Because Buddhists are ordinary people, not Buddhas, and all people build their societies around what they consider a virtue. Capitalist society is built around success. Buddhist societies are built around the idea of appearing nice, caring and wise. So if you don’t appear this way, say unkind words or are insufficiently loving, they will basically tear you apart under the guise of their “ancient wisdom”. They have no authentic kindness, so they’ll try to bring you down, that’s what they think kindness is - it’s making you see how unkind you are by hurting you with their judgment, which they call discernment. You’ll walk away bleeding thinking how can such loving people be so cruel, and they’d be proud of themselves and high-fiving themselves. Their world hasn’t flipped yet, so they can’t see their own cruelty, their self-admiration and self-aggrandizement in being “good” and “wise”. It’s the same as everywhere else, just using different words, and a pinch of mythology and meditation practice. “Be like me!” is the ego’s motto.

No Buddhist can possibly ever be enlightened. For as long as you follow a teaching, you are not enlightened, by definition. As soon as you’re enlightened, you’re not a Buddhist, by definition, and you see no additional wisdom in Buddhist texts and no value in Buddhist societies and their forms of practice. Spirituality is a vehicle to deliver you home, it’s not home.

Gautama Buddha was not a Buddhist, remember that. He once said “all scriptures must be burned”. If only Buddhists actually listened to what Gautama said, then Buddhism may actually begin to produce Buddhas. Right now Buddhism mainly produces Buddhists, not Buddhas, and I’m not holding my breath for it to change any time soon. It’s been this way for a long time now.