Having grown up in Boulder, Colorado, one of the epicenters of self-regarding, American Buddhism, the author's skepticism is relatable.
I imagine that almost every kid from Boulder goes through a Buddhist phase. Some come out the other end with useful introspective skills. Hopefully, they also managed not to acquire the odor of self-righteousness in the process. But the chances of avoiding this actually seem pretty slim. I knew a lot of folks in the scene who came off like caricatures. And of course their practice didn't seem to bring them any recognizable successes in life.
That being said, it still feels like Buddhism has more of an empirical quality than any other major belief system I've encountered. But, practically speaking, the difference ends up seeming marginal. At the end of the day, it's still a religion. It takes an unusual kind of personal to distill something useful from becoming involved with it.
I imagine that almost every kid from Boulder goes through a Buddhist phase. Some come out the other end with useful introspective skills. Hopefully, they also managed not to acquire the odor of self-righteousness in the process. But the chances of avoiding this actually seem pretty slim. I knew a lot of folks in the scene who came off like caricatures. And of course their practice didn't seem to bring them any recognizable successes in life.
That being said, it still feels like Buddhism has more of an empirical quality than any other major belief system I've encountered. But, practically speaking, the difference ends up seeming marginal. At the end of the day, it's still a religion. It takes an unusual kind of personal to distill something useful from becoming involved with it.