Claim. Buddhism’s view of value loses persuasive power because it leaves Tathatā unexplained, treats individual training as the path to salvation, and therefore cannot offer fundamental solutions to social and historical problems — leaving it vulnerable to Communist charges of escapism.
Elaboration. After surveying mercy (maitri), the four stages (Srāvaka, Pratyeka-buddha, Bodhisattva, Buddhahood), the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, the twelve causations, and the six paramitas of Mahayana Buddhism, Lee identifies four doctrinal weaknesses (C. Weaknesses in the Buddhist View of Value): (1) the exact nature of Tathatā, the source of the universe, is not explained; (2) the way dharmas come into being is unclear; (3) the origin of ignorance is not explained; (4) actual problems of human life, society, and history cannot be fundamentally solved merely through training.
The Communist challenge then exploits weakness (4). Lee paraphrases the attack: “Actual society is filled with exploitation, oppression, the gap between rich and poor. The cause lies not so much in personal ignorance as in the contradictions within capitalist society itself. Buddhist training is for the salvation of the individual, but is not that just a way of escaping from reality, a way of avoiding a real solution to the problems? Engaging in training without solving actual problems is nothing but hypocrisy.” Buddhists, Lee says, have been unable to counter with an appropriate response.
The critique pairs neatly with Lee’s positive program. UT supplies what Buddhism allegedly lacks: a clear account of the causal being (God of Heart), a clear account of how phenomena emerged (creation through Logos), a clear account of the origin of ignorance/evil (the Fall), and a structural rather than purely individual solution (restoration through True Parents, the Blessing, lineage transfer).
The critique is contested. Engaged Buddhism (Thich Nhat Hanh, B. R. Ambedkar’s Navayana, Sulak Sivaraksa) explicitly addresses structural social problems from within Buddhist resources, so Lee’s claim that Buddhism is constitutively unable to do so is too strong. Madhyamaka and Yogacara philosophers would also dispute that Tathatā is left unexplained — they offer extensive metaphysical accounts, though not theistic-causal ones. Worth a thread once a counter-atomic exists.
See also. christianity-cannot-answer-atheism-and-communism, modern-axiology-failed-greek-and-christian-decline, messiah-revives-and-unifies-existing-religions