Criticism of Buddhism
Criticism of Buddhism has taken numerous different forms, including that its practitioners act in ways contrary to Buddhist principles or that those principles systemically marginalize women. There are many sources of criticism, both ancient and modern, stemming from other religions, the non-religious, and other Buddhists. Criticism of Buddhist practices. Women in Buddhism. Most schools of Buddhism have more rules for "bhikkunis" (nuns) than "bhikkus" (monk) lineages. Theravada Buddhists explain that in the time of the Buddha, nuns had such problems like safety if they were to be ordained the same way as monks who traveled around  in the forest and between cities. Thus, more rules have to be created for nuns; for instance: nuns are forbidden to travel alone. Alexander Berzin referred to the Dalai Lama's statement at the 2007 Hamburg congress: The most criticised doctrine is found in Amida Buddha's vow 35: "The Buddha established the Vow of transformation [women] into men, Thereby vowing to enable women to attain Buddhahood". Earlier limitations on attainment of Buddhahood by women were abolished in the Lotus Sutra which opened the direct path to enlightenment for women equally to men. According to Nichiren "Only in the Lotus  Sutra do we read that a woman who embraces this sutra not only excels all other women but surpasses all men". Criticism of Buddhist doctrine. Accusations of nihilism. Friedrich Nietzsche, through Schopenhauer whose pessimism was highly influenced by Buddhist philosophy, interpreted Buddhism as a life-negating philosophy that seeks to escape an existence dominated by suffering. According to Omar Moad, Nietzsche misunderstood the meaning of Buddhist doctrine. The term "Dukkha" has several different meanings. "Dukkha" may mean disappointment, desires, cravings, bereavement, unfulfillment, or dissatisfaction. Nevertheless dukkha always has a negative connotation, with different proposed English translations merely varying in degree  of negativity. Lama Surya Das emphasizes the matter-of-fact nature of "Dukkha": While the Buddha describes the flawed and imperfect nature of life in the first noble truth, he also points to the causes that underlie this imperfection and how to bring these causes to an end. Therefore Buddhism can be said to be optimistic with regard to the ability to overcome suffering even if it is pessimistic with regard to many aspects of everyday life. Confucian criticism. Buddhism is sometimes seen as antithetical to much of Confucian philosophy. Due to the focus on social roles as the source  of ethical obligation in Confucianism compared to the seemingly inherent nonconformity of Buddhism, there was a sustained ethical critique of Buddhism in early Confucianism. While Buddhism entails the belief there is nothing rightfully considered the self, Confucianism emphasized the self a great deal in their doctrines of self-development and societal roles. As a consequence Buddhism was considered by many to be nihilistic. Arguments of secular origin. Sam Harris, a prominent proponent of New Atheism and practitioner of Buddhist meditation, claims that many practitioners of Buddhism improperly treat it as a religion, criticizes their beliefs as "naïve, petitionary, and superstitious ," and claims that such beliefs impede the spread of Buddhist principles. However, he has also underlined that these beliefs stem from the tendency of some Buddhists to not follow a fundamental teaching of Buddhism; namely, to believe a teaching only with sufficient evidence. Stephen Batchelor, author of "Buddhism without Beliefs", has written about karma and rebirth, asserting that the Buddha "did not claim to have had experience that granted him privileged, esoteric knowledge of how the universe ticks". However, his critics point out that his assertion is contrary to the earliest written records of the Buddha's teaching as well  as hundreds of years of academic study on the topic. They also point to a lack of scholarly research on Batchelor's part to give credibility to his claims, and suggest that Batchelor may be attempting to reshape Buddhism due to his own discomfort with concepts such as karma and rebirth. Criticism from Hinduism. There has been a long tradition of philosophical debate between Buddhism and Hinduism. Many ancient, mediæval and modern Hindu philosophers have criticised various docrtines of Buddhism. Criticism from Gaudapada. Gaudapada, a mediæval philosopher of the Advaita Vedanta tradition, has criticised the Buddha in his Karikas on  the Mandukya Upanishad. The 99th Karika of 4th chapter says: Criticism from Adi Shankara. Adi Shankara, a very influential expounder of the Advaita Vedanta philosophy, has criticised many doctrines of Buddhism in many of his commentaries. However, his most direct criticism of Buddhism is found in his commentary on the Sutra 2.2.32 of the Brahma Sutras. In the commentary of this sutra, Shankara says: