Dark Buddhism (Morgan D. Rosenberg)
Butchered Buddhism
[My two-star Amazon review of  review of  “Dark Buddhism: Integrating Zen Buddhism and Objectivism†by Morgan D. Rosenberg.]
The author of this book, physicist Morgan D. Rosenberg, typifies the numeous professors and scientists who are attracted to Buddhism and think that their worldly success and intelligence somehow qualifies them to write books on the subject. But the Cognoscenti, the real experts in both Buddhism (and Objectivism), laugh at their efforts. In fact, the Cognoscenti (who read and review one Buddhism book after another) have yet to encounter a professor or scientist who truly groks Buddhism.
In this text, Rosenberg attempts to marry Buddhism with Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, and he audaciously terms his concoction “Dark Buddhism.†The marriage is a failure, because Rosenberg’s understanding of Buddhism (both original and Zen) doesn’t exceed a pop level. He recommends Steve Hagen’s retarded “Buddhism Plain and Simple†(see my one-star review), and the Buddhadharma he espouses reflects Hagen’s.
Although I’m a huge fan of Rand’s Objectivism (see my five-star review of her “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology), as is Rosenberg, the problem with  Objectivists is that they are allegic to mysticism and thus incapable of differentiating mystical hokum from esoteric spirituality, the reality of which they reject. Although some Objectivists, such as Rosenberg, gravitate to Buddhism because they perceive it as atheistic, scientific, and non-mystical, in truth, it is none of these, and, in fact, is ultra-mystical, pointing its adherents to an ineffable Reality that the Buddha termed Nirvana. But Rosenberg, a smug, flat intellectual, reduces Buddhism to his own shrunken level of understanding, and the result in this book is a perversion of genuine Buddhadharma.
Rosenberg’s reductionism, or de-esotericization, of Buddhism is exemplified by fallacious description of the eighth and culminating limb of Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. He writes, “The final aspect of the Eightfold Path is right meditation or right concentration. Right meditation is freeing the mind from distraction so that your thoughts become focused, centered, and aware.†This is an absolute perversion of this limb, which is Right Contemplation (or Samadhi), and is all about the Four Jhanas (or Samadhis), which are states of infused contemplation involving degrees of absorption in the Stream, or Spirit-current. There can be no attainment of Nirvana without the Jhanas, but Rosenberg not only doesn’t understand this, he doesn’t even understand Nirvana, which he mistakenly conflates with Satori. Moreover, the Cognoscenti an only laugh at those such as Rosenberg and Hagen, who, pathetically, reduce Enlightenment to “seeing things as they are.â€
Rosenberg’s descriptions of meditation reflect his own limited experience and development. And the fact that his own practice employs a mantra and visualization reveals the beginners level he is at. I have no problem with spiritual neophytes, but when they assume the role of a pontificating teacher, as he does, my hackles are raised.
I could spend pages deconstructing Rosenberg’s faulty, dumbed-down Buddhadaharma, but I have better things to do with my time. Instead, I’ll end my my review by briefly commenting on his central thesis: the distinction between his Dark Buddhism and traditional Buddhism. Rosenberg writes, “Philosophically the most glaring difference between Dark Buddhism and traditional Buddhism is that the Buddha taught dissolution of the self, whereas Dark Buddhism reintegrates the self into the philosophy and, particularly, directs itself to fostering healthy and strong self-esteem.â€
The Buddha did not teach dissolution of the self. He taught that no Self could be found in the Five Skandhas (or Aggregates). The Buddha would laugh at anyone “smuggling†self-esteem into his Dharma, and renaming it Dark Buddhism. Self-esteem has nothing whatsoever to do with Buddhism, which all about awakening to a supra-mundane Reality that frees one from, among other things, concern about one’s self-status.
I’d ordinarily give a butchered Buddhism book like this a single star, but the fact that Rosenberg champions Objectivism, while correctly pointing out some of its flaws, merits an additional star.
[My two-star Amazon review of  review of  “Dark Buddhism: Integrating Zen Buddhism and Objectivism†by Morgan D. Rosenberg.]
The author of this book, physicist Morgan D. Rosenberg, typifies the numeous professors and scientists who are attracted to Buddhism and think that their worldly success and intelligence somehow qualifies them to write books on the subject. But the Cognoscenti, the real experts in both Buddhism (and Objectivism), laugh at their efforts. In fact, the Cognoscenti (who read and review one Buddhism book after another) have yet to encounter a professor or scientist who truly groks Buddhism.
In this text, Rosenberg attempts to marry Buddhism with Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, and he audaciously terms his concoction “Dark Buddhism.†The marriage is a failure, because Rosenberg’s understanding of Buddhism (both original and Zen) doesn’t exceed a pop level. He recommends Steve Hagen’s retarded “Buddhism Plain and Simple†(see my one-star review), and the Buddhadharma he espouses reflects Hagen’s.
Although I’m a huge fan of Rand’s Objectivism (see my five-star review of her “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology), as is Rosenberg, the problem with  Objectivists is that they are allegic to mysticism and thus incapable of differentiating mystical hokum from esoteric spirituality, the reality of which they reject. Although some Objectivists, such as Rosenberg, gravitate to Buddhism because they perceive it as atheistic, scientific, and non-mystical, in truth, it is none of these, and, in fact, is ultra-mystical, pointing its adherents to an ineffable Reality that the Buddha termed Nirvana. But Rosenberg, a smug, flat intellectual, reduces Buddhism to his own shrunken level of understanding, and the result in this book is a perversion of genuine Buddhadharma.
Rosenberg’s reductionism, or de-esotericization, of Buddhism is exemplified by fallacious description of the eighth and culminating limb of Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path. He writes, “The final aspect of the Eightfold Path is right meditation or right concentration. Right meditation is freeing the mind from distraction so that your thoughts become focused, centered, and aware.†This is an absolute perversion of this limb, which is Right Contemplation (or Samadhi), and is all about the Four Jhanas (or Samadhis), which are states of infused contemplation involving degrees of absorption in the Stream, or Spirit-current. There can be no attainment of Nirvana without the Jhanas, but Rosenberg not only doesn’t understand this, he doesn’t even understand Nirvana, which he mistakenly conflates with Satori. Moreover, the Cognoscenti an only laugh at those such as Rosenberg and Hagen, who, pathetically, reduce Enlightenment to “seeing things as they are.â€
Rosenberg’s descriptions of meditation reflect his own limited experience and development. And the fact that his own practice employs a mantra and visualization reveals the beginners level he is at. I have no problem with spiritual neophytes, but when they assume the role of a pontificating teacher, as he does, my hackles are raised.
I could spend pages deconstructing Rosenberg’s faulty, dumbed-down Buddhadaharma, but I have better things to do with my time. Instead, I’ll end my my review by briefly commenting on his central thesis: the distinction between his Dark Buddhism and traditional Buddhism. Rosenberg writes, “Philosophically the most glaring difference between Dark Buddhism and traditional Buddhism is that the Buddha taught dissolution of the self, whereas Dark Buddhism reintegrates the self into the philosophy and, particularly, directs itself to fostering healthy and strong self-esteem.â€
The Buddha did not teach dissolution of the self. He taught that no Self could be found in the Five Skandhas (or Aggregates). The Buddha would laugh at anyone “smuggling†self-esteem into his Dharma, and renaming it Dark Buddhism. Self-esteem has nothing whatsoever to do with Buddhism, which all about awakening to a supra-mundane Reality that frees one from, among other things, concern about one’s self-status.
I’d ordinarily give a butchered Buddhism book like this a single star, but the fact that Rosenberg champions Objectivism, while correctly pointing out some of its flaws, merits an additional star.
