Buddhism: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Last night I went to a Buddhist meditation meeting, it was the second time I'd been to something like that and it might not be the last. While I've certainly found it more enjoyable than going to church, I'm not sure if Buddhism is right for me or not. With the disclosure that my knowledge of Buddhist history or practice is still pretty limited, here's my impression so far:

Buddhism is sometimes considered more of a philosophy than a religion, because, at least in some versions, worship of deities is not essential to the practice. The Western imported interpretations of Buddhism that I've witnessed certainly emphasize the more secular aspects. But like all the other religions, Buddhism is still a fundamentally dualist worldview. The guy leading the session (not a monk) even spent a fair amount of time talking about the different kinds of mind and how they are distinct and separate from the body, and how the "root mind" that is most central to our being survives the death of our body and will continue into a new life based on its karma. It's a pleasant thought, but ultimately it's just factually incorrect.

But that's theory, and arguably practice is more important in religion, and it's here I have to give Buddhism much higher marks than any other religion. The main thing that Buddhism basically gets right is that happiness and suffering are illusory, fleeting sensations, the default human drive to acquire ever more wealth, status, and power does not result in a fulfilling life, but rather inner peace will only come through training the mind to accept whatever the world may bring. This is an insight that psychologists have just recently been figuring out, and it really is amazing that two thousand years before the scientific method, the Buddha was able to discover such a profound truth about human nature and cultivate such a large following around it. Most religions basically appeal to your standard carrot and stick morality and serve to reinforce the biological imperative to amass wealth and power, crush one's enemies, breed to the limits of the available resources, and spread the Word by any means necessary. Buddhism is literally the rejection of this cycle, and so flies in the face of human nature.

Of course, one of the main elements of the cure to the human condition in Buddhism is spending some time simply not thinking: meditation. And that's what we were there to do. Meditation is supposed to train the mind to remain more calm and peaceful throughout the day, and there's pretty good evidence this actually works. Another way in which the Buddha was millennia ahead of his time, this is basically getting at the modern psychological idea of flow. Basically, we modern humans have way too much to think about and spend too much time thinking in general and get anxious and worrisome as a result; we'd be happier if we just found some activity or hobby or profession that we find enjoyable and takes our mind off things and spent more time getting practicing that. Meditation essentially cuts straight to the heart of this insight by practicing the intentional extinction of thought.

So how'd it work for me? Maybe it's just because I haven't practiced enough yet, but I'm really bad at not thinking. During the rounds of meditation I found myself thinking and planning against my will. Though I tried to concentrate on just being there, at that moment, my prefrontal cortex just went marching off into its typical daydreamland, planning, considering, wondering, and calculating, all against my will.

I wonder if meditation is better served in some people through more active pursuits. Though sitting in a chair trying not to think hasn't done much for me yet, I have felt the same sort of positive, peaceful extinguishing of self through other activities, such as:

Surfing/Snowboarding/Skateboarding
Playing tennis/chess against a comparable opponent
Rock Climbing
Yoga
Dancing/attending a concert
Having sex
Taking psychedelic drugs
Playing video games

Predictable of course though that I as a young male, naturally striving - consciously or not - for status, list several activities that allow me to signal my skill and physical prowess to potential mates and rivals or just involve flicking the pleasure switches in the brain. Have I achieved any enlightenment at all?

In any event, I would probably be happier if I did more of the things in the above list and less working, studying, and planning for the future. Same for most people and whatever is on their list. But, like most people, I in fact spend large parts of my days doing things that don't facilitate a peaceful state of mind or happiness but do tend to maximize my material world success. In fact, I'm more ambitious and wealth-motivated than most people. Why do I keep it up when I know how I could be more at one with the universe? Because, I tell myself, the quicker I become financially liberated, the more I can enjoy spiritual liberation later on in the things I find joyful. But it does slightly concern me that this strategy conveniently maximizes my status along the way, it seems enough like rainbow chasing to be a bit disconcerting for me.