Yes, Westerners, Buddhists ARE "Judgmental." And You Should Be, Too.

It’s been a fun time over on Twitter.  The place has never been known for intelligent conversation, but it seems the dregs of low-intelligence have found me and thought they could somehow silence me with their corrupted Western interpretation of Buddhism.

Basically it goes like this:  “You have a sense of right and wrong.  That makes you judgmental.  Which makes you a bad Buddhist because Buddhists are non-judgmental.”

First point, yes.  Second point, duh.  And third… LOL, 100% fail.

The core of Buddhism is right thought, right action.  So BY DEFINITION, following Buddhist teachings REQUIRES judgment.  That means to be a “good Buddhist” one HAS to exercise judgment.  In other words, one MUST be “judgmental.”

You see, in order to have right thoughts and right actions, one must be able to discern right from not right (also known as “wrong”).  This process of discerning right from wrong is commonly referred to in the English language as…

 

…wait for it…

JUDGMENT.

Whew.  Okay, now that we’ve covered a review of “English words we learned in the fourth grade,” let’s get to the meat of the matter – the corruption of Buddhism in the West by leftist idiots.

Because “Buddhism is about non-judgment” is NOT a tenant of Buddhism.  Real Buddhism, as it is practiced by real Buddhists in the East who actually base their lives by its standards, is ALL about judgment.  Right and wrong is a big part of Buddhism.  Morality is an essential element.  Being a good person, accountability for wrongdoing, karma, moral responsibility, good versus evil – these are basic foundational aspects of Buddhism.  In Buddhist countries there’s a LOT of judgment of people and bad behavior – how else do you educate people about right and wrong if you don’t point out examples of each?

Nobody in the East would agree with the statement “Buddhism is about non-judgment.”  Things like marital infidelity, murder, lying, stealing, slander – these are judged harshly, more so than in the West.  Heck, disrespecting the King of Thailand is judged – and comes with a stiff prison sentence.  Saying Buddhists are non-judgmental is like me saying my cat is a vegan – it’s hilariously false and an obvious projection of one’s own belief system upon a system that’s in complete disagreement with your personal opinions.

Yet somehow stupid white leftists convinced ignorant people in the West that Buddhism is about “not judging people.”  No, WESTERN LEFTISM is about “not judging people.”  Or more accurately, “don’t make me feel bad for what I want to do, but I’ll go ahead and judge anyone I want.”  It’s shameless hypocrisy (which incidentally is also looked down upon in Eastern culture).  Western leftists adopted Buddhism (as in, they appropriated images of Buddha and kinda sorta took up meditation) and rebranded it to conform to their “do whatever you want” hippie attitude.

But 60’s Hippie BS and Buddhism are not in agreement.  In fact, a lot of Thai Buddhists are sick and tired of Western hippies using Buddhist relics as decorations and flagrantly misinterpreting Sutra for their own selfish benefit.  All over Thailand there are billboards telling stupid Westerners to knock it off. Yet over here, calling oneself a Buddhist and stating a strong opinion elicits the usual ignorant response from the Hippies about “non-judgmental” Buddhists.

Let’s be clear on what being “non-judgmental” means, because it’s not noble or holy in any way.  People who take their religion seriously understand that morality is a fundamental aspect of religion.  Christians who believe in Christ’s redemption understand they must also adhere to his moral teachings.  Same for every religion, and Buddhism is no different in this respect.

One cannot accept some parts of Buddhism while cutting out the moral requirements any more than one can live without a heart.  Western bastardization of Buddhism to exclude the moral requirements is an abomination to Buddhists throughout the world.  It’s a huge insult. Carrying on sex parties with your head of Buddha looking on is shameful and deeply offensive to anyone who takes the religion to heart.  And if hearing this makes you feel bad, then good.  That’s your conscience telling you to knock it off and behave better. 

Instead of telling others to “stop being judgmental,” try listening to that voice that’s making you feel bad when people point out your bad behavior.  That’s your better self telling you to grow up and be a better human being.  Instead of drowning it out by attacking good, moral people and their religions, try LISTNING to your conscience and being a more morally upright person.  You won’t always “feel better,” but you will BE better, because you’ll behave better.

Right thoughts.  Right actions.  Stop throwing away your moral compass, it’s there for a reason.  And stop telling people to be “non-judgmental,” if anything we need MORE people using good judgment for the benefit of others.