Critique of Critiques

A friend sent me a link on The Dark Side of the Buddha. The video was really funny and insightful as humor can be in an oblique way. As I started reading the page and thinking about what was being said and how it was said, it occurred to me that there was a certain pattern at work in the critique of Buddhism. Here is my deconstruction:

Humans / primates have a certain set of characteristics (behavior rules / patterns). These behaviors / patterns occur in all contexts that humans are involved in: politics, religion, coops, corporations, .... These behaviors have to do with dominance, sex,  and emerging consciousness, among other factors. Different philosophies / religions originate as aspects of this emerging consciousness trying to understand the who, what, why, where, and how of this context we are in. The limits of this consciousness are reflected in the articulation of theses philosophies and religions. And the practice of these philosophies are subject to dominance and sexual behaviors since they  are part of our makeup. How could it be otherwise other than in our fantasies?

What this web page does is a common pattern in critiques. There is an unarticulated presupposition of "perfection" in an undefined way of how it should be. Then examples are provided where that perfection is not present, and in particular, examples where its opposite is present ( in the view of the author ). The examples pointed out have generally to do with the dominance and sexual characteristics of humans. There is a strange sort self dislike / hatred of our own nature and its various manifestations in these types of critiques. A side effect of the critique can be a damning of a glimpse of this emerging consciousness and this attempt to articulate, understand, or experience this context we are in. If there is value in that glimpse to  our own emerging consciousness, we can miss that value or turn away from that which may be valuable.

A useful way to look at these philosophies, e.g., Buddhism,  is to evaluate what aspects help our own emerging consciousness. It is sometimes difficult to ignore the enticing characteristics of gurus and attribute dominance of understanding to them in lieu of our own consciousness. We are geared to look for dominant alphas ( or be one ) and give up our own emerging consciousness in subservience to an alpha ( or our own "alpha ego" ).