[bitforger]

Yes, I hope that most readers take away this sentiment as well.

I will say that some of Sasha's criticisms don't vibe well with my understanding, though. For example, we don't renounce pleasure because Buddha tells us we should, but because we directly observe that clinging to desire inherently feels bad. Our subconscious mind, when confronted with this info, naturally drops the object like a hot coal.

Telling newbies that traditional Buddhism is about giving up everything that makes you happy is a mischaracterization imo.

I also think his understanding of clinging is more narrow than what's described in the Abhidhamma. The interludes of TMI[1] give a pretty approachable introduction to this model of conscious experience.

[1]: https://a.co/d/04tc3dJ