Overcoming Suffering & Buddhism

I get the impression Buddhism is not a common topic of discussion here

Some related topics have come up. e.g. Understanding Vipassana Meditation, Vipassana Meditation: Developing Meta-Feeling Skills, Vipassana Meditation Open Thread, A Novice Buddhist's Humble Experiences, Theory and Practice of Meditation, Bayesian Buddhism: A Path to Optimal Enlightenment, Meditation, Insight, and Rationality (part 2).

I can't claim to be a Buddhist or particularly familiar with any specific traditions or doctrines within Buddhism, and I'm not really interested in Buddhism-qua-Buddhism, but I'm definitely interested in stealing the good parts in the name of doing-what-works-ism (and there do seem to be substantial good parts). If indeed there is such a mental state as enlightenment and it is as useful and important and worthwhile as some people think it is, then the steps toward attaining it should be distilled, systematized, and added to the standard x-rationality toolbox, no need to keep it attached to a religious tradition and taught using jargon and symbolism that may be obsolete, misleading, or just suboptimal.

I'm currently checking out Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, which takes a generally secular and practical approach.

For instance, Buddhism holds that there is no "self", ultimately; however, it also holds that people are reincarnated... so what is it that is being reincarnated?

Some Buddhists have told me that their concept (known usually as "rebirth" rather than "reincarnation") is not exactly what people usually think of as reincarnation, but I currently wouldn't be able to describe what exactly they do mean by it. Though I recall that it struck me as something that would end up being only trivially true or false (depending on interpretation) anyway, even if it's not "you die and your magical decision-making / qualia-experiencing / virtue-recording homunculus flies off into a newborn kitten's body" reincarnation.

Of course it'll contain inconsistencies and factual inaccuracies; perhaps the Buddha really did medidate really hard until something genuinely important clicked, but he was not a scientist and no external empirical information suddenly appeared in his brain at that moment, so I'd mostly ignore anything Buddhism says about the external nature of reality; we can generally expect it to be more insightful about what it says about the proper use of one's mind, since that's something that we can get information about just by thinking and noticing the right things (and then testing, of course). Indeed, a lot of Buddhism's actual insights seem to be about dissolving cognitive illusions (or, at least, that's the best interpretation I can put on what I've heard about it; I wonder if a person claiming to be enlightened could tell you how the self is an illusion (that is, what algorithm feels like a self from the inside), or if all they can do is profess that the self is an illusion).

The idea is that suffering results from unfulfilled desires, themselves a product of an uncontrolled mind.

Note that this is the kind of doctrine rich leaders might want to instill in their impoverished workers - to try and make sure that they are not too dissatisfied with their lot in life.

If happiness lies within, you are less likely to steal other people's stuff. That sort of thing often gets the thumbs up from those who own most of the stuff.

IMO, this is no coincidence - Buddhism - like many religions - is, in part, a tool for manipulating the masses by those in power.

(The choice of the word "mindfulness" - was that a coincidence, or a reference to the Buddhist concept of the same name?)

Western psychology originally picked up the concept from Buddhism, and then began developing it independently. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology&#x29 .

Karma is also a silly idea, in my opinion.

There are perfectly sensibe aspects of karma. Karma means "action" or "deed", with the implication that actions have associated consequences, that it is useful to consider to be part of the action. It reflects the common principle: as you reap, so you sow.

Break down the claims of Buddhism and test them individually against evidence. Bring me what's left.

Overcoming Suffering & Buddhism

I do wish we learn to overcome this odd fascination with Buddhism that surfaces from time to time.

For two, that emphasis on the problem of suffering seems very reasonable to me. Buddhism holds that the problem with this world is suffering, and that suffering can be alleviated by methods somewhat similar to the ones in Kaj_Sotala's post.

Take care with psychological techniques oriented towards reducing self-suffering. Suffering is an important signal that something is wrong. Pain is similar. If you ignore or damp down the signal, that is a kind of self-sabotage. Sometimes the paradoxical effect is to increase the number of your long term problems. Instead, it is often best to respect and heed the signal - and track down the causes of the problem it is indicating.

I enjoy praying to, visualising, thinking about, and imaging Guanyin, the attractive Buddhist goddess of compassion and and mercy. She hears all our suffering and comforts us. I love her.

Buddhism holds that there is no "self", ultimately; however, it also holds that people are reincarnated... so what is it that is being reincarnated? I'm sure there is an apology for this somewhere, but the only explanation I've read made less sense than the question.

Well, we have the answer to that one from science: "incarnations" come from seeds which come from parents. So: part of you potentially lives on beyond your own death, Also, part of you is very old - and contains wisdom from your ancestors.

Buddhism identified some of these puzzle pieces, but then made a mess of assembling them. It identified karma as what gets reincarnated - whereas today, we would say that it is DNA that is the immortal essence that potentially gets to live forever.