I admit not all forms of buddhism involve using psychotherapy to induce a state of nihilism and disconnect, but that is one of the major goals of buddhism. Rational Emotive Behavioral therapy does the same thing, they try to induce a state of transcendence of and dependence on external events. Buddhism may teach that ‘suffering is caused by desire’ while REBT teaches that suffering is caused by depending on the world to be something it is not.
For those who don’t know REBT was pioneered by Albert Ellis. His philosophy was that depending on the world to be something it wasn’t was a main cause of pain and suffering and that instead of depending on the world to be something it is not, it is better to desire the world to change but accept it for what it is. This sounds similiar to the 8-fold path of buddhism which seems to instill a nihilistic view.
Are they essentially the same philosophy, but one is religious and one is psychological?
Well it’s s futile debate insofar as Buddhism has no strict definition. As someone once said, whatever you think Buddhism is, it isn’t.
But insofar as we can make generalisations about Buddhism we can definitely say that inducing “a state of nihilism and disconnect” is not “one of the major goals of Buddhism”.It’s not one of the minor goals either. In fact it’s antithetical to Buddhism. Buddhism seeks to cultivate a sense of empathy with all people, never a sense of disconnect.
Nihilism is an arguable goal of Buddhism. Buddhists in the whole strive for acceptance and understanding of meaning, not the futility and dismissal of meaning that is nihilism.
Like Blake, I have to ask where the idea that one of the goals of Buddhism is to: “induce a state of nihilism and disconnect.” While I’m hardly an expert, I have never heard or read this anywhere.
First of all, Buddhism’s goal isn NOT to “induce a state of nihilism and disconnect.”
A Buddhist’s goal is to reduce (or elminante suffering). And the root cause of this suffering is attachment (dukka). Once one comes to understand that this attachment is based upon the false belief in an independent and permanent ego (or self), then the root cause of suffering (attachment or belief in a permanent ego) can be overcome and vanquished. One’s doesn’t get “rid” of one’s ego - one just realizes that it’s not a permanent entitity. So one doesn’t need to get hung up on such things as whether you’ve been insulted by another human being. You may, but it’s best to forget about it (don’t get attached to the insult).
Rather than induce a state of nihilism and disconnect, Buddhist practices (especially meditation) actually help one realize the impermanance of everything and as a result, actually brings about a well-spring of compassion and connectedness to all things. Hence, in the various Mahayana schools the vital importance of the boddhisatva - an indivual who has made the decision to delay his/her total enlightenment to help others along the path.
