Alan Watts: mixing Hinduism and Buddhism

Alan Watts (alanwatts.org) "Out of Your Mind," Essential Listening with Alan Watts, Session 10 (SoundsTrue.com) via Eye 1; Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly]

Alan Watts is on KPFK radio every week.

Mahayana Buddhism, the larger (~90% of Buddhists) of the two dominant schools nowadays, was chewed up by Brahmin priests. They made the new revolutionary teachings of Shakyamuni (the "Sage of the Scythians") that were displacing their religion into something they could tolerate, something that did not differ from their texts.

L.A. Pacifica Radio Archive: Alan Watts

That old philosophy, the Brahminical religion (Brahmanism) they inherited from the ancient Vedas was not to be overthrown. They had to subvert the Buddha's teaching to do it. What they taught was called the Sanatan Dharma, the Eternal Teachings. Shakyamuni taught the Buddha Dharma, which radically departed with some of the core assumptions of the old views. Here spiritual entertainer Alan Watts looks at the mix.

The same Vedic Hindu ideas spread everywhere.

Theravada Buddhism (~10%) rejects many Hindu/Mahayana concepts in favor of what the historical Buddha actually taught. But the whole world normally only ever hears the Hindu/Mahayana version, which is found in many religions including Christianity and Islam. What the Buddha Taught is just too radical for people to fathom.

So the chance for enlightenment (awakening) is lost. And all religions end up saying the same thing, as if all paths led to the same goal. But the Buddha's goal was nothing short of nirvana, and that is not the same as heaven, Hindu or Jain moksha, or what other religions call salvation.