Julius Evola on Ancient Buddhism

[Hegemony]

The Doctrine of Awakening : The Attainment of Self-Mastery According to the Earliest Buddhist Texts (Paperback)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 8&v=glance

"This book, Evola's masterwork on Buddhism and probably his most "mainstream" book, is undoubtedly the single most informative document you can find regarding Buddhism, or what Evola terms the "Doctrine of Awakening". Many reviewers here express concern over Evola's use of the word "Aryan"- in order that he is not misunderstood, I will mention here that Evola's conception of race was very different from the stereotypical "zoological" racism of today (he believed in a "race" of the spirit which was much more important than the race of the body). Besides, he is simply clarifying what was a very important part of early Buddhism- the Doctrine of Awakening was and is intended for the "ariya", the nobles, the "kshattriya" warrior caste.

This aside, Evola's book is brilliant for several reasons. For one, he applies the same intense intellectual erudition which is common to all of his books. He is completely sincere, and absolutely nobody could possibly come away from this book believing that Evola was dishonest, whatever their other conclusions. In addition to the benefits of Evola's remarkably clear and lucid style, we have the actual book itself- "The Doctrine of Awakening" clears away the bramble which has grown up around Buddhism. Besides destroying "New Age" interpretations of Buddhism, which are pretty much based on prejudices which westerners have held since the 19th century (according to which Buddhism is an atheistic and humanitarian doctrine which aims at complete non-existence to escape from "suffering"), Evola also shows that the later "theological" interpretations, such as Tibetan "Mahayana" Buddhism, misunderstand the true spirit of the original Doctrine. Any student of Buddhism should own this book- it is probably the only one you will need on the subject."
-Reviewer: Skye J. Gamble

"Buddhism is the topic, but not the limits of what is discussed. Evola introduces esoteric, or non-standardized, philosophy through this book and explains its basic tenets: all can seek varying degrees of truth, truth is found through experience and contemplation, and all truth relates to a cosmic order and not the individual. Ancient Buddhism was apparently a far cry from the sissified, pacifistic and whine-prone modern variety. Evola's is a warlike Buddhism full of fire for setting the world aright without the ego-drama and stupidity of modernity."
-Reviewer: Infoterror "Chaos"

[Celeborn]

I think I will take a look into this book...

But I must say, so far it sounds rather offensive. Because while attacking lay Western misinterpretations, he has fallen into the classic western academic pitfall, which is that Mahayana and all other incarnations of Buddhism are wrong and bad. Only philosophical, original Buddhism is "right".

Evola also shows that the later "theological" interpretations, such as Tibetan "Mahayana" Buddhism, misunderstand the true spirit of the original Doctrine.

Oh, and as a point of clarification, Mahayana and Vajrayana both came out of India, not Tibet. What we now think of Tibetan Buddhism is a mixture of Vajrayana and traditional Tibetan practice, with a touch of Daoism thrown in for good measure. Vajrayana came out of a mixture of Mahayana and Hindu Shiva cult worship (original tantra). And Mahayana split away from the clasic tripitaka only followers because of the controversy they made by incorperating new meditation techniques and (more importantly) because of the Buddhisatza vow. This development solved a huge issue amongst early practitioners, in that questing for PERSONAL enlightenment is an inharently egotistical endevor. By pledging that you will not become a full Buddha untill after you have used your new abilities to help many other people down the spiritual path, it transforms the quest into one of compassion and love for all of humanity.

Just because something has been modified from the original doctrine does not invalidate it. To think otherwise is to invalidate the experiences and beliefs of millions (almost billions) of people. And obviously, Theravada was failing to fill some kind of social and spiritual need, or otherwise the other forms would not have completely outnumbered it. Today, practicing Theravadans can only be found in Sri Lanka, Burma, and a few South East Asian islands. And even here, it is not the "true" religion. These people believe that because the dharma wheel has turned, they have to just sit back and wait for Maitraya to save them because humans cannot achieve enlightenment at this time.

Such an argument as this author is appearing to make is both meaningless and futile. The purpose of Buddhism is to gain enlightenment, and the only argument about method or belief that makes any sence is one pertaining to expedient means. All roads lead to the same place, but the real question is, which one will get you there the fastest?

[Tom]

The original core teachings of Buddhism are studied in Vajrayana and Dzogchen before anything else. Then the ideas are gradually extended and amplified upon as basic Mahayana and then with more advanced ideas. Finally, Zen, Vajrayana, or Dzogchen. All the higher systems contain everything leading up to them, but the core teachings like Theravada Buddhism do not include the highest forms like Zen, Vajrayana, and Dzogchen. That has led to misunderstandings.