They don't say you are nothing. They say you are a select number of processes going on now. They do not say you are nothing. They say you are not a separate INDIVIDUAL. They do not say you are nothing. They say you live at your best when you see yourself within the context of interconnectedness (I-you-it all of a piece). They do not say you are nothing. They say you are at your best when you adopt the right intention. They do not say you are nothing. They say you should live according to right principle, which means being of help to others. They do not say you are nothing. They say you are at your best when you choose an occupation that conforms to right living, right thinking, and so on. This means basically that you are doing great harm to yourself and to others and to the world when you have an occupation or help to sustain an economy that requires you to exploit others or othewise requires you to take more than your fair share from others or from the environment. And where there is wealth inequality in a society, the wealthy are necessarily taking more than their fair share. Buddhists do not say you are nothing. Buddhists say you are very important because you have very important choices to make--ethical choices. This is saying you are badly needed in order to make your world and the world of others` as free from suffering imposed on us by WRONG human actions as is possible. It is understandable that we should read at the Behavior OnLine forum for psychotherapists a false interpretation of Buddhist philosophy that turns Buddhism into ethical nonsense. Buddhists do not say we are nothing; that would be ethical nonsense. But this misconstrual of Buddhist philosophy, claiming falsely that it says we are nothing, fits with the belief that most persons "need" the "help" of psychotherapists in order to begin to undestand that they are nothing. The you-are-nothing misconstrual is a good way to teach people to think so they can be used to keep hidden the true and brilliant ethical principles of Buddhism, priniciples that if adopted by more persons might make the world a much more ethical place. True Buddhism does not teach that you are nothing but instead teaches that you are important and significant because of the very serious ethical choices you must make. Your choices are important in order to make your world, which is necessarily NOT YOURS ALONE, less barbaric and violent and needlessly painful. Buddhism teaches that ethical decisions can be made WHEN people properly understand their place in the human and physical ecology; then could the world begin to also end its barbaric economy and other violent methods of exploitation of human beings and our planet. This exploitation, however, shall not not be allowed to end from the exercise of more ethical choices because such exploitation is the very scaffolding of the anti-ethical principles of modern-day so-called "capitalism." Actually what is today called "capitalism" is so much perversion of the originating theories of capitalism that once had some measure of ethical consideration within them. Today what is called "capitalism" is so much rationalization for crass and cruel exploitation. And this so-called "capitalism" of today bears as much resemblance to the best economic thinking about capitalism as a mob business resembles the recommendations of the Better Business Bureau. To provide today's mob business mentality, so-called "capitalism," its needed support, we must be sure to make a mishmash out of careful ethical thinking. Thus we are likely to see Buddhism and every other excellent system of ethical thought turned into so much nonsense so that these ethical systems of thought not be permitted to teach us about the importance of our very significant choices in relation to the human and physical ecology. We are not nothing. And Buddhists never said we were; or if they said it, they didn't mean it to be interpreted nonsensically. We can have socialism or we can have barbarism. That is our choice. There is no other. We can, that is, act responsibly toward our physical and social world or irresponsibly. That is our choice. Buddhism teaches that this is an extremely important choice. It is not a nothing! We are not nothing in making this choice. It is the most important choice in our lives individually and collectively. So if we are going to hang-on to so-called "capitalism" (and hang ourselves while hanging-on), hang-on to our present-day mob business mentality, first we must render absurd all the ethical thinking that is our legacy from the great philosophers and religious thinkers of the ages. To learn of the anti-ethical principles that undergird today's "capitalism," today's mob business mentality, study the economic and social anti-ethics as are found in the extremely popular Amrican drama "The Sopranos." It's not for nothing that this show is the most popular cable TV show ever. And it's not for nothing that people are now buying cookbooks with mob recipes allegedly used by The Sopranos. That is, more people than ever feel quite at home with the new "capitalism," which is basically an anti-ethics mob mindedness. Buddhism thus must be misconstrued as teaching us that we are nothing. There, that sums it up. That takes care of that matter. Now can we get back to mob business as usual? After all, we don't feel at home with ethical living. Instead we think it is funny or cute that people are now eager to buy The Sopranos Cookbook. We should notice that this cookbook is expected to be a big seller. The advertisements for it cost a huge amount of money. It is advertised in leading magazines for....get this...elite readers! Advertised, that is, in magazines that are read by the most financially advantaged persons in society.
Buddhism is a good place to begin the reduction of ethical thinking to nonsense, since the ethical soundness of Buddhism is so much a threat to the ever popular mob mentality euphemistically now misnamed "capitalism."
Meanwhile, Buddhism shall be misconstrued so that it is made to appear as something foolish. Thus socialism will be impeded from gathering momentum. Buddhism, properly understood, is so richly compatible with socialism that it is facinating to realize that the principles of Buddhism were founded centuries before socialism was conceived.
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