The main problem is defining this equality or equanimity in essence. To hold all beings as equal creates the inability to differentiate between the good and bad qualities that are or are not conducive to awakening. It is impossible not to judge in some sense. To hold equanimity toward all beings means passivity only. That is not love, because love depends on the ability to differentiate between that which is not loved (or liked less; disliked more).

For a doctrine that is supposed to promote the eradication of attachment, expectations, craving and desire, whether in some sense or all senses, it is a doctrine of inactivity and the Buddhists themselves seem prone to attach to the teachings of the Buddha themselves and to hold dogmatic viewpoints dressed up as open-mindedness. There is no concrete, tangible teaching to extract from Buddhism, only the subjective interpretations of the teachings due to the ambiguous nature of them.

People are in all senses selfish whether or not they hide it behind a veil of altruism. Would people feel empathy and give and share if it did not make them feel good, useful, important, vital or necessary? Would anyone give if noone truly appreciated it? The root of altruism is selfishness and this is what makes life beautiful. We’re here to copy our genes, that is it.

Most people alter buddhism to fit their worldview or their society rather than vice versa. Buddhism depends on the existence of non-buddhists because people need a goal to fulfill to feel woth something. Buddhists, like every other person, have attachments to a goal and if the goal is vague, ambiguous and/or unrealistic, then there can be no let-down from the failure to accomplish it.

I’m honestly sorry to hear about what happened to your friend. However, even considering that it did happen, it still raises tons of questions to me.

1. There are people who hide under the cover of Buddhism to complete their own ends, PRECISELY because of its peaceful nature which make it hard to suspect. This is supported even further with the fact that they actually did somebody harm – in your own words, “[the cult] derailed [your best friend's] career.”. Not to mention, from your own description, they presented themselves as a “Buddhist cult”; considering they’re already using their brains to deceive someone, do you really believe that they’ll announce their real religion out in the open? If those people are cruel enough to destroy somebody’s future, they also don’t practice Buddhist ideologies at all. In which case, the whole problem can’t be said to have been caused by Buddhism or Buddhists, is it?

2. You said a Buddhist “cult”; that’s another thing that intrigues me. In all my 20+ years of being a Buddhist, I’ve never heard of Buddhists gathering in any form of “cult”. And I follow Buddhism news closely, mind you. Though I admit that there are different variations on Buddhism, even they’re not known to form cults. In this case, the Four Noble Truths are related to Theravada Buddhism ONLY, which practices the un-altered teachings of Buddha himself; and I’m from Burma, which is the only country to maintain Theravada throughout. And I can assure my countrymen don’t tolerate those fake cults, let alone letting them exist.

3. About the “supernatural” and “magic”; I don’t know which practice you went into, but I hope you didn’t mistake our Buddhism with Scientology or a circus. Theravada is about following Buddha’s guidelines; no magic, just concepts. We do worship Buddha, who’s passed on a long time ago; not as an almighty being, but a perfect human being, i.e: the greatest teacher. Technically, we worship Buddha to remind ourselves of his teachings. There are TONS of pious reverends in Burma, and believe you me, they denounce mumbo jumbo disguising as “Buddhism”.

4. And the rest of your posts… now you’re just being unreasonably hateful. You don’t just state things; you back up your claims. To quote yourself, “Explain it to me, if you can do so, with valid arguments!”. The fact that you don’t understand what “suffering” and “attachment” in this case explains that if you really did study what you thought of as Buddhism… it wasn’t. I’m sorry. You’re missing the points in the Four Noble Truths, just like Buster.

5. The Four Noble Truths Buster quoted here are abridged versions. The real expanded version (Dharmacakra Pravartana S?tra) is really long and complex, and Burmese books analyzing the sutta in details are no thinner than over 2 inches. Buddha himself spent SIX years trying to figure this out AND understand; do you think two non-Buddhist persons without any belief in the religion and knowledge about its teachings can understand this in one reading?! …Don’t make me laugh. This applies especially to you, Buster.

So, Sara dear… an analysis of your statements strongly suggest that you’re just spreading groundless hatred for Buddhism, and you’re using the flimsy “best friend” backstory to support yourself; I’m sorry if this assumption is wrong, but that’s what your claims are pointing at. Religion is a matter of faith, and a sensitive subject; if you don’t have enough knowledge, stay quiet. The wise know when to speak and when not to; the foolish don’t.

The goal of buddhism is to achieve and maintain joy and happiness; living life to the fullest in all its splendor and possibilities.

In plain English, the first Noble Truth means that the nature of life (birth and rebirth) is essentially suffering.

http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Four_Noble_Truths

There are several things to call bullshit upon on the path of enjoyment. Four noble truths seems like a strange choice.

“In classic Sanskrit, the term du?kha was often compared to a large potter’s wheel that would screech as it was spun around, and did not turn smoothly. ”

But you’d probably have a better understand of what you wrote on if you read the whole page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha

It seems to me you are finding issues with a lot of the words used in this translation. I would ask you to look at some others. Perhaps you already have.

I think this is bullshit to you because you already know it…

The words don’t matter.