I don’t agree with you that “we cannot and should not rely on others.” I think it’s impossible: How would you access the internet, for example, without relying on others? Even if you are saving money for your burial, you are relying on others. You wouldn’t be able to earn money without others. Self-reliance is a myth – and it’s a myth that Eric is trying to counteract in his book.

Sects of Buddhism – vehicles for Buddhists to board on to travel the path.

Buddhists – people who believed in Buddha.

True Buddhists – people who practice the teachings of Buddha.

All Buddhists agree that the Tipitaka as a collection of suttas from the Buddha’s time.

Buddhist monastery rules were set by Buddha so that the Sangha community is in order and live in harmony.

Buddhists take vows as an expression of dedication to practice Buddhism.

Buddha is defined as ‘the awaken one’.

Buddhists who believe in rebirth/reincarnation or not, does not help in attaining enlightenment (nirvana) and it does not defines a true Buddhist or not.

Kalama sutta points the way to identify and reject corrupted teachings.

Recitation of Buddha’s teachings were verified and organized into the Tipitaka. Like the Vedas, the suttas are clearly designed to be chanted. They are full of mnemonic devices – rhyming verses, repetitions, numbered lists, stereotyped phrases, etc. Even before the Buddha’s passing, monks and nuns would regularly chant the suttas in congregation. This made it difficult to add, delete or change anything once a sutta had been settled and committed to the memory of the monastic community.

There are three types of Buddha:
Sama-sam-buddha = One who rediscovers the teachings and teaches the masses as the historical Buddha did (Siddhattha Gotama). This is always misinterpret as only one Buddha in all of humanity.
Paccekabuddha = A silent buddha. One who attains full enlightenment, but does not teach others.
Arahant = Fully enlightened person, who might teach others, but not as the one who rediscovered the teachings, just as one who learned it from a current dispensation. Therefore, there are many Buddhas in humanity.

Well, and obviously, the distinction of a “true” X versus a “non-true” X smells suspiciously like a No True Scotsman argument.

“I used to think that I needed someone to choose me in order to feel loved. I discovered this search left me feeling sad & unhappy as no guy ever did enough to make me feel loved (secure & safe) or they ended up not ‘choosing’ me which felt like the ultimate rejection. After many (too many to mention) of those experiences I learned I had been rejecting myself … I couldn’t feel loved since I didn’t love myself. That’s when I went within and began loving all the parts of me.”

As I saw my words in black and white, I was struck by the notion of ‘choosing’ and ‘accepting’ myself. I’ve been doing this in the past few years yet I had never expressed it quite like this. Seeing it in this way caused a shift inside me, further dismantling the conversation I had for most of my adult life and was on display when I’d been so busy hooking up with people, breaking up and feeling not being chosen by them. The fact is this, as long as I put the choosing, accepting and loving in the hands of another, I was miserable. I had essentially given up responsibility for my happiness and joy to someone else. No other can choose me if I don’t choose me. No other can accept me if I don’t accept me. No other can love me if I don’t love me.

The gift of this meandering journey to myself is this: by choosing and accepting myself, I have been present to the greatest love of all. As Oscar Wilde put it, “To love yourself is the beginning of a lifelong affair.”