As we enter further into the 2020s, the need for a healthy spiritual outlet is becoming increasingly clear. This is particularly exemplified in cases like that of “Twin Flames Universe,” a spiritual organization who, according to testimony from ex-members, drew vulnerable individuals in and alienated them from their families.
“Louise Cole and Paula Hardy haven’t spoken to their beloved Stephanie in five years,” began an article on the organization from The Independent entitled “She joined Twin Flames Universe looking for love. Her family says she ‘disappeared’ from their lives.”
Stephanie—Louise’s daughter and Paula’s identical twin sister—joined the Twin Flames Universe, a cult-like online spiritual dating community in 2018.
At first, Louise welcomed her daughter’s seeming interest in religion and God. But, as she explains in a new Netflix documentary, Stephanie “effectively disappeared” from her family’s life, severing contact with them in a letter.
”They told her everything she wanted to hear,” Louise tells The Independent in a joint interview with her daughter Paula. “That’s typically what they do. They woo you to draw you in.”
The article goes on to describe the group’s raison d’etre: helping people find their own version of a “soulmate” or lifelong lover. That’s the carrot, of course, and not the stick. Behind this concept is something more obviously insidious:
Twin Flames Universe revolves around the concept of a “twin flame”—a person with whom someone is meant to be romantically involved. (To those who believe in these concepts, a twin flame is different in theory from a soulmate, though the two are similar in practice.) Participants in Escaping Twin Flames recount finding the group at times of romantic delusionment, such as after difficult breakups or unrequited crushes.
Former Twin Flames members, however, have described group dynamics and actions that go beyond the realm of any dating or relationship coaching business.
Some of them describe being assigned a partner within the group, sometimes all the way up to marriage. Some have claimed they were made to question their sexualities and gender identities.
Participants in the group also claimed they were pressured into doing various detrimental things, like relentlessly pursuing a “twin flame” who was not romantically interested in them (up to and even beyond legal restraining orders), or changing their diets to be more in line with the (allegedly very unhealthy) recommendations of their leaders. All of this, of course, involves the monetization of the people who are inevitably sucked into this corrupt brand of spirituality.
In my view, the premise “Twin Flames Universe” used to sell itself is faulty in the first place, relying on promises of a kind of eternal emotional, spiritual, and physical gratification which can never be delivered. This is similar to the promises of other popular spiritual beliefs like the “Law of Attraction” or “manifesting.”
“On TikTok, teenagers share stories about how ‘scripting,’ or repeatedly writing down a wish, caused a crush to finally text them back. On YouTube, vloggers lead tutorials on how to properly manifest your dream future. On Instagram, someone will write that $20,000 will soon land in your hands, and all you have to do is comment ‘YES,’” claimed a 2020 article from Vox entitled “Shut up, I’m manifesting!”
It further describes the practice of “manifestation” like this:
“Manifesting,” or the practice of thinking aspirational thoughts with the purpose of making them real, has never been more popular: From late March to mid-July, Google searches for the term have skyrocketed 669 percent; “shut up I’m manifesting” is among the defining memes of 2020. Yet even pre-pandemic, interest had been gradually rising since around 2017, alongside burgeoning conversations around wellness and self-care. At the same time as stereotypically woo-woo practices involving crystals, essential oils, tarot, and energy wavelengths were reaching the general consciousness, professionals and influencers touting these methods were making bank (Goop’s Gwyneth Paltrow, for instance).
Considering the rise in all of these trends, it has become abundantly clear that the New Atheist worldview of the “insignificant meat sack on a floating rock” is gradually coming to an end. This point is driven home by the fact that the religiously unaffiliated, according to Pew Research, are generally less “happy” than their actively religious counterparts.
“Actively religious people are more likely than their less-religious peers to describe themselves as ‘very happy,’ in about half of the countries surveyed.” said Pew Research’s 2019 article “Are religious people happier, healthier? Our new global study explores this question.”
Sometimes the gaps are striking: In the U.S., for instance, 36% of the actively religious describe themselves as “very happy,” compared with 25% of the inactively religious and 25% of the unaffiliated. Notable happiness gaps among these groups also exist in Japan, Australia and Germany… At the same time, the actively religious are generally less likely than the unaffiliated to smoke and drink.
All in all, it seems that the materialist, rationalist worldview held by most modern Atheists is rapidly losing its luster as consumerism and politics fail to fill in the Nihilistic void left by the decline of organized religion.
This, of course, leads us to a different problem: that the new forms of spirituality rushing to take the place of rationalist Atheism and Scientism don’t subvert the flaws that inevitably led to the decline in Atheism happiness. If anything, they reinforce them.
Instead of their adherents realizing that they’ve been desiring things that don’t really lead to contentment, they’ve come to the conclusion that the aforementioned previous beliefs simply weren’t efficient enough at delivering those things, so they’ve turned to “manifesting” and forms of mysticism around romantic love.
As evidenced by my “Hokusaist Essays” series, I’ve taken a great amount of interest in this spiritual crisis. Not only have I given much thought in diagnosing this problem, I have also sought out ways to ameliorate it; not only in my own life, but hopefully for the sake of others as well.
Since writing the Hokusaist Essays, I have explored various forms of religion, mysticism, spirituality, metaphysics, and philosophy in the pursuit of some kind of cosmic worldview that can appeal not only to one’s religious needs, but their intellectual ones as well.
First I found Animism, then Shintoism, then Buddhism, and eventually ended up on the topic I want to cover in this piece: Esoteric Buddhism or, in this case, namely Japanese “Shingon” Buddhism. It was here where I finally found many of the answers I’ve been looking for, and I want to share them with you.
The first question I should answer is “what does Esoteric Buddhism offer that makes it special?” I thought about how to explain this in simple terms for quite some time. However, it wasn’t until I watched a documentary recently that the thought fully coalesced.
The documentary in question is “The Dark, Sad Life of Boogie2988,” which seeks to capture the daily life of fallen YouTuber Boogie2988 and his struggles with health, finances, and romance. Throughout the film, Boogie explains his fixation with toys and games, his collections of which fill his house. Once a man who rose in popularity as he espoused the philosophy of hope, optimism, and strength in the face of adversity, Boogie now appears hopeless, depressed, and destitute.
The aforementioned toys and games were his only refuge, a reminder of the wonder he once experienced in his childhood but lost as he grew older. Because of this, much of the small fortune he had amassed during the height of his popularity went into various trinkets, toys, and entertainment devices, as well as towards fulfilling base sensual pleasures via large amounts of food and frequent solicitation of prostitutes.
The end result of all of this left Boogie not only more depressed and Nihilistic than before, but also more financially desperate and physically unhealthy, to the point where his growing medical costs were on the verge of leaving him without a house. His only ray of light at the time the documentary was filmed was his significantly younger girlfriend, who he connected to via the same vapid hobbies he had been wasting significant time and money on for decades.
In Boogie’s worldview, nothing seemed to matter but physical fulfillment and empty emotional indulgence in petty things like toys. Outside of these, there was nothing sacred or meaningful. Was it any wonder that he completely neglected his health to the point where his obesity was slowly killing him?
While watching this film, I kept thinking “what was this man missing?” Are there any ingredients that, if added to one’s worldview, could take them out of this kind of self-destructive Nihilism? I related this back to the cosmological worldview of Esoteric Buddhism and was able to distill some key points.
For the purpose of this essay, I want to categorize Esoteric Buddhist beliefs as being “large” and “small.” It grows its cosmology to be unfathomably expansive, while also shrinking it down to the size of a pinhole, and both of these aspects are simultaneous and non-dual.
These two facets are exemplified in the concepts of “emptiness,” or “sunyata,” and “karma,” which can be defined as the physical and metaphysical consequences of one’s actions.
As actor Pierce Brosnan, a scholar of Buddhism, explains them in the video “Karma and Emptiness with Pierce Brosnan”:
In Buddhism, we often hear the mysterious-sounding words “karma” and “emptiness.” “Karma”... in its most basic form, means that if you do good deeds, good results come, and if you do bad deeds, bad results come. Emptiness, one of Buddhism’s most advanced teachings, explains that all things exist interdependently, without concrete inherent identities.
Karma and emptiness are inseparably woven together in a mystical union, and understanding how they work together is essential in practicing the path of enlightenment. More than mere philosophical theories, technical understanding of karma and emptiness gives us practical tools to use in our daily lives… Because things are empty of separate concrete identities, it is essential for us to observe the law of karma and act in an ethical way.
Sunyata, or emptiness, is essentially the “big picture” of Buddhist theory, present in the earliest scriptures of the Buddhist umbrella. Per the “Sunna Sutta” from the Pali Cannon (believed to be Buddhism’s earliest writings):
"Insofar as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ananda, that the world is empty. And what is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self? The eye is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. Forms... Eye-consciousness... Eye-contact is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self.
"The ear is empty...
"The nose is empty...
"The tongue is empty...
"The body is empty...
"The intellect is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. Ideas... Intellect-consciousness... Intellect-contact is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. Thus it is said that the world is empty." (SN 35.85)
In the later-developed Mahayana Buddhism, this theory of emptiness gives birth to the concept of “Prajnaparamita,” or “the Perfection of Wisdom,” which is a state of mind that analyzes the world through the lens that everything we see, hear, taste, touch, smell, etc. is created via our illusory senses and everything is, in fact, all one in nature.
The most famous mention of Prajnaparamita is in the Heart Sutra, a masterpiece of poetry that attempts to distill the concept of emptiness, which before was expounded in volumes upon volumes of sutras, into a text that can fit onto a single page. Here is a lengthy snippet via the website “Lotsawa House”:
…Noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva and great being, beheld the practice of the profound perfection of wisdom [i.e. Prajnaparamita], and saw that the five aggregates are empty of nature. Then, through the Buddha's power, venerable Śāriputra said to noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva and great being: “How should a child of noble family who wishes to practise the profound perfection of wisdom train?”
This is what he said, and the noble Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva and great being, replied to venerable Śāriputra as follows: “O Śāriputra, a son of noble family or daughter of noble family who wishes to practise the profound perfection of wisdom should regard things in this way: they should see the five aggregates to be empty of nature. Form is empty; emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is not other than emptiness. In the same way, sensation, recognition, conditioning factors, and consciousness are emptiness.
Therefore, Śāriputra, all dharmas are emptiness; they are without characteristics; they are unarisen and unceasing; they are not tainted and not untainted; they are not deficient and not complete. Therefore, Śāriputra, in emptiness, there is no form, no sensation, no recognition, no conditioning factors, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no visible form, no sound, no odour, no taste, no texture and no mental objects; there is no eye element up to no mind element and as far as no mental consciousness element; there is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance up to no old age and death, no extinction of old age and death.
These concepts continued to evolve until they took on the form of Mahavairocana in esoteric thought. While depictions of Mahavairocana may appear similar to that of an “Almighty God,” he is conceptually very different. He has various “bodies,” so to speak, with his physical one being made up of the five primary elements themselves (fire, air, water, earth, and space). Another facet of him is made up of the sixth element of “mind,” which is shared by all beings.
Per Shingon Esoteric Buddhism’s primary text, the Mahavairocana Sutra:
I am identical with the station of the mind, sovereign everywhere,
And universally pervade various sentient and non-sentient beings.
The letter A stands for primary life,
The letter Va refers to water,
The letter Ra refers to fire,
The letter Hum refers to wind,
And the letter Kha is the same as empty space.
Shingon’s founder, the master of Esoteric Buddhism Kukai, explains the above passage like this:
In the first line of this scriptural passage—“I am identical with the station of the mind”—“mind” refers to consciousness-wisdom. The last five lines refer to the five elements.
Mahavairocana represents the totality of the cosmos in its original unborn and eternal state. But because Buddhism’s philosophy is that of non-dualism, beings like us are not apart from Mahavairocana. As I said before, all beings share the mind elements, just as they share the other elements as well. Therefore WE are also Mahavairocana in a sense.
This brings us back to the “small” side of Buddhist cosmology, the one that deals with individual beings and their interactions with each other. In the primary Shingon esoteric texts, Mahavairocana manifests in the form of a Buddha to expound the secret teachings in order to “liberate all sentient beings” (i.e. lead them to enlightenment).
The conventional concept of a “Buddha” is that of an “awakened” or “enlightened” teacher who spreads the seeds of awakening to those around him. Esoteric Buddhism, however, has a very comprehensive conception of a “Buddha.” The very cosmos itself is a Buddha, as it gained self-realization before time began, and it now guides all beings to self-realization in the form of a union with itself.
This is the playing out of the “Buddha” narrative on a cosmic scale, the large and the small unified via the same basic archetype. When we embody this archetype we reach the much sought-after union with the unborn eternal universe. In Shingon Esoteric Buddhism, the primary way this is accomplished is via the “three mysteries” of “body, speech and mind.”
The practices around these are described in the text “Shingon Buddhism Theory And Practice,” written by Minoru Kyiota, in this way:
From the standpoint of man, his aspiration to realize Buddhahood is described in terms of tri-karma, the three practices of man; from the standpoint of the Buddha, his desire to reveal tathata [oneness] to man is described in terms of tri-guhya, the three secret practices of the Buddha.
The practices of man and of the Buddha are of three kinds: those performed by 'body', 'voice', and 'mind'. The merging of tri-karma and tri-guhya is realized through adhisthana (Jap. kaji), the instrument of integration between man and the Buddha.
Shingon enlightenment therefore constitutes the merging of tri-karma and tri-guhya through adhisthana, which is, specifically, the power (compassion) of (Mahavairocana) Buddha that converges with the aspiration of man.
Adhisthana is of three kinds: mudra, the finger sign; dharani, secret verses; and yoga, meditation. Mudra is the instrument to realize the union of the bodies-kaya-karma and kaya-guhya; dharani is the instrument to realize the union of the voices-vak-karma and vag-guhya; and yoga is the instrument to realize the union of the minds-manah-karma and mano-guhya.
Kukai therefore says, "Adhisthana is the [union of the] Buddha's great compassion and the faith of all beings." Adhisthana is the means to realize integration between man and the Buddha…
This passage is also paired with a diagram, which I have included below:
Using the categorization I set up earlier in this essay, the combination of these practices embodies the perfect union of the big (the cosmic Buddha or “Buddha nature”) with the small (individual humans), but it’s also more complex than that.
The following passage was cited by the famous Shingon priest Kakuban in his text "The Illuminating Secret Commentary on the Five Chakras and Nine Syllables":
Actions and deportment are not without symbolic meaning. All sounds that occur are mantras. The meaning of thoughts is entirely the wisdom of dhyana. All features that can be loved, as is appropriate for whatever exists, are also the innate [Dharma wheel]-turning body of the [Buddha].
Speech uttered is not without dharanis [or mantras]. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the features of mudrås. Thoughts and learning also are wisdom and samadhi…
This is an application of Buddhist non-differentiation to the aforementioned practices around the “three mysteries.” Essentially it is not just the practices outlined before that affect one’s connection to the cosmic Buddha, but everything they do. All actions have consequences (i.e. karma), therefore all speech is mantra, all actions mudra, and all concentrations and visualization samadhi (or meditation).
Kakuban further elaborates thus:
… with an earnest faith in the teaching one contemplates the form of one syllable and attains Buddhahood; one contemplates the symbolic form of one seal (mudra) and attains Buddhadhood; one contemplates one feature of the form of one deity and attains Buddhahood.
Furthermore, although one lacks other practices, should one merely recite one mantra or one syllable, one attains Buddhahood. Also, by forming a mudra, although there is no other secret practice, since there is a unity, certainly one attains Buddhahood in the present body…
Whenever one attains Buddhahood by relying on two practices or on one practice and so on, this is not an instance of attaining perfect enlightenment. However, since there is a mysterious power of empowerment, suddenly the other two mysteries are manifested [even if only one is cultivated]. Then the three mysteries are attained and one attains Buddhahood in the present body.
If all actions matter and all are connected, then one aspect of the “three mysteries” would necessarily affect the others. Pure thoughts spur on pure action, proper speech spurs on proper thoughts, etc. Taken to the logical extreme, this can mean that reciting even ONE SYLLABLE of one mantra with full faith can result in intense effects on a practitioner.
But this also means that the opposite is true as well. Negative internal effects (mind) result in negative external consequences (speech, body) and vice versa. Ideally one is to make these as immovable and diamond-like as possible so one can be exposed to potential negative influence without compromising their internal and external state. “Vajra” refers to the instrument often held by Esoteric Buddhist deities, but it can also refer to lightning (swift and powerful) and diamonds (solid and unbreakable). Esoteric practice embodies both of these.
In summation, though the Esoteric Buddhist worldview, everything is empty, but everything is also full. Every molecule in the cosmos is connected and “empty” of self-identity, meaning everything affects each other through various means. The theory and practices of Esoteric Buddhism seek to harmonize this cosmology via union with the universal will towards self-realization, which is conceptualized in the form of the cosmic Buddha.
However, there is one more component of Esoteric thought that I want to highlight for its peculiarity and (I feel) necessity in the modern age: the conceptualization of human passions as the seeds for enlightenment.
First, I want to note that this isn’t a concept that’s fully unique to Esoteric Buddhism. It appears in very old sutras like the “Vimalakirti Sutra,” particularly in a passage where the Bodhisattva of wisdom, Manjushri, says the following:
Noble sir, one who stays in the fixed determination of the vision of the uncreated is not capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment. However, one who lives among created things, in the mines of passions, without seeing any truth, is indeed capable of conceiving the spirit of unexcelled perfect enlightenment.
Noble sir, flowers like the blue lotus, the red lotus, the white lotus, the water lily, and the moon lily do not grow on the dry ground in the wilderness, but do grow in the swamps and mud banks. Just so, the Buddha-qualities do not grow in living beings certainly destined for the uncreated but do grow in those living beings who are like swamps and mud banks of passions. Likewise, as seeds do not grow in the sky but do grow in the earth, so the Buddha-qualities do not grow in those determined for the absolute but do grow in those who conceive the spirit of enlightenment, after having produced a Sumeru-like mountain of egoistic views.
Noble sir, through these considerations one can understand that all passions constitute the family of the Tathagatas. For example, noble sir, without going out into the great ocean, it is impossible to find precious, priceless pearls. Likewise, without going into the ocean of passions, it is impossible to obtain the mind of omniscience.
Vimalakirti pushes this even further by responding with:
Good! Good Manjusri! This is indeed well spoken! This is right! The passions do indeed constitute the family of the Tathagatas. How can such as we, the disciples, conceive the spirit of enlightenment, or become fully enlightened in regard to the qualities of the Buddha?
Only those guilty of the five deadly sins can conceive the spirit of enlightenment and can attain Buddhahood, which is the full accomplishment of the qualities of the Buddha!
The priest Nichiren (founder of the Nichiren school of Japanese Buddhism) commented in his work “The Opening of the Eyes” that “it would almost appear that it is not a Buddhist scripture at all, but rather the teachings of some non-Buddhist school.” This is because, as Nichiren also concludes, that the Vimalakirti Sutra is, at least in part, meant as a rejection of earlier forms of Buddhism in favor of what it considered to be a more comprehensive approach.
Kukai was very interested in concepts like this, something Minoru Kiyota’s book describes more eloquently than I can:
Kukai was interested in discovering a Dharmawhich portrays the human personality positively and dynamically, a type of personality capable of merging with the cosmic Buddha and of becoming the absolute master of the universe. It is through this kind of a Dharma that he attempted to establish the basis of human creativity and the ultimate dignity of all mankind.
This idea is represented by the wrathful “Wisdom King,” figures prominent in Esoteric Buddhism, who represent various features and powers of the “cosmic buddha” (or Mahavairocana, in Shingon’s case). One of the most famous of these is Aizen Myo-o, the “King of Passion.” Based on secret Shingon texts the Yugikyo and Rishukyo (Principle of Wisdom Sutra), Aizen represents the conversion of worldly passions into the pure passion of the Buddhist dharma and eventual enlightenment.
Another Wisdom King associated with these ideas is Daiitoku Myo-o, more popularly known as Yamantaka, the “Destroyer of Death,” or Vajrabhairava, the “Adamantine Terrifier.” One of Daiitoku’s primary attributes is his channeling of the emotion of anger towards dharmic ends. While he is prominent in Shingon, he is far more celebrated in Tibetan traditions where various Yamantaka-centric tantric texts are considered some of the most powerful teachings and practices, yet also the most potentially dangerous.
Moreover, these two figures are meant to be embodied by the practitioners; not as a means of increasing things like lust or anger, but as a means of steeling oneself against them and channeling their energy towards compassionate action and beneficial karma. This actually is one of the primary reasons for portraying Buddhas in wrathful forms such as these.
Zen master Suzuki Shosan had this to say on another wrathful Wisdom King, Fudo Myo-o, and the Ni-O Guardian Kings, wrathful statues usually places at the gateway to Buddhist temples in Japan:
Indeed, I've realized that the Guardian Kings are the gateway to Buddhism, and that Fudo is the starting point of the Buddhas. That's why the Guardian Kings stand at the gate, and why Fudo is the first of the Thirteen Buddhas. If you don't get their energy the passions will defeat you.
All you need do is act with whole effort from strength of spirit. But nowadays Buddhism is in full decline, the direction has gone wrong. and nobody's really alive. Everyone's dead. In Buddhism, a 'lively fellow' is one who acts from living energy. People don't realize this, though. They turn soft and pretentious and they think their complacency is Buddhism.
A lot of them go around completely mad, claiming they're enlightened and spouting outrageous nonsense. I know nothing about this business of pretentions or of enlightenment. I just dispose myself so as to conquer all things with a buoyant spirit, twenty-four hours a day. Everyone should get the unshakable energy of the Guardian Kings or of Fudo, then they should practice with it and destroy bad karma and the passions…
When you mount guard with full attention, nothing will show its face. Once you have this fiercely persevering energy in action, your practice will mature. There's nothing special you need. No practice at all will be any use if it's done emptily. Set your gaze firmly and work up the energy for samadhi…
Practice of Buddhism means just one thing: to get and to practice the great, unshakable energy of Fudo and of the Guardian Kings. I know of no Buddhism other than to attack and destroy body and mind with this energy.
Anyone who wants to come into my Buddhism, let him muster his energy and set his gaze, let him take on the energy of Fudo and of the Guardian Kings as they're shown subjugating demons, let him keep the Guardian Kings' spirit and so destroy bad karma and the passions.
I've never heard of anyone in the past who ever ordered the images of the Buddhas this way, but certainly the idea accords with what I feel, and it applies very well in everything. I've observed that in the sutras the Buddha often teaches fierce determination. You'll never conquer the passions until you get this energy.
First of all, you have to know all about getting energy from Buddha-images. If you're lax, the energy won't come to you. You have to fix your gaze unwaveringly on the image and mount guard around the clock over the diamond-mind.
[Note: a download of the translated works of Suzuki Shosan can be found here]
Traditionally both Shingon’s Rishukyo and Tibetan Buddhism’s Vajrabhairava teachings (among many others) are reserved only for those who have gone through the proper initiations, as they can be easily misunderstood by individuals not familiar with the broader teachings, thus leading the practitioner down the wrong path towards ruins.
However, despite these dangers, I feel that esoteric Buddhism’s embrace and understanding of beings afflicted with passions is a potentially beneficial aspect to prompting its spread in the decadent and emotionally-spiraling Western world.
The biggest catch to all of the positives, however, is Esoteric Buddhism’s accessibility, or rather lack thereof. Not only does Esoteric Buddhism require a sturdy foundation of exoteric Buddhist knowledge, but propagating its doctrines in the West to any substantial degree would require unlearning countless wrong views about Buddhism that have been implanted into our collective consciousness.
Some of the biggest of these are Buddhism being an “atheistic religion” or that Buddhism is Nihilistic and concerned primarily with self-annihilation. Another incorrect view that has been particularly difficult to shake has been the idea that “Buddhism preaches ridding ones-self of desire, and is thus self-defeating, since this is a desire in itself.” I wrote a lengthy takedown of this position here.
I also hope to eventually finish my “Gentle Introduction to Japanese Buddhism” series on my blog here, which is, in part, intended to lay the necessary groundwork on much of this.
With all of this said, I will continue to contemplate how the younger generations can be saved from the corrupt and misguided spiritualities we have seen cropping up all around as of late. However, I feel that I am on the right path here, and the escape hatch from this dismal situation we have collectively found ourselves in is rapidly coming into view.
As always, thank you all very much for reading.
Great article - but is Pierce Brosnan actually a scholar in Buddhism? Never heard of that before