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I usually find countering with abstract and esoteric Catholic mysticism scares them off. The concept of the Divine Logos is especially disconcerting to them.
Technically, Catholic Mysticism, even the shitty Trad kind, is anti-fundamentalist (for the same reason Sufis are)
You know how some Catholics do all that weird shit with the saints and the ecstatic or hermetic monastic traditions, and pilgrimages and the bathing in holy waters near shrines to the Virgin Mary? That has a theological meaning at least as abstacted as a Thai monk tying a red string on you has to the Pali Canon.
That is only the surface level of the deep and bafflingly complex Catholic mystical tradition, one which bares certain similarities to Hindu or Buddhist traditions in its attempt at a direct experience of God/reality (which is in some sense the same thing in Catholicism) through contemplation and ritualistic affect.
Look up the works of Simone Weil, a based leftist, Catholic Mystic, and pretty knowledgeable about eastern traditions as well.
It's more that the parts you're uncomfortable with are kind of reliable techniques that will achieve certain insights or mindstates if you keep it connected to the theological base. The issue is when those techniques are mistaken for the actual substance of the religion by the practitioner (much like someone in the Golden Dawn who interprets "Do what thou will shall be the whole of the law" as "do whatever you want".)
Where do you find all these highly opinionated Buddhists shouting at you lol I genuinely wonder what weird parts of Internet you end up in...
Am I being called out? Jeeze. Hey Ma, the internet's mad at me again.
No I don't know what I did!
Well I think maybe the first issue is, what do you mean when you say "buddhist?" Because there's a whole lot of different strains and traiditions of buddhist thought, and not all of them agree with each other. Is there any specific tendency whose ideas don't sit well with you?
Well, the way I've learned, it's not so much about avoiding desire as about learning to let go of attachment to the things we desire.
Imagine someone tells you that they're going to give you a chocolate cake. Chocolate cake is good! It's good to enjoy it. But if you spend all day fixating on the cake before you eat it, if you wish for more cake after it's gone, if you compare all subsequent chocolate cakes in your life to that one, then how much suffering have you endured because of your attachment to the cake?
There are ascetics in buddhist-majority regions that beg as a form of meditation, with the goal of letting go of ego and attachment to desire. If they are given food or money, great. If they aren't?
Also great.
Nah, no worries. I'm just doing a bit because I saw OP do another Buddhism thread a few days back and didn't chime in. I hope they're not actuallly calling anyone specific out, because this seems like a pretty esoteric fight to want to pick.
