Levine cautions that “Human beings have created a deeply dysfunctional culture” and that “Buddhism” is not the solution. “I would reject socalled Buddhism along with the rest, because much of what masquerades as Buddhism today is in direct opposition to what the Buddha actually did and taught.” The truth to serve is wisdom and compassion and the truth of reality. “The spiritual revolutionary practices nonviolence, generosity, and engagement to help others.” And as a final note of advice, “Accept nothing as true until you have experienced it for yourself.”

Hardcore Zen

Brad Warner is another contemporary Buddhist teacher. Like Levine, his teachings are raw, honest, and iconoclastic. Author of Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, & the Truth About Reality, and more recently, Zen Wrapped in Karma, Dipped in Chocolate, Warner issues similar warnings as Levine. He says, “Nothing is sacred. Doubt — in everything — is absolutely essential. Everything, no matter how great, how fundamental, how beautiful, or important it is must be questioned.” And that includes Buddhism and Buddhist teachers. Echoing the original teachings of the Buddha, he warns against holding any “beliefs.” Rather, your direct experience must take precedence over belief. He goes on to say, “Some people think enlightenment is some kind of superspecial state without questions or doubts, some kind of absolute faith in your beliefs and the rightness of your perceptions. That's not enlightenment. In fact, that's the very worst kind of delusion.”

As you contemplate taking action to make the world a better place, consider Warner's admonition: “You can't live in paradise — but you are living right here. Make this your paradise or make this your hell. The choice is entirely yours. Really.”

Money, Sex, War, Karma

In his book, Money, Sex, War, Karma, Buddhist author, professor, and teacher David Loy presents essays on these topics to help to establish a “new vision of human possibility.” Buddhist practitioners in the West are confronted with differentiating what needs to be retained from traditional Asian Buddhism and what needs to be unique to the West.

Like transplanting an exotic species to new soil, it may be helpful to retain some of the original soil. At the same time, he points out the irony that the Buddha was very flexible in his approach, “more flexible and openminded than the institutions that developed to preserve his teachings.” To save the planet, Buddhism will need to rediscover this flexibility.

To overcome the destructive influence of greed, hatred, and delusion, the self's sense of fundamental lack must be addressed. Westerners have constructed a sense of self that seeks to fill this sense of lack with money and material possessions, sex, and acts out through aggression, conflict, and warfare. “Awakening to our constructedness (that is, no self) is the only real solution to our most fundamental anxiety.”

Loy states, “We live in a world radically different from anything that even Shakyamuni could have anticipated, which requires creative ways of adapting his profound insights to new challenges.” Awakening is basically a personal affair, and while it may be tempting to think that Buddhism could provide enlightened solutions to political and economic problems, the translation from one domain to another may not be that seamless. Loy points out that Buddhism has more to say about the means of change rather than what to change. He recommends four components for the Buddhist revolution: