Eastern Religions

I spent years trying to understand the Eastern Religions and have finally realized that I never will. I do not believe that this is possible for me because, while we live on the same Planet, and must show each other respect, my World is just much different than theirs.

India, and Hinduism, are ancient, dating back countless centuries. To me, they are a belief from a time lost, the distant past. It seems a jumbled tangle of thoughts, each piled on top of the next, with no direction. I do not write this to be insulting. I simply find it to be an incomprehensible, and unnecessarily complex, system of belief.

Taoism makes a bit more sense. It seems a system designed to teach us how to live in accord with Nature, This would be admirable, but it is unlivable. I love the Earth, but, to be honest, we do not always see eye to eye. If I am sick with a severe viral infection, I will seek medical treatment. If it is 98 degrees and I am in an enclosed structure, I will turn on the air conditioner. I do not and will not always go with the flow of the Natural world. I also find the acceptance of the way things are, as taught in the Tao, to be simply a lazy cop out. It simply is not the way humans are.

Buddhism is somewhat different. It's various schools of belief are all nonsensical musings on the nature of reality. As a religion, it makes no sense and seems to be a system of quasi-religious beliefs suited to those who want a religion without the bother of dealing with God. The metaphysics of Buddhism (and the Buddha told his followers to stay away from metaphysics, advice they ignored) is quite incompatible with what we have learned from scientific investigation. However, Buddhism, when stripped of the surrounding religious trappings, is a useful psychology, for now. It is the only system of thought that deals extensively with the relation between our mind and how we perceive the World. This will change as Western thought begins to explore this realm but, for now, there are some useful thoughts about this that can be gleaned from Buddhism.

So,  again, I have no wish to insult anyone, but I have to tell the truth as I see it. Our Western world and modes of thinking are just not compatible with Eastern thought. We are products of Judeo-Christian theology, Greek philosophy, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment. Works for me.