Opinion of Anagarika Dharmapala

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

I'm creating this poll because I think there is something to the accusation of the euphoric edgelords on this board that it's currently too focused on issues in Christianity, and I'd like to provide an alternative that's not their Bush-era movement-atheist preening.

For the unfamiliar.

Personally, I have a mixed opinion of Dharmapala. I don't think very highly of the content of Buddhist Modernism because it strikes me as typifying unwarranted embarrassment about the religious content of Buddhism in favor of philosophical concepts that in many cases can be just as easily found elsewhere. I also definitely don't like the fact that his Buddhist revivalism and his Sinhalese nationalism were as closely intertwined as they were. However, I appreciate his positive articulation of South Asian culture in an environment of British political and cultural domination, and I think within the context of Buddhism his attempt to transmute a "pan-Asian" religion into a truly "global" one was an admirable effort.

I think he's lean FF, but a few years ago I would have said lean HP and I reserve the right to change my opinion back to lean HP in the future.

[°Leprechaun]

FF...

although as an adherent of nonviolence, I would only call him a freedom fighter in a only figurative sense.

Nonviolence is an important key teaching of Buddhism, but sadly (and certainly not unsurprisingly) nonviolence is not embraced universally by all who call themselves "Buddhists".

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

He's a lot like Martin Luther in that he was an FF early in his life and was an HP late in life. Overall, I'd say he's marginally an FF.

[DC Al Fine]

I'm creating this poll because I think there is something to the accusation of the euphoric edgelords on this board that it's currently too focused on issues in Christianity, and I'd like to provide an alternative that's not their Bush-era movement-atheist preening.

For the unfamiliar.

Personally, I have a mixed opinion of Dharmapala. I don't think very highly of the content of Buddhist Modernism because it strikes me as typifying unwarranted embarrassment about the religious content of Buddhism in favor of philosophical concepts that in many cases can be just as easily found elsewhere. I also definitely don't like the fact that his Buddhist revivalism and his Sinhalese nationalism were as closely intertwined as they were. However, I appreciate his positive articulation of South Asian culture in an environment of British political and cultural domination, and I think within the context of Buddhism his attempt to transmute a "pan-Asian" religion into a truly "global" one was an admirable effort.

I think he's lean FF, but a few years ago I would have said lean HP and I reserve the right to change my opinion back to lean HP in the future.

I'd like to see more non-Christian threads, but given the demographics of Atlas, I think the accusation is a bit unfair. The vast majority of our board is either Christian, or ex-Christian or was raised in a historically Christian country, so its reasonable to expect that (with a few exceptions for unusual cases like yourself) our working knowledge of religion will be limited to Christianity and/or a few secular positions.

To use this thread as an example, the person sounds interesting, but I don't feel remotely qualified to comment since I am ignorant of Buddhism (and basically every religion besides Christianity and Islam) beyond a comparative religion level.

[°Leprechaun]

I wouldn't mind seeing more threads about Buddhism. The teachings of Buddha are certainly, from what I know of them fine (and I have read several books about the philosophy of the Buddha).

I know that meditation has helped me a lot to find inner peace.

The Universe in an atom by the Dalai Lama is a book that I would highly recommend.

Although the major religions are very different and in some ways mutually exclusive,
there are a lot more parallels between them some people realize.