What could go wrong if one misconstrue Buddhism with nihilism?
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I see that Buddhism is absolutely not nihilism, but I wonder what could go wrong if one misconstrue one with another. This is especially true with people with psychological issues, because they have to experience an amount of suffering more than normal when they are young. For example, for persons with [borderline personality disorder](https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Borderline-Personality-Disorder) , they constantly has these feelings:
- Extremely fear of being abandoned
- Unstable self-image
In this example case, since Buddhism teaches that acknowledging everything is impermanent you won't be afraid of being abandoned. The unstable self-image also matches with the idea of anatman, therefore the idea of impermanence will have a strong impact to them. But in fact, this is just clinging on the idea of impermanence.
Many people with psychological disorders knows that they are the trouble, so they want to limit relationships at all cost to protect the person involving them. To justify this behavior, they may use nihilism. But when it become a habit, it's really hard for professional therapists to help them, because they now have a reason to continue the behavior.
I know you may not have much understanding on such cases, but I'm not asking about it either. I just want to know that if someone is misconstruing Buddhism with nihilism, then what suttas/teachings they contradict with.
Note that my understanding on philosophy is not very concrete. It's possible that I should replace "nihilism" with "impermanencism".
Related: • [Is Buddhism Nihilistic?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/25409/13525) • [How to not slip into Nihilism from Vipassana?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/8748/13525) • [Why is Buddhism not Nihilism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/2245/13525) • [Is there a kind of consulting service in Buddhism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31353/13525) • [When would a Buddhist want to attach?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31324/13525) • [Does Buddhism give methods to ask questions when you are proliferating?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31296/13525)
Related: • [Is Buddhism Nihilistic?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/25409/13525) • [How to not slip into Nihilism from Vipassana?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/8748/13525) • [Why is Buddhism not Nihilism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/2245/13525) • [Is there a kind of consulting service in Buddhism?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31353/13525) • [When would a Buddhist want to attach?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31324/13525) • [Does Buddhism give methods to ask questions when you are proliferating?](https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/q/31296/13525)
Asked by Ooker
(635 rep)
Mar 9, 2019, 04:03 PM
Last activity: Mar 10, 2019, 01:47 PM
Last activity: Mar 10, 2019, 01:47 PM