To read full quoted texts: https://suttacentral.net/<no-space signature>

“Take a mendicant who says: ‘Reverend, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’ You should neither approve nor reject that mendicant’s statement. Instead, having carefully memorized those words and phrases, you should make sure they fit in the discourse and are exhibited in the training. If they do not fit in the discourse and are not exhibited in the training, you should draw the conclusion: ‘Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by that mendicant.’ And so you should discard it.” - AN 4.180 ( https://suttacentral.net/an4.180 )

Alright, first exhibit. There’s a certain Doctor with a Buddhist PhD (

, transcript below) who confidently claims that in Buddhism consciousness is not suffering and it’s that consciousness that moves from lifetime to lifetime, which is the exact basic Wrong View that the Buddha explicitly points out and scolds the holder heavily for in MN 38. Amazing, isn’t it? Does a Doctorate and PhD in Buddhism even mean anything these days? Is it a participation trophy or a decoration?

Transcript:
In Buddhism, life is not suffering. Consciousness, according to
6:10 Buddhism, is life. Consciousness is what moves from lifetime to lifetime. If consciousness was itself inherently
6:17 suffering, you couldn’t be released from suffering because suffering is occurring on the surface of your awareness, the surface of your experience.

Textual references:

“Absolutely, sir. As I understand the Buddha’s teaching, it is this very same consciousness that roams and transmigrates, not another.”
“Sāti, what is that consciousness?”
“Sir, he is the one who speaks, the one who knows, who experiences the results of good and bad deeds in all the different realms.”
“Futile man, who on earth have you ever known me to teach in that way? Haven’t I said in many ways that consciousness is dependently originated, since consciousness does not arise without a cause? But still you misrepresent me by your wrong grasp, harm yourself, and brim with much wickedness. This will be for your lasting harm and suffering.” - MN 38

“Is consciousness permanent or impermanent?”
“Impermanent, sir.”
“But if it’s impermanent, is it suffering or happiness?”
“Suffering, sir.”
“But if it’s impermanent, suffering, and perishable, is it fit to be regarded thus: ‘This is mine, I am this, this is my self’?”
“No, sir.” - SN 22.59

“‘All the suffering that originates is caused by consciousness’: this is one contemplation. ‘When consciousness has faded away and ceased with no residue left behind, there is no origination of suffering’: this is the second contemplation. When a mendicant meditates in this way they can expect enlightenment or non-return.” Then the Teacher went on to say:
“All the suffering that originates is caused by consciousness. With the cessation of consciousness, there is no origination of suffering.
Knowing this danger, that suffering is caused by consciousness, with the stilling of consciousness a mendicant is hungerless, quenched.” - KN Snp 3.12

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Instead of worshipping an imaginary God or some random guy in the Middle East or South Asia or anywhere else, who may or may not be molesting children, why don’t you just worship your parents, those who factually created you?

“‘Divinity’ is a term for your parents.
‘First tutors’ is a term for your parents.
‘Worthy of offerings dedicated to the gods’ is a term for your parents.
Why is that? Parents are very helpful to their children, they raise them, nurture them, and show them the world.” - AN 3.31

But what is the most effective way to worship and repay them? Is it treating them like shit their whole life but performatively crying at their funeral? Or giving them money each paycheck so that they can buy more booze to fry their livers and gamble it all away on those legal (but evil) slot machines, sportsbooks, and polymarkets? Is there any way to worship and repay them, without supporting their vices, and regardless of their shittiness?

“Mendicants, I say that these two individuals cannot easily be repaid. What two? Mother and father.
You would not have done enough to repay your mother and father even if you were to carry your mother around on one shoulder and your father on the other, and if you lived like this for a hundred years, and if you were to anoint, massage, bathe, and rub them; and even if they were to defecate and urinate right there.
Even if you were to establish your mother and father as supreme monarchs of this great earth, abounding in the seven treasures, you would still not have done enough to repay them. Why is that? Parents are very helpful to their children: they raise them, nurture them, and show them the world.
But you have done enough, more than enough, to repay them if you encourage, settle, and ground unfaithful parents in faith, unethical parents in ethical conduct, stingy parents in generosity, or ignorant parents in wisdom.” - AN 2.33

Another thing before we take off: mistakes are nearly impossible to avoid, but that isn’t an excuse to say perfection is impossible. You live and you learn; don’t settle for less, always aim for the highest goal. Now first, let’s warm up by reading some EBTs and review our repertoire.

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Sections: (Ω), (A), (B), ©, (D), (E)

(Ω)

“Just as, mendicants, even a little bit of fecal matter still stinks, so too I don’t approve of even a little bit of continued existence, not even as long as a finger-snap.” - AN 1.328

“Someone with three qualities is placed in hell as if delivered there. What three? They themselves kill living creatures. They encourage others to kill living creatures. And they approve of killing living creatures.” - AN 3.163

“Mendicants, these five fatal wounds lead to a place of loss, to hell. What five? Murdering your mother or father or a perfected one; maliciously shedding the blood of a Realized One; and causing a schism in the Saṅgha. These five fatal wounds lead to a place of loss, to hell.” - AN 5.129

“Mendicants, I do not see a single thing that is so very blameworthy as wrong view. Wrong view is the most blameworthy thing of all.” - AN 3.318

“An individual with wrong view is reborn in one of two places, I say: hell or the animal realm.” - SN 42.3

“The doctrine of the foolish Jains looks fine initially: for fools, not for the astute, but can’t endure being scrutinized or pressed.” - MN 56

“It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for a likable, desirable, agreeable result to come from bad bodily … bad verbal … bad mental conduct. But it is possible for an unlikable, undesirable, disagreeable result to come from bad bodily … bad verbal … bad mental conduct.” - AN 1.278-286

“It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen that someone who has engaged in bad bodily … bad verbal … bad mental conduct, could for that reason alone, when their body breaks up, after death, be reborn in a good place, a heavenly realm. But it is possible that someone who has engaged in bad bodily … bad verbal … bad mental conduct could, for that reason alone, when their body breaks up, after death, be reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.” - AN 1.287-295

“By living together, know that they’re irritable, with corrupt wishes, offensive, stubborn, and contemptuous, jealous, stingy, and devious.
They speak to people with a voice so smooth, just like an ascetic. But they act in secret, with their bad views and their lack of regard for others.
You should recognize them for what they are: a creep and liar. Then having gathered in harmony, you should expel them.
Throw out the trash! Get rid of the rubbish! And sweep away the scraps: they’re not ascetics, they just think they are.
When you’ve thrown out those of corrupt wishes, of bad behavior and alms-resort, dwell in communion, ever mindful, the pure with the pure. Then in harmony, alert, you’ll make an end of suffering.” - AN 8.10

“Mendicants, it is said that no prior point of craving for continued existence is evident, before which there was no craving for continued existence, and afterwards it came to be. And yet it is evident that there is a specific condition for craving for continued existence.
I say that craving for continued existence is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for craving for continued existence? You should say: ‘Ignorance.’
I say that ignorance is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for ignorance? You should say: ‘The five hindrances.’
I say that the five hindrances are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled. And what is the fuel for the five hindrances? You should say: ‘The three kinds of misconduct.’
I say that the three kinds of misconduct are fueled by something, they’re not unfueled. And what is the fuel for the three kinds of misconduct? You should say: ‘Lack of sense restraint.’
I say that lack of sense restraint is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for lack of sense restraint? You should say: ‘Lack of mindfulness and situational awareness.’
I say that lack of mindfulness and situational awareness is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for lack of mindfulness and situational awareness? You should say: ‘Irrational application of mind.’
I say that irrational application of mind is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for irrational application of mind? You should say: ‘Lack of faith.’
I say that lack of faith is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for lack of faith? You should say: ‘Listening to an untrue teaching.’
I say that listening to an untrue teaching is fueled by something, it’s not unfueled. And what is the fuel for listening to an untrue teaching? You should say: ‘Associating with untrue persons.’” - AN 10.62

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“Mendicants, these four fuels maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those about to be born. What four? Edible food, whether solid or subtle; contact is the second, mental intention the third, and consciousness the fourth. These are the four fuels that maintain sentient beings that have been born and help those about to be born.
And how should you regard edible food? Suppose a couple who were husband and wife set out to cross a desert, taking limited supplies. They had an only child, dear and beloved. As the couple were crossing the desert their limited quantity of supplies would run out, and they’d still have the rest of the desert to cross. Then it would occur to that couple: ‘Our limited quantity of supplies has run out, and we still have the rest of the desert to cross. Why don’t we kill our only child, so dear and beloved, and prepare dried and spiced meat? Then we can make it across the desert by eating our child’s flesh. Let not all three perish.’ Then that couple would kill their only child, so dear and beloved, and prepare dried and spiced meat. They’d make it across the desert by eating their child’s flesh. And as they’d eat their child’s flesh, they’d beat their breasts and cry: ‘Where are you, our only child? Where are you, our only child?’
What do you think, mendicants? Would they eat that food for fun, indulgence, adornment, or decoration?”
“No, sir.”
“Wouldn’t they eat that food just so they could make it across the desert?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I say that this is how you should regard edible food. When edible food is completely understood, desire for the five kinds of sensual stimulation is completely understood. When desire for the five kinds of sensual stimulation is completely understood, a noble disciple is bound by no fetter that might return them again to this world.” - SN 12.63

“Suppose there was a pit of glowing coals deeper than a man’s height, full of glowing coals that neither flamed nor smoked. Then a person would come along who wants to live and doesn’t want to die, who wants to be happy and recoils from pain. Two strong men would grab them by the arms and drag them towards the pit of glowing coals. What do you think, householder? Wouldn’t that person writhe and struggle to and fro?”
“Yes, sir. Why is that? For that person knows: ‘If I fall in that pit of glowing coals, that’d result in my death or deadly pain.’ ” …
“Suppose there was a dense forest grove not far from a town or village. And there was a tree laden with fruit, yet none of the fruit had fallen to the ground. And along came a person in need of fruit, wandering in search of fruit. Having plunged deep into that forest grove, they’d see that tree laden with fruit. They’d think: ‘That tree is laden with fruit, yet none of the fruit has fallen to the ground. But I know how to climb a tree. Why don’t I climb the tree, eat as much as I like, then fill my pouch?’ And that’s what they’d do. And along would come a second person in need of fruit, wandering in search of fruit, carrying a sharp axe. Having plunged deep into that forest grove, they’d see that tree laden with fruit. They’d think: ‘That tree is laden with fruit, yet none of the fruit has fallen to the ground. But I don’t know how to climb a tree. Why don’t I chop this tree down at the root, eat as much as I like, then fill my pouch?’ And so they’d chop the tree down at the root. What do you think, householder? If the first person, who climbed the tree, doesn’t quickly come down, when that tree fell wouldn’t they break their hand or arm or other major or minor limb, resulting in death or deadly suffering for them?”
“Yes, sir.”
“In the same way, a noble disciple reflects: ‘With the simile of the fruit tree the Buddha said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks.’ Having truly seen this with right understanding, they shun equanimity based on diversity and develop only the equanimity based on unity, where all kinds of grasping to the worldly pleasures of the flesh cease without remainder.” - MN 54

“There is a satisfaction that is apart from sensual pleasures and unskillful qualities, which even equals heavenly pleasure. Enjoying that satisfaction, I don’t envy what is inferior, nor do I hope to enjoy it.
Suppose there was a person affected by leprosy, with sores and blisters on their limbs. Being devoured by worms, scratching with their nails at the opening of their wounds, they’d cauterize their body over a pit of glowing coals. Their friends and colleagues, relatives and kin would get a surgeon to treat them. The surgeon would make medicine for them, and by using that they’d be cured of leprosy. They’d be healthy, happy, autonomous, master of themselves, able to go where they wanted. Two strong men would grab them by the arms and drag them towards the pit of glowing coals.
What do you think, Māgaṇḍiya? Wouldn’t that person writhe and struggle to and fro?”
“Yes, worthy Gotama. Why is that? Because that fire is really painful to touch, fiercely burning and scorching.”
“What do you think, Māgaṇḍiya? Is it only now that the fire is really painful to touch, fiercely burning and scorching, or was it painful previously as well?”
“That fire is painful now and it was also painful previously. That person was affected by leprosy, with sores and blisters on their limbs. Being devoured by worms, scratching with their nails at the opening of their wounds, their sense faculties were impaired. So even though the fire was actually painful to touch, they had a distorted perception that it was pleasant.”
“In the same way, sensual pleasures of the past, future, and present are painful to touch, fiercely burning and scorching. These sentient beings who are not free from sensual pleasures—being consumed by craving for sensual pleasures, burning with passion for sensual pleasures—have impaired sense faculties. So even though sensual pleasures are actually painful to touch, they have a distorted perception that they are pleasant.” - MN 75

Now, at that time a mother and son had both entered the rainy season residence at Sāvatthī, as a monk and a nun. They wanted to see each other often. The mother wanted to see her son often, and the son his mother. Seeing each other often, they became close. Being so close, they became intimate. And being intimate, lust overcame them. With their minds swamped by lust, without resigning the training and declaring their inability to continue, they had sex.
Then several mendicants went up to the Buddha, bowed, sat down to one side, and told him what had happened.
“Mendicants, how could that futile man imagine that a mother cannot lust for her son, or that a son cannot lust for his mother? Compared to the sight of a woman, I do not see a single sight that is so arousing, sensuous, intoxicating, captivating, and infatuating, and such an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. Sentient beings are lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, and attached to the sight of a woman. They sorrow for a long time under the sway of a woman’s sight.
Compared to the sound … smell … taste … touch of a woman, I do not see a single touch that is so arousing, sensuous, intoxicating, captivating, and infatuating, and such an obstacle to reaching the supreme sanctuary from the yoke. Sentient beings are lustful, greedy, tied, infatuated, and attached to the touch of a woman. They sorrow for a long time under the sway of a woman’s touch.
When a woman walks, she occupies a man’s mind. When a woman stands … sits … lies down … laughs … speaks … sings … cries … is injured, she occupies a man’s mind. Even when a woman is dead, she occupies a man’s mind. For if anyone should be rightly called ‘an all-round snare of Māra’, it’s ladies.” - AN 5.55

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“You can get to know a person’s ethics by living with them. But only after a long time, not casually; only when attentive, not when inattentive; and only by the wise, not the witless.
You can get to know a person’s purity by dealing with them. …
You can get to know a person’s resilience in times of trouble. …
You can get to know a person’s wisdom by discussion. But only after a long time, not casually; only when attentive, not when inattentive; and only by the wise, not the witless.” - AN 4.192

“A mendicant may be the gentlest of the gentle, the most placid of the placid, the calmest of the calm, so long as they don’t encounter any disagreeable criticism. But it’s when they encounter disagreeable criticism that you’ll know whether they’re really gentle, placid, and calm. I don’t say that a mendicant is easy to admonish if they make themselves easy to admonish only for the sake of robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick. Why is that? Because when they don’t get robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines and supplies for the sick, they’re no longer easy to admonish. But when a mendicant is easy to admonish purely because they honor, respect, revere, worship, and venerate the teaching, then I say that they’re easy to admonish.
…
Even if low-down bandits were to sever you limb from limb with a two-handed saw, anyone who had a malevolent thought on that account would not be following my instructions. If that happens, you should train like this: ‘Our minds will not degenerate. We will blurt out no bad words. We will remain full of sympathy, with a heart of metta and no secret hate. We will meditate spreading a heart of metta to that individual. And with them as a basis, we will meditate spreading a heart full of metta to everyone in the world: abundant, expansive, limitless, free of enmity and ill will.’ That’s how you should train.” - MN 21

“Take a mendicant who says: ‘I’ve developed the heart’s release by metta. I’ve cultivated it, made it my vehicle and my basis, kept it up, consolidated it, and properly implemented it. Yet somehow ill will still occupies my mind.’ They should be told, ‘Not so, venerable! Don’t say that. Don’t misrepresent the Buddha, for misrepresentation of the Buddha is not good. And the Buddha would not say that. It’s impossible, reverend, it cannot happen that the heart’s release by metta has been developed and properly implemented, yet somehow ill will still occupies the mind. For it is the heart’s release by metta that is the escape from ill will.’
Take another mendicant who says: ‘I’ve developed the heart’s release by compassion. I’ve cultivated it, made it my vehicle and my basis, kept it up, consolidated it, and properly implemented it. Yet somehow the thought of harming still occupies my mind.’ They should be told, ‘Not so, venerable! … For it is the heart’s release by compassion that is the escape from thoughts of harming.’
Take another mendicant who says: ‘I’ve developed the heart’s release by rejoicing. I’ve cultivated it, made it my vehicle and my basis, kept it up, consolidated it, and properly implemented it. Yet somehow discontent still occupies my mind.’ They should be told, ‘Not so, venerable! … For it is the heart’s release by rejoicing that is the escape from discontent.’
Take another mendicant who says: ‘I’ve developed the heart’s release by equanimity. I’ve cultivated it, made it my vehicle and my basis, kept it up, consolidated it, and properly implemented it. Yet somehow desire still occupies my mind.’ They should be told, ‘Not so, venerable! … For it is the heart’s release by equanimity that is the escape from desire.’” - AN 6.13

“It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for an individual accomplished in view to take any condition as permanent. That is not possible. But it is possible for an ordinary person to take some condition as permanent. That is possible.
It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for an individual accomplished in view to take any condition as pleasant. But it is possible for an ordinary person to take some condition as pleasant.
It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for an individual accomplished in view to take anything as self. But it is possible for an ordinary person to take something as self.
It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for an individual accomplished in view to murder their mother … their father … a perfected one … injure a Realized One with malicious intent … cause a schism in the Saṅgha. But it is possible for an ordinary person to murder their mother … their father … a perfected one … injure a Realized One with malicious intent … cause a schism in the Saṅgha.
It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for an individual accomplished in view to dedicate themselves to another teacher. But it is possible for an ordinary person to dedicate themselves to another teacher.
It is impossible, mendicants, it cannot happen for two perfected ones, fully awakened Buddhas to arise in the same solar system at the same time. But it is possible for just one perfected one, a fully awakened Buddha, to arise in one solar system.” - AN 1.268-277

“In the past, as today, I say this: ‘A mendicant who is perfected: with defilements ended, who has completed the spiritual journey, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, achieved their heart’s goal, utterly ended the fetter of continued existence, and is rightly freed through enlightenment, can’t transgress in nine respects. A mendicant with defilements ended
can’t deliberately take the life of a living creature,
take something with the intention to steal,
have sex,
tell a deliberate lie, or
store up goods for their own enjoyment like they did as a layperson.
And they can’t make decisions prejudiced by favoritism,
hostility,
stupidity, or
cowardice.’” - AN 9.7

“Does Mister Gotama claim to be chaste?”
“Brahmin, if anyone should be rightly said to live the chaste life intact, impeccable, spotless, and unmarred, full and pure, it’s me.”
“But what, Mister Gotama, is a break, taint, stain, or mar in chastity?”
“Firstly, an ascetic or brahmin who claims to be perfectly chaste does not mutually engage in sex with a lady. However, they consent to being anointed, massaged, bathed, and rubbed by a lady. …
Furthermore, an ascetic or brahmin who claims to be perfectly chaste does not mutually engage in sex with a lady. Nor do they consent to massage and bathing. However, they giggle and play and have fun with ladies. …
they gaze into a lady’s eyes. …
they listen through a wall or rampart to the sound of ladies laughing or chatting or singing or crying. …
they recall when they used to laugh, chat, and have fun with ladies …
they see a householder or their child amusing themselves, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation. …
They don’t see a householder or their child amusing themselves, supplied and provided with the five kinds of sensual stimulation. However, they live the chaste life wishing to be reborn in one of the orders of gods. They think: ‘By this precept or observance or fervent austerity or celibate life, may I become one of the gods!’ They enjoy it and like it and find it rewarding. This is a break, taint, stain, or mar in chastity. This is called one who lives the chaste life impurely, yoked by the yoke of sex. They’re not free from rebirth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress. They’re not free from suffering, I say.” - AN 7.50

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“In a future time there will be mendicants who won’t want to listen when discourses spoken by the Realized One: deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness, are being recited. They won’t actively listen or try to understand, nor will they think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing.
But when discourses composed by poets: poetry, with fancy words and phrases, composed by outsiders or spoken by disciples, are being recited they will want to listen. They’ll actively listen and try to understand, and they’ll think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing. And that is how the discourses spoken by the Realized One: deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness, will disappear.” - SN 20.7

“It’s like native gold, which doesn’t disappear as long as counterfeit gold hasn’t appeared in the world. But when counterfeit gold appears in the world then native gold disappears.
In the same way, the true teaching doesn’t disappear as long the counterfeit of the true teaching hasn’t appeared in the world. But when the counterfeit of the true teaching appears in the world then the true teaching disappears.
It’s not the elements of earth, water, fire, or air that make the true teaching disappear. Rather, it’s the futile people who appear right here that make the true teaching disappear. The true teaching doesn’t disappear like a ship that sinks all at once.” - SN 16.13

“Gotamī, you might know that certain things lead to passion, not dispassion; to yoking, not to unyoking; to accumulation, not dispersal; to more desires, not fewer; to lack of contentment, not contentment; to crowding, not seclusion; to laziness, not energy; to being burdensome, not being unburdensome. Categorically, you should remember these things as not the teaching, not the training, and not the Teacher’s instructions.” - AN 8.53

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(A)

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Worshipping medical doctors is one of the grand secular religions of modernity. People treat physicians like demigods because they are violently terrified of their own rotting meat. They are terrified of personal impermanence: old age, disease, accidents, and death. The only rational approach is to treat them exactly like shady street plumbers. You call a plumber when the pipes burst to stop the house from flooding with disgusting liquid. You see a medical doctor when the body leaks to patch the biological machine so you can continue your Dhamma practice. You certainly do not need to revere the plumber, you do not need to bow to their governing gang, and you definitely do not need to pretend the biological water they wade through carries a pure fragrance when it is just full of shit, piss, cum, and blood.

Why are governments all over the world violently freaking out about declining birth rates, yet acting entirely performatively when it comes to the climate crisis and ecological collapse? Is it perhaps because they know the blatant, coercive thievery of taxation is unraveling? Consider the “singles tax,” where one is financially punished for being sane. Why should you be responsible for subsidizing the offspring of breeders or feeding the beneficiary class while getting the absolute short end of the stick and delaying your own Dhamma practice?

If you still believe in government checks and balances, and that the state can eventually fix things, I have a bridge to sell you. Accountability? Why are they hiding all of the perpetrators, and when will those pedophiles in the Epstein files actually face prison? Also, go tell your Accountability Tales to President Trump with his Crypto “Rug-Pull” Empire and his grifting dogs: Todd Blanche/Karoline Leavitt, Markwayne Mullin/Pete Hegseth, Russell Vought/Tulsi Gabbard, Scott Turner/Marco Rubio, RFK Jr/Aaron Siri, Palantir, and BlackRock.

“Just work hard, son, you’ll get there,” said the warehouse general manager. Get where, exactly? And why have I been pulling two minimum-wage shifts and a side gig for years just to barely cover rent and groceries? Where are my trickle-down crumbs, motherfuckers? This kind of patronizing speech always triggers me. Or, “Skill issue, just create value and run a business.” Value my ass. It’s like these trust-funded nepo babies assume everyone has a cushion to fall back on repeatedly, consequence-free, like them.

Setting aside the fact that most wealth is inherited, what about the inherent hierarchical nature of genetics or the cognitive halo effect? A taller, more physically attractive, higher-IQ (one standard deviation above the mean or more) person will absolutely wipe the floor in terms of social opportunities, creating an exponential, snowballing feedback loop starting from childhood. Even skill acquisition is genetically dependent. Confidence is absolutely born, not made.

The pyramid scheme of social security and the monopolization of real estate were built for one specific purpose: to funnel extracted wealth from the young working class upward to a geriatric ruling elite, their insider-trading empire, and their comfortable middle-class beneficiaries. Coupled with a severe male surplus in younger demographics: “There’ll always be someone for you, just be nice, work on your personality.” Shut the fuck up bitch, the math ain’t mathing: given the fantasy that there will always be 1 man for every 1 woman (and setting aside sexual competition, value inflation, wealth disparity, and hypergamy), then what remains for the millions of surplus young males? Throw them into battlefields as meat shields? Why do they love to insist on a lie? And bully you if you don’t buy into that lie? Are they doing it to virtue signal, to pledge allegiance to the Current-Thing™, or to keep these surplus men slaving their lives away to actually run the whole society (as janitors, sewage workers, trash disposers, etc., or our beloved plumbers) and to serve the useless ones that were economically, genetically, and sexually selected? It’s obvious, isn’t it?

The modern economy is a scam designed to farm you for your fear. Society runs on chronically elevated cortisol with fierce unspoken competition for resources and constant undermining of each other. They force kids into centralized torture chambers for eight hours a day to sit still, listen to meaningless yap, and survive brutal hierarchies that emerge from raw biological agents interacting with each other. Remember that tall, handsome dude who was very polite to adults but bullied everyone else and monopolized all the girls in high school? If you brought the matter to the “proper authorities” not only was it shut down fast, but the blame always fell back onto the victim. Good cop, bad cop? How did those anti-bullying campaigns go? Is it just a way to outsource morality while beating around the bush? Life is but a big high school, where lucky people hide behind fake smiles and booze while constantly backstabbing each other and appeasing “the authority”.

Those very same people (like Henry fucking Kissinger, corrupt pieces of shit like RFK Jr. with his anti-vax rhetoric tailored for the Christo-Fascist or Nationalist-Zionist crowds, and countless other insider traders and pedophilic elites connected to Epstein) later become wildly successful in life. They might even become the POTUS or a Secretary of State, despite bullying children at school and committing war crimes abroad (carpet-bombing children, installing brutal military dictatorships, and greenlighting Indonesia’s invasion and genocide of East Timor), only to live a cozy life with a loving family to the ripe old age of 100. They pick up a Nobel Peace Prize along the way, muttering, “I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its own people… The war is just when the intention that causes it to be undertaken is just. The will is therefore the principal element that must be considered, not the means… He who intends to kill the guilty sometimes faultlessly sheds the blood of the innocents… In short, the end justifies the means.” See what your daddy did there?

“But he lived in constant mental suffering and will reap what he sowed in the afterlife.” Slow down, Mr. Mind-Reading Jedi Master. Do you also omnipotently know his whereabouts (MN 101)? “Muh, you are poor because of your bad karma, you’re just lazy and you deserve it; we’re rich because of our good karma, we work hard and we deserve it.” Fuck off with your fantasies, dickhead. It is fucking hilarious if you really think about it. The reality is that nothing ever changes; only the excuses and copes grow.

Justice delayed is justice denied. Delayed justice is zero justice. Spoiler: samsara is cyclic, and existence is inherently meaningless and horrible—at least for the destitute masses. The system domesticates people to accept constant stress and subjugation as normal, prepping them perfectly for adult daycare jobs and debt slavery. You are trapped in a hyper-sensitive biological survival mode where you cannot focus on anything truly urgent because you are constantly reacting to artificial scarcity.

Want a bloody revolution? First, think of a way to deal with their army, their tanks, their drones, their missiles, their automatic weapons, and their dogs (police, feds, and glowies). What about their nukes, their reinforced underground luxury cities, their mouthpieces (politicians and “justice” warriors), and your middle-class neighbor who will gladly rat you out the second you threaten their comfortable lifestyle?

And if against all odds you actually succeed, what then? Will you just install yourself, your family, and your gang of “comrades” as the new dictatorship? All that bloodshed and bullshit, just to re-establish the status quo? Or does your greedy animal brain just want an excuse to loot small businesses that can’t fight back, or big corporations that will easily write off the losses by docking their workers’ pay? It’s completely brainless and meaningless: nothing but the impulsive behavior of low-inhib morons hiding behind the “Social Justice” banner.

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Is there a voting option to abolish the government itself? Once they successfully steal power, those “vanguard parties” are never going to dissolve themselves, are they? Isn’t that the reason their mouthpieces constantly dangle the vision of an impossible and unrealistic utopia: where 10 billion people magically lose all their greed, hate, and delusion permanently so that class stratification is impossible in the first place, no money is needed, and everyone lives together in permanent harmony singing Kumbaya? Anarcho-Communism my balls.

These deceitful, pesky tankie communists have been hijacking genuine anarchism, stealing our valor, and backbiting us for too long. Remember when the bank-robber Lenin and his dog Stalin betrayed their anarchist allies after the revolution, liquidating Makhno’s army in Ukraine and crushing the rebels at Kronstadt? Or how Mao completely purged the anarchist movement that originally built China’s radical left? You can also count Germany’s National Socialism, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, India’s Hindutva, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Laos, or any other communist/nationalist held-hostage shitholes in the mix. All of these shitty systems ended up causing millions of famine deaths through horrific economic policies. Coincidence? I think not. Fuck off commies, get lost. Do they think we’re just toddlers who lack object permanence and can be easily bamboozled? Why do I need to settle for the “lesser of two evils” if there is an option to boot out all the evil in the first place? “The end justifies the means,” you say again? Will you just grow up and stop getting defensive over fantasies? Why would the thought of settling for less ever cross your mind? Isn’t it because society is precisely engineered to repeatedly beat you down and force you to comply?

If there isn’t an option to dissolve the government in the first place, isn’t voting just an illusion of choice? Even if there were such an option, your singular vote doesn’t change shit (especially in so-called people’s “democratic socialist republic” nations where all the seats are rearranged and options are handpicked beforehand based on cronyism, loyalty, and beneficiary groups). The louder and larger middle-class+ beneficiary mob will always beat you into submission.

“But I will join the system, fight for power, and change it from the inside!” Stop being delusional; you’d just get corrupted, absorbed into the extraction machine, and become one of the oppressors. History never fails to demonstrate this principle: power over others absolutely corrupts. You would be wiser to remember the true roots of evil are already inside every one of us: greed, hate, and delusion.

Look at all the people who are so vocal about change and so idealistic. Once they secure power, suddenly their kids go to a premium boarding school, their portfolios skyrocket, their wives and sidepieces are partying with the Hollywood industry-plants, and their beachside villa suddenly has a yacht. How amazing: the power of truth and justice, right? Does your dumbass think everyone must be as dumb as you? You didn’t think all of us would observe your behavior for consistency? A real change of heart and mind will yield real, observable changes in behavior, consistently for a long time; there’s nowhere to hide for the deceiver. Respect and trust are to be earned and can never be mandated. At the end of the day, is it all just a performative game for personal gain? Voting is utterly useless and futile: a pure performative play to give its Prisoners of Life a delusion of agency, however little it is.

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Of course, the majority of people would much rather police your tone than confront these truths. Isn’t it strange that there are certain terms which, even when benignly questioned, could land you in “legal repercussions”? If the truth is by your side, why lie and why hide? They constantly hide behind curated and sanitized language, euphemisms, victim cards, and fake niceness to either sugarcoat their own shadiness or to bully, oppress, and silence grievances perceived as “threats to society.” If a corporate HR department approves of one’s within-the-Overton-window “truths”, did they actually say anything meaningful at all? What exactly is this highly amusing term “corporate mindfulness” anyway? Is abusing power over others and censoring things they do not want to hear or things that threaten their narrative or social standing considered Right Speech or even “free speech”? “Social harmony” is a convenient myth for the oppressor.

“Just be kind” or “Dhamma is all about kindness and compassion” is a favorite slogan of the “Commercial-Dharma” crowd. This framing is not only objectively wrong, but insidious. Where did critical thinking, deep investigation of patterns, objective evaluation of reality, discernment, and wisdom go? Are we championing nothing more than blind, feel-good compliance, while simultaneously mob-bullying anyone perceived as “not kind enough”? On top of that, I highly doubt their definition of “compassion” aligns with the Buddha’s.

Yeah, tell that to the Buddha, who didn’t hesitate to call out the whole class of contemporary Brahmins as being “worse than dogs” at every angle (AN 5.191). Consider the countless times he scolded a monk as a “foolish man” or called another ascetic a “futile man who has arisen in the world for the harm, suffering, calamity, and disaster of many beings” (AN 1.319). Wow, the Buddha is so gentle, kind, empathetic, and lovely here. Why don’t they go police the Buddha’s tone instead? Is praising those who deserve criticism really what the Buddha intended (AN 5.236)?

A massive population of Zillennials and younger generations are waking up. Recognizing a rigged game, they are quietly opting out of a millennia-old scam called the “social contract” by refusing to reproduce or participate in the traditional progression trap. It is too late (12,000 years too late) for “justified anger”. Stop being a low-inhib moron. Always stay calm and think through everything, and evaluate situations objectively.

For the unfortunate majority of us, the only viable path is to stop trusting this system of layered slavery. While we must still reverse-osmosis food and water (slaving forty-plus hours a week just to pay the landlord, and staying healthy enough to avoid extortive medical bills), we must stop squandering our resources and jestering while pretending our ugly asses could finally be loved in eventual dead bedrooms and breakups (a 50% divorce rate is like flipping a coin, isn’t it?). Stopping breeding permanently is the only thing that can really hurt the system. The only option is to exit Samsara ASAP. Following the Buddha’s Aryan Eightfold Path requires zero physical attractiveness and zero inherited privilege. It’s the only way to truly live an anarchist life prefiguratively. You do not win the Revolution through “justified outrage” or “justified violence”, which only perpetuate the cycle of suffering. You win by refusing to reproduce, refusing to surrender your fleeting life to anyone else’s “cause”, and refusing to be used under any pretext. You’ve already had the most effective “spiritual companion”, which is Dhamma, the Buddha’s teaching itself. Taking up the Dhamma practice in solitude and striving to exit Samsara ASAP and become an Aryan is the only conclusion.

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Modern doctors are not noble mystic healers. They are biological technicians for the corporate state. They are maintained by a parasitic cartel called government to treat the human population exactly like livestock. Add the Medical-Insurance-Bureaucracy Complex and their endless extortion loops into the mix. Their baseline function is to standardize the herd, making sure the taxpayer labor force stays healthy enough to keep grinding and breed more meat for the societal grinder. This is precisely how Māra the Evil One would engineer a society.

The medical institution requires a blood pact with the state. One does not simply get that shiny white coat without accepting the animal deaths woven into the curriculum. Commencing a professional career by dissecting live rodents means one has accepted the fruits of slaughter as the baseline price of admission. The intention to join this cartel is exactly what stains them.

The industry is inherently structured around wrong livelihood. People love to whine that medicine is not explicitly on the list of five forbidden trades in AN 5.177. That list is far from exhaustive. There was never a disclaimer stating, “Here are the five forbidden trades, literally anything else is fair game.” People endlessly use the letters of the text to excuse themselves from the spirit of the rule while stacking offenses. This does not mean an honest practitioner has to join their mental gymnastics. Scheming and falsifying (MN 117), being a soldier (SN 42.3), or being an actor (SN 42.2) are not on that specific list, yet the Buddha explicitly stated their vocational practices and accompanied wrong views lead straight to hell or the animal realm. Modern medicine operates on the exact same compromised foundation.

Practitioners either directly perform acts of violence or are contractually bound to them by their state licenses. OB/GYNs act as maintenance workers for the human breeding factory while remaining contractually tethered to abortion. Veterinarians and geriatricians manage the execution and disposal of the old and infirm under the highly sanitized banner of euthanasia (“compassionately” pulling the life-support plug to murder your parents, “compassionately” paying the vet to murder your pets, etc.). Cosmetic surgeons carve up perfectly healthy flesh to feed vanity, actively amplifying sensual cravings and validating the delusion of sexual value.

According to the Buddha himself, kamma and rebirth are factual realities serving as the entire basis for his doctrines, including the Four Aryan Truths. If you call yourself a Buddhist by definition (SN 55.37), having faith in the Buddha’s insights means acknowledging that death is not the end. Trying to end suffering by initiating killing is absurd and plain stupid. There are zero loopholes for euthanasia to exist in Buddh-ism. If one genuinely believes murdering another living being out of convenience is a valid method to get rid of their own emotional distress at seeing them suffer, or if they assume they are an omnipotent God/Bodhisattva capable of calculating the incomprehensible causal web of samsara in advance, they are a cruel person and either deeply deceitful or profoundly deluded. In many countries, a doctor who refuses to cooperate with these practices gets fired and stripped of their license. Complicity is absolute. Trying to eel-wriggle out of this by claiming they do not personally perform the killing is bad faith. A butcher cannot claim right livelihood just because he sells pre-slaughtered carcasses and processes logistics instead of holding the knife. They still profit directly from the violent supply chain.

“Mendicants, these four things are unthinkable. They should not be thought about, and anyone who tries to think about them will go mad or get frustrated. What four?
The domain of the Buddhas …
The domain of one in jhana …
The results of deeds …
Speculation about the world …
These are the four unthinkable things. They should not be thought about, and anyone who tries to think about them will go mad or get frustrated.” - AN 4.77

To justify violence, systemic or isolated, through the lens of “beneficial” results is pure utilitarian cope. No wonder those utilitarianism/consequentialism users are all mentally insane with a severe savior complex. Nothing more than a bunch of hypocritical narcissists.

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The immediate frantic rebuttal is always to point at Jīvaka, the ancient physician. Jīvaka was a standalone holistic physician. He was not an institutional bureaucrat. He performed surgeries but did not run a cosmetic clinic. He did not oversee a breeding factory. He did not perform abortions or administer euthanasia. There is absolutely no record of him vivisecting mice to pass a board exam, and he certainly did not sign his moral conscience over to a state regulatory board.

Justifying awful acts based on potential outcomes is always the exact same slippery trajectory. This scheme is used extensively to justify mass surveillance, police brutality, ICE, military-industrial complexes, ethnic cleansing, concentration camps, arbitrary borders, police states, “compassionate” killing, capital punishment, wars, genocides, systemic oppression, slavery, commercial egg facilities, ecological destruction, forced displacement, etc. Devious utilitarianism or consequentialism serves two specific masters. It is either an easy free card for an evil individual to justify atrocities for personal gain, or it is the ultimate hubris of cowards who actually think they can track the infinite web of kamma across lifetimes. There is no middle ground. One does not get a karmic free pass to torture and murder animals in a laboratory just because they might patch a human body down the line. In early Buddhism, believing the end justifies the means is not some advanced “progressive” ethic. It is named precisely for what it is: delusion and wrong view.

Understanding this nature of power reveals the absolute futility of voting. Worldly political power functionally exists to perpetuate itself through deceit and violence. Humans are inherently corrupt and heavily liable to corruption.

“Mendicants, there are these three unskillful roots. What three? Greed, hate, and delusion. Greed is a root of the unskillful. When a greedy person chooses to act by way of body, speech, or mind, that too is unskillful. When a greedy person, overcome by greed, causes another to suffer under a false pretext: by execution or imprisonment or confiscation or condemnation or banishment, thinking ‘I’m powerful, I want power’, that too is unskillful. And so these many bad, unskillful things are produced in them, born, sourced, originated, and conditioned by greed.” - AN 3.69

The sutta repeats this exact same grim prognosis for hate and delusion. Keep this in mind when engaging in the political theater. Whether you vote for communism, socialism, fascism, or a democratic republic built on the tyranny of the mob, why would any sane person trust a centralized entity where power concentrates into the hands of a few? Banners and slogans do not rewrite human nature. The best government is zero government—unless one loves licking boots, then fine, no kink-shame.

It is highly ironic to watch people in power shove mandates down your throat while hiding behind calls for “civil discourse”. There is no discourse to be had when you are swiftly silenced or punished for merely noticing patterns or questioning underlying narratives. Sweeping inconvenient facts under a rug and censoring dissident voices only raises more suspicion. This is deliberate bread and circuses formulated by the ruling class. They toss these scraps out to give comfortable middle-class midwits a fake moral aesthetic to hide behind so they feel good about themselves without noticing the farm they live on.

Meritocracy was never possible in the first place. It died 12,000 years ago (around 10,000 BC) with the rise of agriculture and state-secured nepotism. Now it is actively being executed by forces in power hiding behind Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and the sanctimonious concept of being “civil”. Observably, these initiatives primarily help minorities who are already thoroughly entrenched in the elite class while blatantly discriminating against genuine merit and the majority poor working class, who were not included in the “preserved slots”. Restitution in this framework is a complete joke. It functionally operates as reverse-racism, reverse-bigotry, and sheer anti-meritocracy. People in power always hide behind the lazy mantra, “the end justifies the means”.

If you want to see this corruption bleed into the “spiritual” realm, look at those eminent bhikkhus advocating for “just” wars or abortion. Look at the monks scheming with local governments, the police, and the military to organize performative peace walkabouts. They trot out a conveniently cute dog to incite donations for their massive mega-temple projects. For peace, you said? Did their walks ever stop Israel from massacring Palestinian civilians? Or stop the President of Peace Mr. Donald Dumb and the Department of War from missile-striking Iranian hospitals and schools? Or widespread child molestation in Muslim shitholes (they must’ve followed their prophet Muhammad’s example of raping Aisha when she was 9)? Or countless ongoing genocides in Africa and Asia? Catch them in an interview (like the highly telling moment at

, relevant transcript at the bottom of the essay, in case the video gets deleted) and they cannot cite a single word of the Buddha’s teaching or their favorite Buddha’s disciple, while constantly shilling for their mega-church agenda. Such performative bullshit, stealing the Buddha’s name for fame, wealth, and soft power. What an utter fraud. Because there is no living Buddha around to hold these assholes accountable for distributing such wrong view, this is the slop you get, which is much worse than AI slop I’d argue.

People turn off all critical thinking and reasoning the exact moment something feels good. “Dhamma is supposed to feel good, and if it doesn’t feel good, it’s not Dhamma.” You really have to wonder who propagated this terrible view. Perhaps someone desperate not to upset their wealthy older patrons? It is all performative aesthetics and checking boxes for personal gain and cementing institutional power. It is blatant evil. It is just endless layers of evil masquerading as progressive ethics.

“One individual, mendicants, arises in the world for the detriment and suffering of the people, against the people, for the harm, detriment, and suffering of gods and humans. What one individual? Someone with wrong view, whose perspective is distorted. They draw many people away from the true teaching and establish them in false teachings. This is one individual who arises in the world for the detriment and suffering of the people, against the people, for the harm, detriment, and suffering of gods and humans” - AN 1.316

Whether an organization forms a centralized gang to steal from citizens to “redistribute” it, or attempts to aggressively conserve imagined values that never really existed, the delusion holds firm. People are braindead enough to think a tiny number of “chosen” elite politicians could actually represent extremely diverse masses, while those very same chosen politicians routinely abuse that exact power for themselves and their offspring. It is all a political circus. It is all a fabricated distraction preventing any honest person from even conceiving of the real issue. The only real issue is escaping samsara entirely. The goal is escaping this cyclical circus for good and eliminating oneself as an active agent causing suffering in the world.

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In early Buddhism, birth is the absolute starting point of all suffering. Breeding is a terrible idea. Procreation is utter selfishness disguised as supposed “unconditional love”. People want sexual intimacy and PIV intercourse, then call the resulting pregnancy an “unplanned accident”, acting as if actions lack consequences. They want children to bring imaginary meaning to their lives. They want children to inherit their specific values. They want children to bootstrap them out of poverty and take care of them when they get old. It is an investment strategy wrapped in sentimentality. Would you rather practice the gambler’s Dharma or the Buddha’s Dhamma?

Now at that time a certain householder’s dear and beloved only child passed away. After their death he didn’t feel like working or eating. He would go to the cremation ground and wail, “Where are you, my only child? Where are you, my only child?”
Then he went to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him, “Your faculties, householder, are those of one who is unstable in their own mind; there is a deterioration in your faculties.”
“And how, sir, could there be no deterioration of my faculties? For my dear and beloved only child has passed away. Since their death I haven’t felt like working or eating. I go to the cremation ground and wail: ‘Where are you, my only child? Where are you, my only child?’”
“That’s so true, householder! That’s so true, householder! For our loved ones are a source of sorrow, lamentation, pain, sadness, and distress.”
“Sir, who on earth could ever think such a thing! For our loved ones are a source of joy and happiness.” Disagreeing with the Buddha’s statement, rejecting it, he rose from his seat and left.
Now at that time several gamblers were playing dice not far from the Buddha. That householder approached them and told them what had happened.
“That’s so true, householder! That’s so true, householder! For our loved ones are a source of joy and happiness.”
Thinking, “The gamblers and I are in agreement,” the householder left. - MN 87

“Those who have a hundred loved ones, Visākhā, have a hundred sufferings. Those who have ninety loved ones, or eighty, seventy, sixty, fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, or one loved one have one suffering. Those who have no loved ones have no suffering. They are free of sorrow, stains, and anguish I say.” - KN Ud 8.8

“When you’ve laid down violence toward all creatures, not harming even a single one, don’t wish for a child, let alone a companion: live alone like a horned rhino.
Those with close relationships have affection, following which this pain arises. Seeing this danger born of affection, live alone like a horned rhino.
When feelings for friends and loved ones are tied up in selfish love, you miss out on the goal. Seeing this peril in intimacy, live alone like a horned rhino.
As a spreading bamboo gets entangled, so does concern for partners and children. Like a bamboo shoot unobstructed, live alone like a horned rhino.
As a wild deer loose in the forest grazes wherever it wants, a smart person looking for freedom would live alone like a horned rhino.” - KN Snp 1.3

Life starts at conception. Murdering a human fetus is a grave offense leading to hell and permanently ruining Dhamma progress. Any chance of life, however small, is a massive gamble with a human being. Is it not toweringly hypocritical when activists equate all the killings of a living fetus as being “life-affirming”? This, of course, contrasts with a naturally deceased fetus from miscarriage, anembryonic conditions, stillbirth, or ectopic pregnancies holding a zero percent chance of viability.

And why do you impose this exact patriarchal dynamic onto the animals you call pets (I’m obviously not talking about rescued animals that will be released back to their natural habitat)? Why enslave another sentient being in the first place? Can you not resist the evolutionary cuteness response? Or do you need a prop to signal your status? Or are you so hollow that you just crave constant validation from a subordinate being who relies entirely on you and your mercy—only for you to end their life in the end? Isn’t it all just acting out of biological and emotional urges, only to post-hoc rationalize it as love and compassion?

What about veganism? It’s a fine addition if you’ve already become accomplished in virtue and sense restraint. It’s not, however, an excuse to outsource your ethics. If you still enslave animals, kill unborn children, and indulge in sexual intimacy, then you’re a cruel and evil person whether you’re vegan or not.

“Killing creatures, mutilation, murder, abduction; stealing, lying, cheating and fraud, learning crooked spells, adultery: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
People here with unbridled sensuality, greedy for tastes, mixed up in impurity, nihilists, immoral, intractable: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
Tough, callous calumniators, pitiless and arrogant betrayers of friends, misers who never give anything: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
Anger, vanity, obstinacy, contrariness, deceit, jealousy, boastfulness, haughtiness, intimacy with the wicked: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
The ill-behaved, debt-evaders, informants, business cheats and con-artists, vile men committing sin: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
People here who can’t stop harming living creatures, taking from others, intent on hurting, immoral, cruel, harsh, lacking regard for others: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.
Greedy, hostile, aggressive to others, and addicted to evil:
those beings pass into darkness,
falling headlong into hell: this is putrefaction, not eating meat.” - KN Snp 2.2

Do you really want to smash the patriarchy? A cis woman unknowingly supports the patriarchy and severely devalues her own freedom upon entering marriage or cohabitation and allowing impregnation. The biological asymmetry in physical strength does not magically vanish, no matter how much romanticization gets slapped on top of it. It will always remain an implicit threat if you ever want to leave the relationship or refuse marital rape demands. Physical domestic abuse is not some rare, random anomaly but a highly consistent behavioral pattern with specific triggers, constantly amplified by the involvement of alcohol and drugs in many modern households. RAINN statistics verify that 93 percent of sexual assault victims under 18 know their perpetrator.

What’s more? Modern women completely subject themselves to the patriarchy (unknowingly, or knowingly to secure resources) via brutal intrasexual competition. This manifests as subtle passive-aggressive degradation tricks such as glazing fat and/or uglier peers so they remain stagnant, unhealthy, delusional, and could never pose a genuine threat (nice “empowerment” there), or posting themselves on the internet for sexual validation/promotion and intimidation. Or cycling through hundreds of daily options on dating apps, engaging in sex work, or entering transactional relationships. Or perpetually chasing sex appeal by dropping fortunes (either their own hard-earned cash or that of “their men”) on luxury cars, tropical trips, branded handbags, designer dresses, jewelry, makeup, and cosmetic surgeries, all to appease the exact “high-value male” gaze they claim to hate. The only truly valid structural solution to actually fuck the patriarchy for men, women, and intersex people alike is to stop being hypocrites, stop sexualizing themselves, aggressively embrace total celibacy for life, and actively work toward dismantling sexual identities entirely.

“What difference does womanhood make
when the mind is serene,
and knowledge is present
as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

Surely someone who might think:
‘I am woman’, or ‘I am man’,
or ‘I am’ anything at all,
is fit for Māra to address.” - SN 5.2

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Translating mettā as the attachment-laden word love is contrived enough. It is even more baffling to see the word brahmacariya translated in suttas or used in modern Dhamma talks as spiritual life or spiritual path. What exactly is the subtext of that softening translation? Hearing “spiritual life”, modern audiences immediately imagine having mindful tantric orgies in an off-grid spiritual commune while getting high on shrooms. They picture a cozy, wealthy, middle-class person larping about light, love, and mindfulness while aggressively consuming essential oils and being energetically healed by a reiki crystal master.

Why deliberately shy away from the highly obvious celibate life context the term absolutely requires? The only valid “sexual liberation” in the context of Dhamma practice is literal, physical liberation from sexuality itself. True liberation is freedom from being endlessly enslaved by sensual cravings. It is not ignoring the responsibility of one’s own suffering to go full-throttle into sexual hedonism masked as “spiritual” growth. It is a grand delusion to think they can overcome a severe addiction through moderation.

“But if everyone stays celibate, won’t the human race go extinct?” That is a massive, if not impossible, “if”—one that comes from someone turning a blind eye to what is actually happening in the world, and especially in their own mind. Even most so-called Buddhists struggle violently to accept the foundational importance of celibacy. Good luck mandating lifelong celibacy for 8.3 billion people who have been relentlessly brainwashed since birth with the narrative that procreation is a divine cosmic duty, while consumerism plasters sexual appeal everywhere, and a severe, primordial, meat-rubbing addiction triggers at puberty.

“And female characteristics appeared on women, while male characteristics appeared on men. Women spent too much time gazing at men, and men at women. They became lustful, and their bodies burned with fever. Due to this fever they had sex with each other.
Those who saw them having sex pelted them with dirt, clods, or cow-dung, saying, ‘Get lost, filth! Get lost, filth! How on earth can one being do that to another?’ And even today people in some countries, when carrying a bride off, pelt her with dirt, clods, or cow-dung. They’re just remembering an ancient primordial saying, but they don’t understand what it means.
What was deemed as unprincipled at that time, these days is deemed as principled. The beings who had sex together weren’t allowed to enter a village or town for one or two months. Ever since they excessively threw themselves into immorality, they started to make buildings to hide their immoral deeds.” - DN 27

So now, what is the actual play? Stay lifelong celibate and avoid PIV sex like a highly contagious plague, whether you wear a robe or a t-shirt. It is no coincidence the Buddha instructed the lay follower Dhammika to avoid “abrahmacariya” like a pit of glowing charcoals, stating that embracing brahmacariya is the hallmark of the truly wise. Anything less is a compromise.

“Let the intelligent person live a celibate life,
as one would avoid a pit of glowing coals
but being unable to live the celibate life,
go not beyond the bounds with others’ partners.” - KN Snp 2.14

Right Dhamma practice within the Noble Eightfold Path begins explicitly with not practicing the Wrongful Eightfold Path.

“Bhikkhus, whether for a layperson or one gone forth, I do not praise the wrong way. Whether it is a layperson or one gone forth who is practising wrongly, because of undertaking the wrong way of practice he does not attain the method, the Dhamma that is wholesome. And what, bhikkhus, is the wrong way? It is: wrong view, wrong intention, …” - SN 45.24

“And what, bhikkhus, is wrong intention? The intention of sensual desire, the intention of ill will, and the intention of cruelty: this is wrong intention.” - MN 117

“Bhikkhus, that one can engage in sensual pleasures without sensual desires, without perceptions of sensual desire, without thoughts of sensual desire: that is impossible.” - MN 22

What about those highly convenient sexual Stream-Enterers people constantly bring up? Again, ask yourself what your actual goal is. Are you hunting for a feels-good participation trophy, or are you aiming for the actual goal of the Dhamma, which is the complete and total ending of mental pollution and suffering? You might as well just break the precepts and chug alcohol every weekend because Sarakani (SN 55.24) managed to be a Sotapanna while drinking his whole life. Is his loophole a valid excuse for your own cravings? Be brutally honest about what is categorically Dhamma and what is categorically Adhamma (not Dhamma).

“Gotamī, you might know that certain things lead to passion, not dispassion; to yoking, not to unyoking; to accumulation, not dispersal; to more desires, not fewer; to lack of contentment, not contentment; to crowding, not seclusion; to laziness, not energy; to being burdensome, not being unburdensome. Categorically, you should remember these things as not the teaching, not the training, and not the Teacher’s instructions.” - AN 8.53

Look at it logically. Do sexual intercourse and romantic relationships lead to passion or dispassion? Do they yoke you to the world or unyoke you? Do they lead to material accumulation or dispersal? Do they breed more desires or fewer? Do they create contentment or a total lack of it? Categorically, do they look like the Teacher’s instructions?

Or are they the contrary to the True Dhamma?

“It would be better for your penis to enter the mouth of a black snake than to enter a woman. It would be better for your penis to enter a blazing charcoal pit than to enter a woman. Why is that? For although it might cause death or death-like suffering, it would not cause you to be reborn in a bad destination. But this might. Foolish man, you’ve practiced what is contrary to the true Teaching, the common practice, the low practice, the coarse practice, that which ends with a wash, that which is done in private, that which is done wherever there are couples.” - pli-tv-bu-vb-pj1#5.11.20

Then the Buddha focused on encompassing the minds of everyone in the assembly, thinking, “Who here is capable of understanding the teaching?” He saw Suppabuddha sitting in the assembly, and thought, “He is capable of understanding the teaching.” He gave a step-by-step talk especially for Suppabuddha on giving, ethical conduct, and heaven. He explained the drawbacks of sensual pleasures, so sordid and corrupt, and the benefit of renunciation. When the Buddha knew that Suppabuddha’s mind was ready, supple, without hindrances, elated, and confident, he revealed the teaching unique to the Buddhas: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. Just as a clean cloth rid of stains would properly absorb dye, in that very seat the stainless, immaculate vision of the Dhamma arose in Suppabuddha: “Everything that is liable to arise is liable to cease.” - KN Ud 5.3

It seems that prior to the attainment of that ‘participation trophy’, one must also fully comprehend the drawbacks and the sordid, corrupt nature of sensuality, and possess a mind without hindrances. What did the Buddha declare is impossible again? Isn’t it: engaging in sexual intimacy without a mind full of hindrances?

Committing to the five precepts with strict celibacy as the fifth (AN 8.22, AN 5.180) is a highly legitimate undertaking for lay people. The phrase ‘From this day forth may the venerables remember me as one who is chaste, set apart, avoiding the vulgar act of sex.’ is strangely absent from modern Dhamma discussions. The tired script always claims you have to force yourself into the eight precepts if you want celibacy. This is not supported in the EBTs, as the eight precepts are exclusively mentioned in the context of the mandatory Uposatha observance (AN 10.46).

Magical thinking is entirely unsupported here. Attainers did not just wait around until they magically hit non-returner status for celibacy to effortlessly emerge. It is the exact opposite trajectory. Anagami becomes structurally possible entirely because the practitioner stopped feeding the obstruction (AN 10.62, AN 22.101). They stopped repeatedly wetting the log while trying to rationally justify it (MN 36), establishing the baseline conditions required for liberation.

“Suppose there was a chicken with eight or ten or twelve eggs. And she properly sat on them to keep them warm and incubated. That chicken might not wish: ‘If only my chicks could break out of the eggshell with their claws and beak and hatch safely!’ But still they can break out and hatch safely. Why is that? Because that chicken with eight or ten or twelve eggs properly sat on them to keep them warm and incubated. …
Suppose a mason or their apprentice sees the marks of his fingers and thumb on the handle of his adze. They don’t know how much of the handle was worn away today, how much yesterday, and how much previously. They just know what has been worn away.
In the same way, when a mendicant is committed to development, they don’t know how much of the defilements were worn away today, how much yesterday, and how much previously. They just know what has been worn away.
Suppose there was a sea-faring ship bound together with ropes. For six months they deteriorated in the water. Then in the cold season it was hauled up on dry land, where the ropes were weathered by wind and sun. When the monsoon clouds soaked it with rain, the ropes would readily collapse and rot away. In the same way, when a mendicant is committed to development their fetters readily collapse and rot away.” - SN 22.101

You might wonder: doesn’t the Buddha also encourage laypeople to live normally and build wealth? How normal is “normally”? But first, let’s check the texts.

“He has a hundred thousand gold coins, not to mention the silver coins!”
“Well, Ugga, that is wealth, I can’t deny it. But fire, water, rulers, thieves, and unloved heirs all take a share of that wealth. There are these seven kinds of wealth that they can’t take a share of. What seven? The wealth of faith, ethics, conscience, prudence, learning, generosity, and wisdom. There are these seven kinds of wealth that fire, water, rulers, thieves, and unloved heirs can’t take a share of.” - AN 7.7

I don’t see any instruction to have sex or to breed in the Buddha’s definition of worthy wealth. Even if we suppose a “normal life” of becoming entrenched in worldly businesses and enriching oneself by any means necessary was supported by the Buddha, it would still be impossible to sneak in an “allowance” for sexual intimacy. The cycle of Samsara is the normal destination of sentient beings, but Nibbana is not. So, if you want to argue for the normalcy of sex in Buddh-ism, it follows that you’ve disqualified yourself from claiming to practice the Dhamma, or engaging in any discourse related to the Dhamma. This is because, as shown repeatedly, sexual intimacy is categorically not Dhamma, never has been, and never will be.

“Sister, this body is produced by food. Relying on food, you should give up food. This body is produced by craving. Relying on craving, you should give up craving. This body is produced by conceit. Relying on conceit, you should give up conceit. This body is produced by sex. The Buddha spoke of breaking off everything to do with sex.” - AN 4.159

“And what should be described as liable to corruption? Partners and children, male and female bondservants, goats and sheep, chickens and pigs, elephants and cattle, and gold and currency are liable to corruption. These attachments are liable to corruption. Someone who is tied, infatuated, and attached to such things, themselves liable to corruption, seeks what is also liable to corruption. This is the ignoble quest.
And what is the noble quest? It’s when someone who is themselves liable to be reborn, understanding the drawbacks in being liable to be reborn, seeks that which is free of rebirth, the supreme sanctuary from the yoke, extinguishment. Themselves liable to grow old, fall sick, die, sorrow, and become corrupted, understanding the drawbacks in these things, they seek that which is free of old age, sickness, death, sorrow, and corruption, the supreme sanctuary from the yoke, extinguishment. This is the noble quest.” - MN 26

“Absolutely, sir. As I understand the Buddha’s teaching, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them.”
“Futile man, who on earth have you ever known me to teach in that way? Haven’t I said in many ways that obstructive acts are obstructive, and that they really do obstruct the one who performs them? I’ve said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. With the similes of a skeleton … a scrap of meat … a grass torch … a pit of glowing coals … a dream … borrowed goods … fruit on a tree … a butcher’s knife and chopping board … swords and spears … a snake’s head, I’ve said that sensual pleasures give little gratification and much suffering and distress, and they are all the more full of drawbacks. But still you misrepresent me by your wrong grasp, harm yourself, and brim with much wickedness. This will be for your lasting harm and suffering.” - MN 22

It is absolutely, undeniably clear. You can no longer hide behind “I didn’t know” or any other excuse, and you do not get to slander the Buddha by claiming that copulating “lovingly” or “compassionately” with your partner is somehow your “Dhamma practice.”

If you are serious about practicing the Noble Eightfold Path rather than the Wrong Eightfold Path, the foundational daily practice of the gradual training (MN 107) remains exactly the same, whether you wear a monastic robe or civilian clothes. There is absolutely no room for the wrong view that sensuality is not an obstruction to progress. Remaining a layperson does not grant you a magical exemption from correct practice. Living in society cannot be used as a convenient scapegoat for your primordial addictions. You do not get to endlessly indulge in sexual pleasures while pretending to be blissfully ignorant of their brutal, binding consequences for both yourself and others.

You do not need to worship shady street plumbers to be a decent practitioner. Let the technician patch the leaky pipe of your body so you can keep your cortisol low, leave their god complex in the clinic, and walk back out into the world. The only thoroughly logical conclusion here is that whether dealing with worldly systems or Dhammic progression, total celibacy for life is the singular practical solution.

All forms of utilitarianism and consequentialism are purely wrong view. Keep completely practical relationships with people instead of clinging to sentimental facades. A mechanic is just a mechanic. The only reasonable course of action moving forward is trying to aggressively opt out of samsara. Human existence is far too short and far too painful to be hopelessly bothered about rearranging the furniture in a burning house.

Context on the YouTube segment:

Video Title: Through Heaven, Hell, & Hecklers: Walking for Peace Through America in Crisis | Bhante Paññākāra Q&A

Video Description:

This is PART TWO of Clear Mountain’s two-part interview with Bhante Paññākāra. You may find PART ONE here: A Monk, His Dog, & All the World: 2,300 Miles, 108 Days, 1 Great Vow | Bhante Paññākāra Q&A

In this interview, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho speak with Bhante Paññākāra ([some random site]), the Vietnamese-born Theravāda monk who led the recent “Walk for Peace” from Texas to Washington DC and who founded the Dhammacetiya Project in Fort Worth, Texas. This second part of the interview details the miraculous rescue of the ‘ambassador dog’ Āloka from India, the transformative impact of the 2,300-mile ‘Walk for Peace’ on those contemplating suicide or facing deep grief, the tragic yet transcendent accident of Ajahn MahāDham, the unique integration of law enforcement and protesters into a singular field of mindfulness, and how the internal discipline of watching the breath can allow a practitioner to maintain a ‘peaceful day’ amidst the noise of the world.

To learn more, visit [some random site] or @walkforpeaceusa
CMM’s Interview with fellow Walk for Peace monk, Ajahn Mahā Dam: Sacrifice & Grace

Bhante’s Biography:
Bhante Paññākāra is a Theravāda Buddhist monk and former IT engineer who transitioned from a corporate career to a life of mindfulness and service. Born in Vietnam and educated at the University of Texas at Arlington, Bhante Paññākāra immigrated to the U.S. in 1997 and took full ordination in 2010 in the lineage of the Most Venerable Ratanaguna, the last direct disciple of His Holiness the Venerable Vamsarakhita, founder and first Sangharaja of the Vietnamese Theravāda Buddhist Sangha. In 2020, he launched the Dhammacetiya Project to preserve the Tipiṭaka in a monumental marble stupa complex, a vision furthered by his 112-day, 2,100-mile ascetic Dhutanga pilgrimage across India and Nepal. That journey, chronicled in his memoir, The Footsteps of a Buddhist Monk, laid the foundation for his most recent undertaking: leading the only-very-recently-completed 2,300-mile, 108-day ‘Walk for Peace’ from Texas to Washington, D.C. He currently serves at the Hương Đạo Vipassana Bhāvana Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

To learn more about Bhante Paññākāra, visit: /walkforpeaceusa or [some random site]

#walkforpeace #alokathepeacedog #buddhistmonks

Relevant auto-generated transcript:

Chapter 6: Personal Relationship to the Triple Gem: Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha

[38:42] Interviewer: “…back to that shared, uh, root, um, that we that we both have and just quickly asking you about your relationship to the triple gem. Um, so I wanted to ask about, you know, what your relationship is to the Buddha, like what does he mean in your heart? Um, I wanted to ask for your favorite sutta for the dharma. And I wanted to ask for the foremost disciple that you most relate to, Venerable Ananda or Venerable Mahakassapa. So, can I get the Venerable Panyakara, uh, triple gem for the audience?”

[39:19] Paññākāra: “Uh for me, um, after I ordained, um, people asked me have I have a second thought since I ordained. I say, no. Uh, I never regret to walk on this path. So for me to, um, believe in the teachings of the Buddha, which we already know that he’s not the one who created everything, but he found everything to show us, to show us the path that is already there. Right? And so that is the nature, and I can sacrifice my life for this because I know it helped me, changed me completely, and it did for me to use all that and to practice all that and then to share all that to the people, especially this ‘waffle piece’ [Walk for Peace].

So it did change so many lives, and for me to, uh… uh, with the triple ‘jams’ [gems], I believe is not just a belief, but, uh, I’m all about the teachings of his, and, uh, I willing to sacrifice my life. That is why I decided to build the ‘damage projects’ [Dhammacetiya Project] is because his teaching, his profound everything is just… is so true that we cannot, we don’t even, you know, talk about or have a second thought about his teachings. Of course, I have to be truth, right? We have to learn the truth dhamma.

And so, uh, I willing to sacrifice my life to build this dama project to preserve his teachings for the future, uh, future generations. That tells enough how strong am I to the jams already.

And so, uh, for this ‘sa’ [sangha], I really don’t have anyone in my mind since I started to ordain that, you know, I look up to, to, um, to be admire, or to follow his, uh, path, like, uh, Venerable Ananda or Venerable Mahakassapa or anything like that. I didn’t, I never thought of it until today you asked. [Laughter] This is the first time that, uh, you raised that question in me, and so let me think about it.” [Laughter]

Interviewer: “Your answer was good.”