Algernon's Law: "Any simple major enhancement to human intelligence is a net evolutionary disadvantage." The article applies this to mental states, like the difference between our normal thinking and meditative states.
A partial rebuttal might be that we live in a very artificial environment, and the mental state we walk around in isn't necessarily the same as the typical mental state of a hunter-gatherer. I've taken courses in primitive wilderness survival that emphasized this point pretty strongly.
Some types of meditation can help counteract the effects of modern life. Focusing on the present moment with a lot of awareness of your surroundings, for example, can definitely have survival benefits. A great book that delves into the mental aspects of survival situations is Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why.
(I'm not claiming this has anything to do with sex scandals, it was just a side note the article mentioned. Also I'm not claiming that all forms of meditation have survival benefits.)
There are hundreds of accomplished practitioners without sex scandals. Also societal norms do not break down much in traditional theravada, so it's not an excuse.
I'm "enlightened". By saying that I am asserting that I have had a mystical experience (satori) and have integrated the experience into my world view.
The experience of satori brought me to understand that the Cosmos is an artefact of the love of the awakened consciousness (myself) for the beautiful Light which woke me. This "Light" is identified with a loving thought of the Creator.
Nowhere in enlightenment is there any intrinsic moral value.
However if I should choose to spend my life in becoming friends with the Creator, I must choose paths of kindness,decency, and love.
Enlightenment is possible for all men equally, and comes upon both good and bad men.
This is, with best possible intentions, ignorant wordplay, and perhaps impossible to see with blinders on, offensive.
To be clear, this isn't a coherent argument: "Buddhism has a concept [roughly translated as] enlightenment. [In English, enlightenment means to have knowledge. Therefore if you are enlightened you should have moral knowledge. Some Buddhists have sex. Sex is a craving or desire.] Not many modern Buddhist teachers say enlightenment makes you free from craving or desire. At least some do. Buddhists should retreat and describe enlightenment as a biological phenomena involving brain networks short-circuiting experience of self-hood."
A partial rebuttal might be that we live in a very artificial environment, and the mental state we walk around in isn't necessarily the same as the typical mental state of a hunter-gatherer. I've taken courses in primitive wilderness survival that emphasized this point pretty strongly.
Some types of meditation can help counteract the effects of modern life. Focusing on the present moment with a lot of awareness of your surroundings, for example, can definitely have survival benefits. A great book that delves into the mental aspects of survival situations is Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why.
(I'm not claiming this has anything to do with sex scandals, it was just a side note the article mentioned. Also I'm not claiming that all forms of meditation have survival benefits.)