I will be writing more about Buddhism
why i will be writing more about Buddhism
About two and a half years ago, after defending my dissertation, I picked up some Buddhist texts because 1) I suddenly had large amounts of free time and 2) I wanted to see if they had anything useful to say about consciousness.
What I found was a rich history, lore, and philosophy developed within that tradition. I’ve already written a few articles that touched on Buddhist concepts, and I enjoyed those, and I think there’s so much more to write about.
When I first started writing on substack, I thought I’d write about neuroscience or physics. Those are the things I went to school for. And while it was super fun to learn about those things at the time - I struggle to muster up the excitement to write about them now.
Many of those classes I took 6+ years ago now. It’s difficult to remember what it was like to learn about a thing the first time around. I don’t know what’s common knowledge and what’s not. I don’t know what’s interesting to a general audience and what’s not.
I also personally think there’s a lot of great educational STEM material out there already. I think that STEM education in the West, in the US, and in the public school I went to in particular is excellent. I don’t see myself contributing much by hammering on the same topics that so many others have covered so well.
Buddhism, unlike STEM, isn’t part of any core curriculum. With Buddhism, I can assume my audience is like me: they have some general knowledge about it that they absorbed through popular culture, but are mostly ignorant of its deeper traditions.
Who is my audience anyway? I think my audience is well-educated and naturally curious. Like me, they like to have new ideas to play around with. Because of their western education, they have a solid STEM background but don’t know much about Buddhism. They’re interested in being introduced to Buddhist ideas as long as those ideas are interesting enough.
I’ve also been attracting a pretty nice audience of academics, and I like them a lot, and I think writing about Buddhism will be something at least some of them will enjoy, so I won’t be leaving them behind either.
Buddhism is something that I keep going back to. Not only do I find their ideas interesting, but the tradition offers guidance on how to deal with the difficulties of life, difficulties that we all share: suffering, unmet expectations, death.
Over the course of my time with Buddhism my relationship with it has changed, and it will continue to change. I started as a dispassionate (and slightly impatient) reader of the Pali Canon. When I discovered aspects that I liked, I joined a local Buddhist group, and played around with the idea of calling myself a Buddhist. I later renounced Buddhism for a few months, after finding aspects that I didn’t like, particularly in the Lotus Sutra. Then, I found myself returning to it, and realizing that I still enjoyed what it has to offer. I guess, I now consider myself a Buddhism enthusiast.
My interests are an ever changing sea of things, and I will continue following them and writing about what is most prescient to me in the moment. For now, Buddhism. You’re welcome to peruse what I’ve already written on the topic below.
Effective Altruism vs. Buddhism
Comparing the western approach and the eastern approach towards minimizing suffering of all sentient beings.
Sowing positive seeds through the written word, the story of an unassuming monk called Thich Nhat Hanh
The story of one of the most influential western Buddhist teachers.
What are we if not the world
A zen koan, or a tiny little Buddhist story that explains something profound.
Looking forward to it, Rysh. Although I should let you know that your writing on neuroscience was never boring.
If you ever have some inspiration on the overlap between the two I'm sure people would love to hear it. In the meantime, I'm still happy to be following your work. Best wishes for success,
J
First off, I respect the reasons for what you choose to write on. You're wishing to both write on what you know, and give something enriching to your audience.
Secondly, while my knowledge of Buddhism specifically is limited to what I remember from high school social studies textbooks, it sounds like you have a healthy relationship with it. You are using it to help handle the tough areas of existence among other reasons, while also keeping a critical eye on it. Speaking as a former Christian, one of the key problems encountered by the worst of the church is a rigid hold to the text and traditions and a refusal to look at it critically. This stubborn dogmatic approach leads not just to external consequences like harassment of "sinners" but internal ones, divisions and condemnation of fellows based on strict interpretation of scholastically diluted texts. It's just a mess, because of this unhealthy relationship with the system. Meanwhile, I get the impression that you're not making those same mistakes in your pursuit of Buddhism, thanks to your critical thinking.
It seems like your time with Buddhism so far has been really good for you, and I'm glad for that.