Liberal Western Buddhism as a White Elitist Movement


IMS’s diversity and inclusion work is Board-led, guided by the Diversity Committee. An initial step was to increase the number of people of color serving on our Board. Today, one third of Board members self-identify as people of color, and three as LGBTIQ.
We continue to invest significant financial resources in diversity and inclusion workshops for Board and staff, to increase individual and collective understanding of racism, white privilege, microaggressions, internalized racial oppression, homophobia and transphobia, gender identity and bias, as well as other prejudices, and how these manifest in ourselves, our organization and our communities.
To raise awareness among our predominantly white visiting faculty, IMS’s Guiding Teachers provide a variety of resources and information on racism and gender issues.  from the “About Us/Diversity and Inclusion” page on the official website of the Insight Meditation Society (pretty much chosen at random, since the whole thing reads like this)


     First let me make one thing perfectly clear: This isn’t about alt-right white nationalists converting to Buddhism as a true spiritual path for the elite Aryan Übermenschen. True, there are some of those, but with all due respects, at present they’re not the ones I intend to write about. Rather, the western Buddhist white elitists I’m concerned with here are feminized left-wing progressive “Starbucks Buddhists,” including those of the so-called Vipassana or Insight Meditation movement. There are lots more of those than Master Race Buddhists; in fact they may, for all I know, constitute the majority of westerners who profess Buddhism.

     Symptoms of this elitism include, but are not limited to: multimillion-dollar luxury meditation resorts charging five-star rates for their retreats (not all white elite meditation centers are like this surely, although the ones that are, are the most prestigious ones, and the paragons to be emulated); meditation tourism and “pilgrimages” costing thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars (not including air fare); spiritual fashion trends of the Beautiful People, the Buddhist or eastern-spiritual jet set, such as famous gurus and meditation teachers that one should fly halfway around the world to meet; and of course, politically correct globalist cultural Marxist “progressivism” permeating the spirituality, or at least the attempts at spirituality, with politically correct altars honoring gender equality, and with no candles or incense allowed because they may produce harmful air pollution.

     There is considerable overlap between this group and western feminists, who also tend to display a disproportionately heavy representation of upper middle class, college-educated white women, with a strong contingent of lesbians. Not that I necessarily have anything against lesbians.

     The trouble for a politically correct white elitist movement is that whiteness itself is practically politically incorrect; it’s something for which to be ashamed, or at least apologetic. Certainly it is perceived as something to be “mindful” of, with some elite Buddhists even practicing a kind of Mindfulness of White Privilege meditation. European ancestry is the new original sin to be atoned for by white members of the new cult of Social Justice—and don’t kid yourself: Social Justice is the primary religion for these folks, with Buddhism being of secondary importance, a kind of hobby or lifestyle “app,” a way of spiritualizing the neo-Marxism.

     Hence the borderline desperate efforts to recruit brown people into their ranks, with discounts (amounting to monetary discrimination against whites), recruitment drives, appeals…and the few brown-skinned folks who join up and make some progress in meditation (especially if they’re not Asian) are likely to be placed in conspicuous, high-profile positions in order to make the cult look like it isn’t really a white elitist movement after all. A black Vipassana teacher is practically guaranteed to be extremely welcome at the luxury Dharma resorts, with star billing in the newsletters.

     Nevertheless, the ranks of the Starbucks Buddhists remain overwhelmingly lily-white. The same goes for feminist women’s marches; at least one or two of which were cancelled not long ago, or so I have read, because their marchers were too predominantly, embarrassingly Caucasian. Not even many working-class whites are involved in either group; it’s mostly college-educated white left-wingers. (I almost referred to them as “liberals,” though the left in the west is no longer really liberal: it’s Marxism 2.0.)




     One difference from the whiteness of alt-right white nationalist movements is that these white elitists are strongly represented by a Jewish contingent. Most, almost all, of the biggest names in the lay Vipassana movement, for example, are Jewish; though few western monks are, aside from Bhikkhu Bodhi, who nevertheless is one of the most “progressive” and ultraliberal voices in the Sangha, east or west. There may be a few other famous bhikkhus of Hebrew ancestry, but I don’t know who they are. (Also I have no idea of how many Jewish Buddhists or “JuBus” there are in the Goenka sect of Vipassana Buddhism.)

     Coincidentally, putting non-whites up front in the Starbucks spirituality movement, if any non-whites are available, to make it look less offensively white, is a move essentially similar to what predominantly Jewish groups have taken in the past with regard to goyim in general. Freudian psychoanalysis, Boasian anthropology with its cultural relativism and anti-Darwinism, orthodox Marxism, and groups like the ADL and even the NAACP, have been, historically, directed and operated by Jews, with gentile faces (and black ones in the case of the NAACP) placed in conspicuous positions to downplay Jewish predominance. I have read that the NAACP was established in 1909 and did not have a black, non-Jewish president until 1975…but I digress. I only mention this to demonstrate the general strategy, not to bash Jewish Buddhists, or Jewish people in general.

     (I may as well add, in parentheses, that I disagree that there is any Jewish conspiracy to control western Buddhism, or to influence Buddhism in the west for the purpose of furthering specifically Jewish interests. At any rate I have seen no persuasive evidence to support the idea. Not only are there lots of “JuBus” out there, there are lots of Jewish Hindus also, including Ram Dass and Andrew Cohen (at least Cohen’s primary teacher was a Hindu). The quasi-Marxist hippies of the late 60s, with plenty of Jews among their ranks, gravitated more towards Hinduism anyhow, as it’s more emotional, more garishly colorful, more drug-oriented, and less austere in general. Some people raised Jewish are simply dissatisfied with the blatant this-worldliness of their ancestral religion, and seek something more profound. But these are topics for some other time.)

     A complication with white elite Buddhists not wishing to appear as white elitists, which they nevertheless still are, is that few non-white people are interested in western-style ultraliberal Buddhism. Asians have their own ethnic Buddhism, which is based on much more than just elementary meditation techniques and cultural Marxism, and which in their eyes is not a decadent, corrupt cultural aberration which belittles the importance of monasticism and radical renunciation, and in which lax, lukewarm, relatively ignorant laypeople (ignorant of Pali literature anyway) call themselves Sangha. The Asians’ own preferred form of Buddhism has its own decadence and cultural corruption, but they are raised into it, and don’t seem to mind.

     Meanwhile, blacks, Hispanics, and native Americans lack the culture, and possibly most of them the general cognitive skills or intellectuality, to be attracted to an elitist movement appealing mainly to intellectuals, or at least pseudo-intellectuals with university educations. The few Hispanic Buddhists I have met appeared to be pure-blooded Europeans of the Latin American upper classes, not Mesoamerican Indians or mestizos. I have met a total of two black Buddhists that I can remember, and I have a pretty good memory; although I recently received an email from a third one, in Kenya.

     The sort of stuff which appeals to simple villagers in Asia, and which might appeal to simple westerners with little intellectual or scholastic aptitude, is mostly rejected or ignored by western elite Buddhists. Western Buddhism at present consists mainly of secular ultraliberals who have adopted meditation as a relaxing hobby, a natural, non-chemical substitute for stress-relief medications. I freely admit, though, that there are western ultraliberals out there who are sincere spiritual seekers, many of them good and relatively wise people—not only among the Buddhists, but among Christians, Hindus, Sufis, Taoists, and New Agers, and presumably even among Pagans, occultists, and esoteric Hitlerists.

     Aside from the Buddhism itself, or the western interpretation of same, the feminism and cultural Marxism which pervade western elite Buddhism also tend to be of little interest to brown ethnicities, outside of desire for free stuff, getting the cards stacked in their favor, and blaming Whitey. The extremely nuanced inanity of the progressivism taken so seriously, even religiously, by white college-educated progressives is beyond most of them. For instance, the average non-white non-elitist doesn’t give a damn about microaggressions, internalized misogyny, the evils of plastic straws, or potentially harmful fumes emanating from incense sticks.

     Ironically, the Starbucks Buddhist aristocracy are virtually a white supremacist movement, not deliberately but in effect. They don’t intend to be supremacists, or even elitists for that matter, but things often turn out differently than intended. Besides, outrageously ironic self-contradictions appear to be the speciality of cultural Marxists. Rational objectivity, after all, is a tool of white patriarchal oppression. There are actually neo-Marxists in academia who assert this.

     Some readers might level an accusatory finger at me also with regard to white supremacism or elitism, especially after my comments on brown people lacking the intellect to be much interested in western Buddhism, or based upon my status as a “Great Elder” in an originally Aryan ecclesiastical hierarchy; but whether I am a supremacist also is irrelevant. At any rate, that is a subject for some other time.






Comments

  1. Greetings Ven. Pannobhasa,

    Very interesting post, as always.

    I was wondering if you're familiar with the African monks, from a Burmese lineage, at the Uganda Buddhist Centre. This seems to be a very orthodox and authentic Buddhist Sangha, with a dedicated laity, taking root in rural Uganda. A truly inspiring project, that seems far more Buddhist than anything coming out of Spirit Rock.

    Thanks.

    EBS

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    1. This is the first I've heard of it. With regard to Theravada in Africa, aside from a Kenyan fellow who was inquiring about ordination opportunities in Burma, I understand that a Buddhist center in the Chan Myay tradition of Burma was set up in South Africa, although they were patronized almost entirely by "elite" white South Africans, and I don't know if the place still exists.

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  2. “(Also I have no idea of how many Jewish Buddhists or “JuBus” there are in the Goenka sect of Vipassana Buddhism.)” First, there is no Goenka sect. The teaching is universal, and Goenka railed against sectarianism and other divisive aspects of Indian society as being the country’s greatest problem. Leaders of all sects in India came to Goenkaji. Second, from the great number of large centres in India and Burma, I would say that most who practice as taught by Goenkaji are Indian, with a lot of Burmese. There are also several centres in other neighbouring countries, so that Asian meditators will predominate.

    Second, I’ve been sitting since 1972 and have sat and served in four continents. I’ve met a number of Israelis, presumably of Jewish background, but – and it’s not something I would particularly take note of or see as being of any significance – I have never been aware of a significant number of Jews on courses or in service.

    Third, I’m not aware of any preponderance of particular social or political views amongst Vipassana meditators. I was last in the US in 1978, but have met US meditators in various parts of the world since then. So you can perhaps separate this school of Vipassana from your remarks.

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  3. The subject of elitism should perhaps warrant extra caution for it's a matter that is very dear to global subversion since it has to do with leadership. Chopping the head is the shortcut to kill the whole organism - hence elitism and anti-elitism have been so popular in the world history of subversion.

    Etymonline describes "elite":

    "from Latin eligere 'choose' - borrowed in Middle English as 'chosen person' (late 14c.), especially a bishop-elect)"

    There is one type of elitism without principles that amounts to little more than fetishism or opportunism - but there's also the aristocracy ("rule of the best") in which case healthy elitism can be understood as "those who meet the requirements" (of spiritual initiation). Negative elitism has connotations of artificiality, because past ages have been of that fetish elitism with religious father figures and incompetent Machiavellians.

    Negative elitism was a historical by-product of a subversion tool called "The Substitution of Principle to the Person". This tool was popularized by Luther when he attacked the principle of authority by substituting it with Church authorities. Evola explains in The Tools of the Occult War:

    "They do not come to the conclusion that representative does not measure up to the principle and must therefore be substituted with another person who can really represent it, but instead they go on to say that the principle itself is false or harmful and must be substituted with another principle."

    The subversion uses that tool all the time, everywhere. This subversion is not a person - not even Jewish! - but is best understood as "Mara" or "the Antichrist" because that places it rightly in the spiritual domain. Replacing the Mara with an actual person would mean precisely this replacement of principle with a person. A person is always less subversive, less of a culprit and less fundamental than metaphysical subversion that works beyond the confines of space and time and therefore also of historical persons.

    Antisemitism - when it is not understood as part of a larger spiritual problem - is part of subversion because it replaces the principle of subversion with the Jews. The global subversion distracts by seeking bogeymen who are only partly to blame. When an anti-Semite gains evidence of Jewish subversion his excitement oftentimes overwhelms him and he falls prey to other proxies of subversion including himself. In antisemitism this vulnerability is really apparent, as the neo-Nazis etc. are known to adopt spiritually Semitic inner forms as their enemies are conveniently externalized.

    Evola describes our recent history in the light of this subversion tactic:

    "The warrior aristocracy rose up against the decadent representatives of the pure spiritual authority, not through substituting them with another, more worthy representatives of the same principle, but by drawing from that the pretense to be emancipated or lay claim for itself the supreme authority. In a following phase, i.e., in a following civilization, the Third Estate rises up against the degenerate warrior aristocracy not because it ceded the place to the true aristocrats, but to seize power for itself. In yet another phase, the process against capitalism and the bourgeoisie (i.e., against the Third Estate) in its destructive and negative aspects does not aim for a corresponding reform, but is only the excuse for the revolt of the proletariat and the usurpation of power—descending progressively from step to step—straight through to the party of the proletariat (Bolshevism, communism)."

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  4. Yeah this is completely inapropriate. You're being blatantly racist?

    I am very thankful that this blog and your teachings will stay in obscurity for endless kalpas.

    Very inapropriate and shame on you for this nonsense racism.

    People of color are stupid and so they don't have an interest in Buddha's teaching?

    This is utterly and truly shameful on your behalf.

    At best you are teaching and propagating in yourself blatantly ignorant views of duality.

    As worst you are spouting pure and utter ethnic hate and discrimination.

    I am a fully ordained bhikku of the Thai Forrest tradition.

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    1. First, it is obvious that "people of color" are willing to be Buddhists, considering that Sri Lankans and SE Asians are "people of color." It is apparent, though, that western "people of color" are not so interested in the western ultraliberal approach to Buddhism, largely because, as I pointed out in the article, the elite Buddhists of the west disregard most of the aspects of Buddhism that appeal to non-intellectual, relatively uneducated people.

      Second, whoever substitutes the slur "racist" for an actual argument automatically loses the argument. If you are an ordained bhikkhu (spelled with two h's), then you should be more careful about angry name-calling. Or at the very least you could put forth some empirical information as a refutation instead of relying on knee-jerk political correctness.

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  5. The Golden Era of India was under the Scythians,Mongols,Huns and the White Man

    It is the White man is God – syndrome.

    The Rig Veda records that the Hindoos Gods were white skinned , with golden hair and blue eyes ?!! The world has not seen an Indian with Golden Hair and Blue Eyes.

    Where could they be from ? dindooohindoo ! The Answer – It is the White Man ! Which is Y the Indians loved being ruled by the White man and admit that those days were better and long for the same. That is Y Indians and Goans love cleaning Toilets in UK/USA/EU – Look Mama – White man gave me a 10 pound Tip !

    Hindoos accept that the White man is the Master race. In essence, Indians are like cyber and white collar coolies for the white man and they are happy in that role – unlike the PRC.

    The “Rig Veda” refers to its Dindoo Gods as “Golden haired,White skinned with blue eyes” !

    1.1.7 Mantra 7 – Indra (Author: Madhucchandas Vaisvamitra)

     Indra hath ever close to him his two bay steeds and word-yoked car,Indra the golden, thunder-armed.

    1.1.79 Mantra 79 – Agni (Author: Gotama Rahugana)

    He in mid-air’s expanse hath golden tresses; a raging serpent, like the rushing tempest:

    All that the Indians have achieved is due to the whiteman ! That is the record of History ! dindooohindoo

    The Hindoo “owe it all” to the “Whiteman with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair”

    The “Hindoo Gods and the Inspiration” for the Hindoo ” of the “RigVeda” are all “Whitemen with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair” (Like Limpet Limpdick Indra etc)
    It was the white Scythians with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair, who”brought horses and chariots”, into the shit hole of Dindoosthan, for the Hindoo
    It was the white Romans with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair,who built the “gold chest” of the Hindoo (by importing the shit silk and spices)
    It is the Whiteman with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair,from whom the Hindoo “copied the chronology of all the Kings of the Puranas”
    It is the Whiteman with Blue Eyes and Golden Hair,like the “Greeks and others”, from whom the Hindoo “learnt about Krishna ”
    It is the Whiteman with Blue Eyes from whom the Hindoo learnt about “animal worship – Nandi and Jallikattu”
    It is the Whiteman with Blue Eyes,from Persia, from whom the Hindoo learnt about “Fire Worship and the concept of the soul” and the “land of Persia” , described in the “Rig veda” as the “land of the Aryans”
    It is the Whiteman with Blue Eyes from whom the Hindoo learnt about “astronomy and the basics of the movements, of the planets and stars”
    It was the “French and American Generals” (General Jean Baptiste Ventura and Jean Francois Allard) in the army of Ranjit Singh which won the Khalsa wars – with EU artillery and cavary – else there would have been, no Khalsa Military success, ever
    If the French and American Generals “had not been” in the army of Ranjit Singh, the “Khalsa would have been destroyed by the Mughals”, before the Brits raped the Khalsa,and the “Mughals would have gained in strength, to drive out the Brits” – converting the Hindoo into Muslims
    It was the “Brits who destroyed the Mughals” – else these Hindoo would be Muslims toay
    It was the Brits who “taught English” to the Hindoo
    It was the Brits who laid down the “education,railways, administrative and bureaucractic process”,for these Hindoo ( sample the Engineering Skills)

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  6. The earliest great civilization of India, the prehistoric Indus Valley Civilization, evidently wasn't white. The Aryan invaders of around 1500BCE were white, many of them with fair hair and blue eyes, so that Patanjali, I think, describes the typical Brahmin as red haired and blue eyed. (BTW, I've drunk some of that gau mutram ("putimutta bhesajja") myself. A Buddhist monk at his ordination is admonished to be satisfied with stale piss as his only medicine.)

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