Zizek on Buddhism

[Christophe]

Hello folks, how have you been. I kinda missed you, sort of. :-/

Are you aware of Slavoj Zizek's latest critique of Buddhism?

I find it rather interesting, and I wonder what you guys think about it?

[Balder]

I kind of missed you, too, Christophe!  Welcome back.  I started watching this yesterday but didn't get to finish, so I will return to it soon.  I went to Berkeley yesterday to look for a hard-to-find book and found Zizek's works prominently displayed in all the book stores I visited there...

[Christophe]

 Hi Balder! Oh I'm glad that your are generous. Yes bookstores... Lately I'm dragged into history. I loved Götz Aly's non-fiction, and also this. Ahh well the good old times. I hear SES 2 is coming out soon?

Yes Zizek. What to do about him , I still wonder.

I liked the hints at shadow issues in his talk (you know Jacques Lacan is a master with shadow work)

Of course there's also christian stuff, all this loving the fall, and betting on love instead of acknowledging the statistical data.

Yes, and the Himmler Himalaya Expedition, I was reminded also. (no offense)

WTF

[Edward theurj Berge]

Just listening to the first 10 minutes so far it was interesting about "canned laughter." Relating it to the ritualized forms of religious expression, how they in this case don't laugh but 'enlighten' for you and you are caught up in it as a spectator. Which of course reminds me of drama. A good movie does this as well, while watching I am caught up in the thoughts and feelings of the story, which activate my mirror neurons and all the same hormones and neurotransmitters are released as if I were participating. It will be interesting to see where he goes with this.

[Edward theurj Berge]

Good god he's all over the place. At 23 minutes he never returned to what I noted above. Other than perhaps we need to keep our distance from God lest s/he gets too close and scares us? Or that we can only know god vicariously perhaps? When, if at all, does he ever talk about Buddhism, which is what I want to hear about?

[Balder]

It looks to me like he's trying to pull the topic out of his nose.

[Edward theurj Berge]

And rub it all over his face and hair....

[Balder]

LOL!

 

Seriously, I am interested in listening to this talk and hearing his views.  I haven't had time yet, but I guess I'll skip the first 23 minutes and start there when I do.

[13w6cecaz7s7h]

well i did take the time to listen and i was quite surprised at the superficiality of this guy. i mean if one wants to place a critic to buddhism ,thats fine: but would it not be a good idea to first study the subject and master it before offering a critic? like this, zizek only shows off his own audacia´s arrogance and stupidity , not much else. i mean had this talk be made in the 60 ts by a dharma bum , oookay,...... but 40 years after jackson hole (chögyam trungpas vajrayana expose)and 37 years after subiaco (the first ever open teaching of  dzog chen in the west to an entirely western audience starting  chögyal namkai norbu rinpoche´s still ongoing teaching activity) ( and for those with a historic sense : subiaco , just outside rome,  italy is the place of the foundation of the catholic bendictine order which was the backbone of christian europe´s emergence out of the roman empire in the 6th century , http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/subiaco-san-benedetto) : ))

but in 2013 ,    this "performance" is only .........laughable.

but also actually it made me quite sad because zizek is not just any odd clown and the audience lapped this trite  up like good puppies........no wonder the west is completly lost , with such helmsman.

if this is the best pomo academia can do nowadays .......

[Edward theurj Berge]

From this article:

"While I’m sympathetic to many of Žižek’s criticisms and aims, I feel that 1) his sloppiness in appropriating Buddhist thought and 2) his narrow ideological bent make him difficult to take too seriously.

"The problem, turning to Spirituality and Buddhism, is that these can be mere distractions from the real problems in the world....people are not looking squarely at these and other problems and fighting to correct them, but are instead pouring their time and money into new spiritual practices, quite often including aspects of Buddhism. We don’t complain to our managers (and union reps) when our job becomes overly demanding and pay and benefits are cut. Instead we join a meditation group or pick up yoga or talk to a psychic, or all three."

This is more akin to my own criticisms. And what 'engaged Buddhism' is attempting to rectify.

[Balder]

I listened to about 45 or 50 minutes of this talk last night, but also grew frustrated by both its rambling quality and its relatively superficial (and only intermittent) treatment of Buddhism, and finally turned it off.  I appreciated the general idea that its focus on impermanence and non-abiding may provide useful skills for our tumultuous times, and liked his insistence that the "sacred" can be found in and as certain intensities of the absurd and mundane, but didn't get much else from it.  Christophe -- what are your thoughts?  How did this talk land with you?

[Layman Pascal]

He sounded to me like a man looking for ways "in" -- specifying the routes and concerns, feeling towards a particular type of Buddhism. Having heard him mention some ideological concerns about Westernized Buddhism on numerous occasions, this was more open than I have previously heard him on this topic... constantly stipulating that the concerns he raised were to be taken in a context of... non-dismissal... one does not quite "hear" this talk unless one hears how it differs from the tone of his earlier remarks on the subject.