Why I wish Buddhists had a good anti-Buddhism litany

First, Buddhists often talk as though “Buddhism” were a cohesive thing with a fixed set of doctrines. Maybe all the Buddhisms are that Buddhism deep down, or maybe there’s one True Buddhism surrounded by pretenders to the throne. This is not a thing. “Buddhism” is about as broad a category as “Abrahamism,” and the weird Buddhisms out there get very weird. Just saying you’re an Abrahamist or saying you endorse “the core message of Abrahamism” is not saying a lot, and thinking that way is liable to get you confused. Also, all the popular Buddhisms have rather a lot of bad mental habits, have mixed-at-best epistemics, and (even if they contain some truths) are awash with falsehoods and overconfident beliefs. And, while some Buddhisms are better than others, you will search for a lifetime and you won’t find the True Buddhism, ‘cause: There’s no such thing as a Buddhist Essence. So there’s no denomination that perfectly captures that Essence. Nor is there (yet, to my knowledge) an establish

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• Katherine Slattery