My meditation practice is hindered by doubt.First of all I see that the framework of noble eightfold path, to which I adhere, does not seem to matter much to so many gurus with repulsive behavior and the buddhist websites like Tricycle and Lion's Roar continously publish the writings of someone like Chogyam Trungpa. I certainly can't see in Dalai-Lama a personification of the Buddhist teachings either let alone his friend once Sogyal Rinpoche. Secondly I am very disturbed by the situation in Birmanie: a 90 percent buddhist country with criminal monks and a public opinion dramatically gone astray! Third, the very lucrative "mindfulness¨ industry selling buddhism like just any commodity not without some harmful and dangerous consequences.

The question is: do Buddhist teachings downplay the role of reasonable, objective thinking?

Buddha is supposed to have said "Place no head above your own¨. In some way it is akin to the motto of Western enlightenment by Kant( who certainly cannot be accused of having a "monkey mind"): "have the courage to use your own reason¨

Some buddhist speak and act as if all thinking was "mind wandering". Or don't you think that the abandon of the capacity to think and minimazing the role of the factors which foster that capacity like education can have dramatic consequences? A fake buddhism isn't one of them ? If naive Western women could "think" would they be abused by pathologically narcisstic gurus? If the 90 percent Buddhist Birmans were less pauvre and more educated and more apt to think objectively, would they behave as they do?

Please do help me to practice by answering to these somewhat disturbing questions.

My meditation practice is hindered by doubt.

• First of all I see that the framework of the noble eightfold path (to which I adhere) does not seem to matter much, to so many gurus with repulsive behavior, and to the buddhist websites like Tricycle and Lion's Roar which continuously publish the writings of someone like Chogyam Trungpa. And I certainly can't see in the Dalai-Lama a personification of the Buddhist teachings, let alone his former friend Sogyal Rinpoche.

• Secondly I am very disturbed by the situation in Myanmar (Burma): a 90 percent Buddhist country, with criminal monks and a public opinion dramatically gone astray!

• Third, the very lucrative "mindfulness¨ industry selling Buddhism, like just any commodity, not without some harmful and dangerous consequences.

The question is: do Buddhist teachings downplay the role of reasonable, objective thinking?

Buddha is supposed to have said, "Place no head above your own". In some way it is akin to the motto of Western enlightenment by Kant  (who certainly cannot be accused of having a "monkey mind"): "have the courage to use your own reason".

But some Buddhists speak and act as if all thinking was "mind wandering". Or don't you think that to abandon the capacity to think, and minimizing the role of the factors which foster that capacity, like education, can have dramatic consequences? And that a fake buddhism isn't one of those consequences? If naive Western women could "think", would they be abused by pathologically narcissistic gurus? If the 90 percent Buddhist Burmese were less poor and more educated, and more apt to think objectively, would they behave as they do?

Please do help me to practice, by answering to these somewhat disturbing questions.