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Just one observation of mine on the topic of Buddhism. In the west where people are increasingly finding it difficult to believe in a theistic view of the universe, Buddhism seems to have become popular as several Buddhist teachers have popularised it as a rational and non-dogmatic way of life, rather than a religion per se. However this presentation of Buddhism is not entirely accurate. Though Buddhism doesn’t have a creator entity Buddhist cosmology is full of supernatural beings. My own initi…

Incidentally since we are comparing vs. Buddhism I’m just wondering has anyone looked at other non-dualistic teachings like Advaitha? It would be very interesting to compare I think, especially since Epicureanism stresses reliance on the senses, but radical Advaitha dismisses the entire concept of an external reality altogether .

(Quote from Don) Thanks so much for the welcome Don. Greatly looking forward to interacting with all the folks here.

Thanks Nate I agree, while Epicurus clearly states reliance on the senses as the only way we can know the world, Advaitha classifies the world as ‘maya’ or illusion (as in what we sense is only illusory and not real in the ultimate sense). The neo-Advaitha tradition (esp. Tony Parsons et al) take this to ridiculous lengths asserting that there is only ‘nothing and everything’. As such this philosophy doesn’t seem to offer anything at all of any value, yet curiously many people seem to flock to i…