Interesting essay, thanks for sharing. Buddhist practice is the central focus of my life & is how I became interested in EA. I see the two as fairly compatible. I’m assuming the essay’s focus is on Buddhists that have a primarily physicalist ontology (that subjective experience is an epiphenomena of brain chemistry). If that is the case, then I think engaged Buddhism, when taken to the highest degree of intensity, converges fairly well with EA.
Things become arguably more interesting if we adopt the traditional Buddhist ontology which includes multiple realms of existence, karma & rebirth. For instance, the population ethics does change in this case. In the traditional Buddhist worldview, there are a finite set of sentient beings being reborn in the universe. The total population of sentient beings can decrease (because sentient beings reach liberation & stop being reborn) but not increase (since Buddhist logic negates a first cause).
The main thrust of population ethics in this case is to increase the proportion of sentient beings reborn into “fortunate human births” (a traditional Buddhist phrase) which thus allows them the greatest opportunity to generate positive momentum (i.e. by being effective altruists) to eventually reach liberation. Ordinary sentient beings are not really able to effect this; at most they can encourage other humans to maximize their altruistic efforts & thus build that positive momentum. To me, this is how traditional Buddhadharma could align with EA.
Where they don’t align is around doing more than just practicing altruism. The traditional Buddhist worldview suggests that some of the most possible good someone can do is to strive to become a Buddha through training in meditative concentration & insight into the nature of reality. Through this training, it is possible to progress through degrees of liberation which put one in a position to do the most possible good for others from a multi-lifetime perspective. This would include occupying altruistic worldly functions such as those encouraged by EA, but also encouraging others to spend a large portion of their lives meditating. In other words, spending a large portion of life meditating is highly recommended by traditional Buddhism but only makes sense from a utilitarian perspective if one takes a multi-lifetime view.
I think there’s some case for specialization. That is, some people should dedicate their lives to meditation because it is necessary to carry forward the dharma. Most people probably have other comparative advantages. This is not a typical way of thinking about practice, but I think there’s a case to be made that we could look at becoming a monk, for example, as a case of exercises comparative advantage as part of an ecosystem of practitioners who engage in various ways based on their comparative abilities (mostly focused on what they could be doing in the world otherwise).
I use this sort of reasoning myself. Why not become a monk? Because it seems like I can have a larger positive impact on the world as a lay practitioner. Why would I become a monk? If the calculus changed and it was my best course of action to positively impact the world.
A few years ago I asked a zen nun what exactly is the use of being a nun, living quite secluded and without much impact on the world. Her response was (roughly speaking) that it is good if some people practice and study intensely because that keeps the quality and depth of the tradition alive and develops it. But not everyone should take that path. It seems like you was expressing the same idea as you are! I think she now leads one of the monastic centers in Germany.
Really appreciate that notion. It is something I’ve thought a lot about myself. I also tend to find that my personal spiritual practice benefits from a mix of many short meditation retreats, daily formal meditation sessions & ongoing altruistic efforts in daily life. I don’t feel that I would make a good teacher of meditation if I did that full time or that my practice would reach greater depth faster if I quit my job & practiced full time.
Interesting essay, thanks for sharing. Buddhist practice is the central focus of my life & is how I became interested in EA. I see the two as fairly compatible. I’m assuming the essay’s focus is on Buddhists that have a primarily physicalist ontology (that subjective experience is an epiphenomena of brain chemistry). If that is the case, then I think engaged Buddhism, when taken to the highest degree of intensity, converges fairly well with EA.
Things become arguably more interesting if we adopt the traditional Buddhist ontology which includes multiple realms of existence, karma & rebirth. For instance, the population ethics does change in this case. In the traditional Buddhist worldview, there are a finite set of sentient beings being reborn in the universe. The total population of sentient beings can decrease (because sentient beings reach liberation & stop being reborn) but not increase (since Buddhist logic negates a first cause).
The main thrust of population ethics in this case is to increase the proportion of sentient beings reborn into “fortunate human births” (a traditional Buddhist phrase) which thus allows them the greatest opportunity to generate positive momentum (i.e. by being effective altruists) to eventually reach liberation. Ordinary sentient beings are not really able to effect this; at most they can encourage other humans to maximize their altruistic efforts & thus build that positive momentum. To me, this is how traditional Buddhadharma could align with EA.
Where they don’t align is around doing more than just practicing altruism. The traditional Buddhist worldview suggests that some of the most possible good someone can do is to strive to become a Buddha through training in meditative concentration & insight into the nature of reality. Through this training, it is possible to progress through degrees of liberation which put one in a position to do the most possible good for others from a multi-lifetime perspective. This would include occupying altruistic worldly functions such as those encouraged by EA, but also encouraging others to spend a large portion of their lives meditating. In other words, spending a large portion of life meditating is highly recommended by traditional Buddhism but only makes sense from a utilitarian perspective if one takes a multi-lifetime view.
I think there’s some case for specialization. That is, some people should dedicate their lives to meditation because it is necessary to carry forward the dharma. Most people probably have other comparative advantages. This is not a typical way of thinking about practice, but I think there’s a case to be made that we could look at becoming a monk, for example, as a case of exercises comparative advantage as part of an ecosystem of practitioners who engage in various ways based on their comparative abilities (mostly focused on what they could be doing in the world otherwise).
I use this sort of reasoning myself. Why not become a monk? Because it seems like I can have a larger positive impact on the world as a lay practitioner. Why would I become a monk? If the calculus changed and it was my best course of action to positively impact the world.
A few years ago I asked a zen nun what exactly is the use of being a nun, living quite secluded and without much impact on the world. Her response was (roughly speaking) that it is good if some people practice and study intensely because that keeps the quality and depth of the tradition alive and develops it. But not everyone should take that path. It seems like you was expressing the same idea as you are! I think she now leads one of the monastic centers in Germany.
Really appreciate that notion. It is something I’ve thought a lot about myself. I also tend to find that my personal spiritual practice benefits from a mix of many short meditation retreats, daily formal meditation sessions & ongoing altruistic efforts in daily life. I don’t feel that I would make a good teacher of meditation if I did that full time or that my practice would reach greater depth faster if I quit my job & practiced full time.