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as with other religions, there are varieties of Buddhism

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different varieties of Buddhism in Asia

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Western Buddhism

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people who weren't born Buddhist but who have chosen to adopt Buddhism

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don't pay much attention to the supernatural parts of Buddhism

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e.g. being reincarnated as a hungry ghost

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naturalistic ideas in Buddhism

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what is the human mind?

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why do people suffer?

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why is there sadness?

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why do people behave unkindly?

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does the human mind deceive people about the nature of reality?

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can we change the way the mind works, and in particular through meditation?

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these questions apply to both religious and naturalistic Buddhism

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moral orientation

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consolation in times of sorrow

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equanimity in the turbulence of life

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whether you consider naturalistic Buddhism a religion depends on how you define religion

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"The life of religion consists of the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto." - William James

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Buddhism asserts that we should harmoniously adjust ourselves to the hidden truth that our mind is being hidden from, and lays out a path for this harmonious adjustment

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the Buddhist claim is that by doing this, we can alleviate and even end our suffering, and in the process align ourselves with moral truth

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modern psychology lends support to some Buddhist ideas

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that certain distortions are built into the human mind and we suffer as a result

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that there is a sense that the self, that thing inside me that is running the show, does not exist

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modern psychology includes evolutionary psychology

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the study of how the human mind was shaped by natural selection

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that some of the delusions that we have were built in by natural selection for purposes which can be understood in terms of how humans were thus able to better live until age of reproduction

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just because something is natural, or formed by natural selection, doesn't mean it isn't changeable

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part of the idea of Buddhism is a counter-programming of the brain through such techniques as mediation and to neutralize some of the tendencies that were built into the brain by natural selection

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Buddhism very much wants to run into opposition to some of the logic by which natural selection wired the brain

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however, Buddhism does make use of some things that natural selection engrained in us including love, compassion, and rational thought

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the interesting question is not whether meditation has made people happier or suffer less, but whether it has done this by dispelling illusions that the mind has build into it

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