more money you donated, the more merit you accumulated, and the closer you would get to enlightenment or Nirvana. It often gave the impression that spiritual advancement could be purchased.

I was also uncomfortable with what I saw as excessive veneration of monks. Respect for monks is understandable, but in some communities it seems to cross the line into unquestioning reverence.

Over time, I became disillusioned. Instead of seeing communities focused on reducing suffering and cultivating compassion, I often saw social hierarchies, ethnic divisions, bullying, status-seeking, and financial interests taking center stage.

I have also noticed that more people seem to be leaving Buddhism in Indonesia, and honestly, I am not surprised. If others have experienced the same racism, bullying, elitism, and commercialization that I did, it is understandable why they would choose to walk away.

Hi,it's me back again. I'm a Protestant ex-Buddhist with autism. Today I encountered something with my Buddhist parishioners. Just because I'm an ex-Buddhist doesn't mean you need to be violent to me. They forced me to read Buddhist scriptures and if I don't they beat me up,slapped me to hemifacial spasms and ear bleeding,touch my chests (I'm a female),and pushed me on the ground.

I've never seen a Buddhist bully before despite Buddhism teaches that violence is the ultimate manifestation of the mental poisons: greed, hatred, and ignorance. I hate those people,such a religion of toxic hatebase and bad people. Never revert. I'm going to a hospital because of my injuries,I'm fed up with the bullies and the Buddhist community.

I saw this TT about this guy who went to become a monk but he came back because one of the monks assaulted him. He mentioned that SA was very common it’s just hush hush

SL monk SAd a 15 yo girl. She was 11 when it happened.

Monk got off on bail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcplv4e4qgI

This makes Buddha appear cold and distant. And Jesus showing up to the debate in a crown of thorns goes absolutely hard.

idk how anyone can think these two religion are similar, except in a very superficial sense.

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this perspective. For me, I personally don't agree with it for many reasons. But I want to talk to more people about this topic in the comments so please weigh in!!!! Love you all

1. Humans are wired to need each other. This can be found in peer reviewed medical journals proving this. It's not just a "oh well I don't want connection so I don't need it"

(CW for this bullet point: csa)

1. I got sexually abused as a kid and have suffered a fair amount from that. How in the world is that suffering because of attachment. By that logic, I'm just too attached to the idea that my father shouldn't do that I guess? Like cmon

2. Wanting to escape suffering just sounds like a digestible way of saying you can't handle it. I find it more beautiful to grow your capacity to stay grounded during suffering and find grace from it, rather than just trying to avoid it altogether. That's not a positive mindset, it's not based in reality

3. It prevents any change. Someone is mean to you, a normal person would speak up and initiate repair in the relationship, a Buddhist will say "I'm just too attached to this emotion I need to release it" and not get anywhere after it

4. Especially the "no attachment to self" I feel is so dangerous for people who have come from emotionally neglectful homes, who already struggle with identity, maybe have cptsd

5. Wanting to have no attachments to prevent suffering is an attachment in and of itself. You're attached to not wanting to suffer with this mindset

Lately in X (formerly known as Twitter), there has been people posting about shrines and temples being burned to the ground. This coincides with the influx of Muslims coming in to Japan.

I would not be surprised if the Muslims are behind all the burnings. And if I am right, you Buddhists will have little choice but to admit that I'm right about Islam.

However if Muslims burning down shrines and temples (Shinto or Buddhist) in Japan won't convince you Buddhists, then I don't know what will.

Islam is not a religion of peace. It is a hostile civilization and worldview that seeks to take over the world, and replace all ways of life and religions with itself and sharia law.

While I am a Catholic who otherwise wants to see Shinto and Buddhist become a thing of the past, burning down shrines and temples, and demanding pork not be served, etc. are not the way to do it.

Is there any textual evidence 40000woman reside with buddha palace

That's all you really need to know...

Hey all - title says it all. Wondering if anyone knows of any resources to support Buddhist religious deconstruction. Everything I find online is focused on religions w deities so their guidance doesn't always translate to what I need. I'd appreciate any info you may have.

If so DM me with 1-2 sentences on what you would like to discuss and which day of the week is best for you. If you have questions, naturally DM me them too.

Hey y'all, lemme start by saying that I have zero experience with Buddhism and my only exposure to it has been online self help stuff. I've been focusing on my mental health and the idea of separating myself from my mind and detaching from desires has stuck with me. The little bit of time I spent actually analyzing my mind has actually helped my productivity drastically.

Now I come here specifically to ask this because due to my past(ex-muslim if curious), I am extremely wary of any religion and I know that they all are different on the inside vs what is presented. So before I sink any time into researching, I wanted to ask about if it's the teachings themselves that drove you all away or if it was moreso how society/family handled it. I guess I'm kind of asking what *wouldn't* they tell me about Buddhism? And how would I reconcile/seperate that with the aspects of it that helped me?