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Answering Zizek's challenge to Buddhism

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Slavoj Zizek is a little unusual I think among English-speaking philisophers, in expressing substantial sympathy for Buddhist ideas, but challenging them at a basic level. Eg The Problems of Buddhism (https://youtu.be/UN1hP_lBtp0) The Buddhist Ethic & The Spirit of Global Capitalism (https://youtu.be/qkTUQYxEUjs) Zizek criticising Buddhism (https://youtu.be/IlCkLqz20W8) Zizek vs Buddhism (https://www.youtube.com/live/9zqm7ZCP9t0) To summarise, he focuses on Zen At War, and especially Suzuki, using an understanding of Sunyata to better be able to go to war. A key phrase he uses is Kurosawa's interpretation of Shakespeare: (only) "The bad sleep well". That is, inner peace at the expense of acting morally, can lead to a situation like in Japan where only a handful of Zen figures opposed imperialist violence, an unsettled mind is sometimes appropriate over non-stop inner peace come-what-may. He also criticises mindfulness practices used in workplaces to allow workers to tolerate intolerable conditions. How should we answer this? Have people already in the Buddhist world responded? I feel like the answer relates to emptiness not being no selves at all, but rather intersubjectivity: to do violence to others is to do violence to our other self. Is that a mainstream response in Buddhism, and especially in Zen?
Asked by CriglCragl (437 rep)
May 29, 2023, 10:52 AM
Last activity: Jan 9, 2025, 02:47 AM