Do you know any nihilistic buddhists ? im sure some exist ,but if they do, they will be missing the point. Remember the buddhahdharma was a direct result of the horrors of the caste system ,where people are branded as untouchable , unhearable and unseeable ,
the Buddha with infinite wisdom and compassion challenged these views precisely because of connection to life rather than disconnection or denial of life, surely.The Buddhah tried the path of austerity feeding himself on a grain of rice a day ,starving himself he realised that denial of life and the body was not the way and was fed by milk and curds which enlivened him. This was not long before enlightement.
I think the traditional stories of Buddha are highly embellished, romantic and heroic to be taken as literal. Such as the prophecies of his enlightenment, and the attempts by his father-king to hide all suffering from him. Similarly, the stories of him being a rebel agaisnt Hindu caste system are probably just as dubious. I do no deny there was a highly enlightened master called Buddha, just as I do not deny there was a highly enlightened master called Jesus, but the historical Buddha and Jesus are likely to be radically different to what is said about them.
The fact is just as the organized religion of Christianity nothing like the original teachings of Christ, the organized religion of Buddhism is nothing like the original teachings of Buddha. It is a nihilistic, life denying religion that dulls the mind and social life.
It is simply not philosophically defensible because with doctines like no-self nihilism is a natural result. If there is no “me” then why should I do anything? It’s pretty pointless then. There is only a point for “me” to do something if I what I do is going to benefit me either directly or indirectly. Even if I give charity or do some compassionate goods if there is no me to reap the good karma of my actions then there is no motivation for me to do any action.
Who can defend Buddhism from this charge?
