>>24722576
Yes, my point re Buddhism (and Taoism, etc.) is that Westernized, deflated, secularized versions tear out this philosophy and exchange it with the watered down "therapy" of liberalism. Pic related.

>>24722530
No it wasn't. Quite the opposite, virtually all pre-modern philosophy was grounded in praxis, is asceticism and spiritual exercises. See for example Hadot's work, or Finn's, or any history of these schools, or biographies like Porphyry's of Plotinus, or biographies of Pythagoras, Apollonius, the Desert Fathers, etc. This was equally true in the East.

It was also deeply relevant to culture through religious practices and education. You cannot read Dante, or similar works and not be struck by how philosophy deeply informs such cultural landmarks. The same goes for popular art, as with the understanding of icons in the East.