1. Buddhism only values 'self-awareness' insofar as it cultivates humility and compassion.
2. It is not necessary to create a 'self' before you abandon it.
3. It is not true that believing that all people are part of one another will necessarily make somebody a better person. People are often careless of themselves.
4. The idea of 'interbeing' was not taught by Buddha.
5. 'Oneness' and 'interdependency' are mutually contradictory ideas and neither is central to Buddhism. Interdependency exists, but is a special case, not a universal one. Any kind of inter-relationship implies at least two participants.
6. Nothing is indivisibly singular.
7. Spiritual maturity requires a sense of separation. Without separation one cannot respect others.
8. Peace in the world will not be achieved by all becoming the same.
9. Buddha taught mostly by the skilful use of words. The idea that the Dharma cannot be conveyed in words would disqualify Buddha himself.
10. Buddhism encourages clear, critical investigation and thought.
11. It is not necessary to 'love oneself' before one can be loving toward others. As Dogen says, 'First save others before you attempt to save yourself.'
12. Nonduality is a dualistic theory.
13. Harmony is not a primary value in Buddhism. Buddha did not advocate 'going with the flow' but more often spoke of 'cutting across the stream'.
14. Trying to find your true self is a waste of time.
15. Enlightenment is not a 'state of mind'.
16. As Takuan said 'You can't make a Buddha by meditating'.
17. There is no technique or protocol that can guarantee enlightenment.
18. When something is completely known, it passes into the unconscious and becomes a fully integrated part of the person. Consciousness is a transitional phase in the learning process. The cultivation of consciousness per se is not a correct goal of the spiritual life.
19. It is important to be mindful of past learning and experience and of the future high purpose of life in order that one not become lost merely in the present.
20. It is self-evident that in no empirical respect are any two human beings born equal.
21. All needs are relative to a purpose. There are no 'absolute' needs. One does not need to go on living unless one has some worthwhile purpose in doing so.
22. In nature, we have no rights. Rights are human conventions that only hold within the bounds of the culture that asserts them. (Nobody has a 'right' to exemption from disease, old age, death, nor natural calamity.)
23. The fact that in a free society each person has a social right to their own opinion does not mean that all opinions are equally valid. Most people hold to a mixture of views that includes substantial elements of self-contradiction.
24. There is no basic reason to believe that a majority is going to be more right than a minority. Most advances start as minority concerns.
25. No action of a deluded mind can generate an enlightened one. Therefore, Buddhism is not a matter of accumulating self-development.
26. Karma is inexorable, even for Buddhas.
27. Dukkha is a truth for 'noble ones', not something that can be eliminated.
28. Buddha did not get enlightened by following the 'eightfold path' - he discovered the eightfold path by getting enlightened.
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