Is there something base-level cringeworthy about getting into

>wastes his time reading about religion

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>le noble eastern people
>le peace, love, and nature

>>7647479
That most people turn eastern spirituality in a product that has to be consumed, there was a essay (not sure if was zizek) on how eastern spirituality is perfect for the consumerist western because it strips him of all responsibility.

let me search for it.

Eastern philosophy is legitimate and has influenced (and still influences) many western thinkers such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, however, a lot of people don't really understand what it really is and tend to associate it with a hippy-esque live laugh love kind of vibe, thus the popular romantization of the Dalai Lama, the "spiritual" quotes posted by soccer moms on pinterest and facebook, and everything related to Terrance McKenna. As long as you actually understand whatever specific philosophy you choose to study, you'll be fine.

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>>7647479
It's hard to say from personal experience, as I've never specifically looked into eastern spirituality.

Though, I can say, Japan is even further off the moral sexual and consumerist spectrum than most of us in the west.

Picture related, for example, is the official mascot for Kentucky fried chicken. They have the colonel too, of course, but they also plaster their walls, menus, and kids lunch boxes with this busty, and suggestive chicken wing. I had school aged girls try to sell themselves to me on the busy streets, and saw 40 year old men reading hentai on public transport and buy used panties from vending machines with absolutely no shame.

You could say that this was all brought on by the Americans post Hiroshima -- I do not know how the Japanese majority acted pre drop, but I do know, that what ever may have once been present, is no longer.

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>>7647505
Tfw you have ghandi quotes in your work lunchroom reminding you that 'the customer is the most important part of your business'

The problem is that a lot of things in Eastern spirituality came from Christianity, but people in the West started ascribing them to "ancient Eastern wisdom" with the rise of Orientalism. For instance, “mantra” and “japa” (mantra meditation) just meant a regular prayer in Eastern religions until a while after Christians started using constant repetitions. The earliest Buddhist canon, which is the Pali canon, dates from 29 BC and make no mention of mantra meditation. Christian meditation dates back to the OT (Genesis 24:63). Joshua 1:8 says to keep the Law constantly on your lips, to meditate on it day and night. The word translated as “meditate” here, means to mutter or growl quietly. Paul says to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) The earliest extensive written instructions on Christian mantra meditation, were authored by Saint John Cassian, in 420 AD, at the behest of Bishop Castor of Apt. The earliest account of Buddha as we think of him now was written by Buddhaghosa, and dates from around the same time Saint John Cassian was writing (earlier accounts of Buddha are closer to something out of Homer). The Visuddhimagga, Buddhaghosa’s extensive meditation manual, makes no mention of mantras; here meditation is focusing on something (or focusing on precisely nothing), but none of the instruction says anything about use of mantras in meditation. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, from the 4th Century AD, mention mantras, but here they have nothing to do with mediation, they’re invocations used to gain power over things, probably the identical sense to what they were for Brahmin priests. As for Hinduism, their most famous mantra, the Hare Krishna, was not used for constant repetition or meditation until 16th Century AD, when it was popularized by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

There are legitimate converts to Eastern religion, but how many self-described Buddhists of the West actually read the countless Buddhist core works, and attend Buddhist religious services? They simplify to just negative hedonism, but with more exotic allure.

>>7647479
>What makes eastern religion seem so superior to western religion?

Directness and emphasis on experience. Instead of ceaselessly arguing about the nature of God, whether he exists or not, you follow a set of exercises and get results. On their basis, you make conclusions. In fact, the majority of Eastern religious thought is based upon the direct experience of their philosophers. And unless you have that experience, you can go astray with concepts and make a total ass of your "self." That is exactly the problem with European understanding of Eastern religion.
Try to explain shunyata without sounding like a nihilist. Look how Western women raped Buddhist and Hindu tantra.
And the majority of Western seekers just see in Eastern spirituality a way to aggrandize themselves and pretend to be spiritual while indulging in their vices - look how spiritual I am, by posting this Buddha picture, listening to Goa trance all night long and pretending to be aware and awake while being drugged and fucked by ten Jamals - so it doesn't surprise me or anger me anymore when a crazy wisdom guru drives them nuts and insane in an effort to show what real Eastern spirituality is about.

>>7647652
You are way too smart to be out /lit/.
This is a place for weebs and neets, for shit posting, and trying to impress anonymous people on the Internet with things they neither read, nor understand.