BUDDHISM IN THE WEST: SOME REFLECTIONS BASED ON THE CRITICISM OF SLAVOJ ZIZEK OR HOW TO THINK SOME ASPECTS OF SPIRITUALITY IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Abstract

2,600 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama opened a new path of spiritual fulfillment. However, it was only in the last century that it has reached the West, spreading its roots in various communities of practice and other forms of adherence in the Western world. The doctrine follows the same goals proclaimed by Buddha: a gradual path of liberation, seeking spiritual fulfillment. That is how we speak here about criticism of Buddhism by Zizek. For him, Buddhism would appear to have a conservative and reactionary attitude. According to Zizek, Buddhism in post-industrial capitalism is something palatable, a tool to adapt to this Zeitgeist. Zizek's critique is directed towards a kind of "Western Buddhism", absorbed within a constellation of New Age devices that would work in the background, confirming the hegemony of world capitalism. What connects the Buddhism of Buddha to the Buddhism as understood by Zizek? In other words, what connects what has a revolutionary potential in Buddha and that, as pointed by Zizek, which is assimilated by the status quo in order to become conservative? The answer to this can only be meditation.