Buddhist Romanticism

eing, preventing them from gaining the most from their encounter with
the Dhamma.
Thus the purpose of this chapter is threefold. The first purpose is to
demonstrate that what is often taught and accepted as Buddhism in the
West is actually Romantic religion dressed up in Buddhist garb. In other
words, the basic structure of modern Buddhism is actually Romantic, with
Buddhist elements reshaped so as to fit into the confines of that structure.
This is why, as we noted in the Introduction, this tendency is best referred
to as Buddhist Romanticism, rather than Romantic Buddhism.
The second purpose is to gain some distance from these Romantic
assumptions by understanding why they hold attractions—and seeing that
their attractions are dangerous, fostering an attitude of heedlessness that
the Dhamma cites as the primary reason for making harmful and unskillful
choices in life.
The third purpose is to expand on this last point, showing the practical
implications of forcing the Dhamma into a Romantic mold. A main tenet of
Buddhist Romanticism is one that can be traced back to Hölderlin: that your
choice of a religious path is purely a matter of taste, and that whatever
makes you feel good, peaceful, or whole at any given moment is perfectly
valid. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what you believe, as all beliefs are
equally inadequate expressions of a feeling of Oneness. All that matters is
learning how to use those beliefs to achieve their common goal, a
temporary but personally very real impression of the Oneness of all Being.
From the perspective of the Dhamma, though, beliefs are not just
feelings. They are a form of action. Actions have consequences both within
and without, and it’s important to be clear that your choices do make a
difference, particularly when you realize that the Dhamma does not aim at
a feeling of Oneness, and regards Oneness as only a step to a higher goal:
total freedom. To genuinely benefit from your powers of choice and from
the possibility of this higher goal, you owe it to yourself to understand the
practical implications of holding to different systems of belief.
Because its purpose is threefold, the main body of this chapter is divided
into three main sections. The first section documents the existence of
Romantic views in the talks and writings of modern teachers. At the same
time, it shows how these views derive from the question and answer that
provide the basic structure for Romantic spirituality—and thus the
structure for Buddhist Romanticism. The second section discusses some of
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