Sunday, December 13, 2015

Happy Bodhi Day!

In this off-beat talk commemorating the Buddha's Enlightenment Day, I explain how any ideology can be manipulated to suit the ends of fanatics. Today, Islam is being vilified while Buddhism is often viewed as peaceful; however, Buddhism was co-opted by the Japanese during World War II to commit horrible acts of violence.

In fact, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on the Buddha's Enlightenment Day because they thought that it was an auspicious day to start a war! Beware overgeneralizing--it's not that different from the very dogmatism it tries to condemn.

Introduction and sound engineering by Tom Eunsahn Gartland.


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