For what it is worth, the later parts of the book discuss the things you might be more intersted in, like meditative/path models. The scientific research is quite interesting, in particular, I find the brain scans of monks to be incredible. 

I agree with a lot of what you have said, and I am largely on board with the thrust of your message. The later parts of the book discuss some of the things more relevant to what we have been talking about, like meditation and "awakening," and these are also the more interesting bits, in my opinion. It also shouldn't be surprising that the Pali Canon contains 2,500 year old texts that we find odd! -- but if you enjoy history/mythology/sociology then it can be quite interesting.

I think what is missing is that a proper takeaway, for you, should be to update from the secular models as well. You say that the creators of these models have more reliable epistemics, but I do not like the comparison: the creators of the secular models have poor epistemics. As you put it:

"the impression I get from the book is that it really is a religion complete with all the supernaturalness and superstition ... I now think the people saying that you can really just read the stuff metaphorically are cherry-picking the bits that happen to fit the framework they're in favor of."

and I completely agree with this! But this makes me trust the modern authors less, not more. "Religious Buddhism" may be too hard to swallow, but "Metaphorical Buddhism" is dishonest and does not make sense when evaluated on its own terms. Unfortunately, proponents of Metaphorical Buddhism launder the quality of their ideas with the reputation of "The Buddha."  I think if you finish the book and then go back and read something like MCTB you won't be able to look at it in the same way. 

Let me try to give a rough summary of my own overall view on the issue: There is now a panoply of things calling themselves Buddhist meditation, or Buddhist meditation inspired, that are present in contemporary life. The latest example I am aware of is jhourney.io. These range the gamut from completely secular to very traditional with a lot of stuff in between. Programs like Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) have clinical evidence that a moderate amount of (MBSR's version of) mindfulness meditation leads to demonstrable changes in psychological traits that most of us would find desirable. I find the evidence for this to be quite good, though perhaps not excellent, and the cost to benefit ratio of adding this type of meditation to a secular life is probably worthwhile. 

In addition, I imagine that for many people going to something like an American Zen center weekly would enhance their quality of life, and I would bet you could easily demonstrate this at the clinical level. 

But I do not trust a lot of the modern authors who venture beyond this territory and into "higher stages of the path," like enlightenment or deep stages of meditation. The claims they make about "being enlightened" make little sense from a traditional perspective, are poorly defined within individual authors and contradictory between authors, and are often cherry picked, distorted, and dishonest presentations. For example, Scott Alexander reviewed MCTB and in his review at one point asked, "if this is enlightenment, then why would you even want it?" - which was absolutely the correct question to ask given Ingram's description of enlightenment! 

I think that the authors should just stop calling themselves Buddhist and acknowledge that they are running their own religious experiments. There is nothing wrong with this, per se, but the mixing of the two is what bothers me. Earlier I said,

"If you're interested in learning about Buddhism, I recommend starting with the Pali Canon, the collection of Early Buddhist Texts that offer the best historical record of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha."

and you replied,

"I think the book is, if anything, dissuading me from the idea that modern Western practitioners would benefit from spending time familiarizing themselves with the Pali Canon."

I think I need to be more precise: if you are intersted in learning about Buddhism, then start with the Pali Canon, or an anthology like "In the Words of the Buddha." 

On the other hand, if you are fairly confident already that you don't want religious baggage, and do not believe in things like other realms, rebirth, etc., but you are still interested in some type of ideal like enlightenment and radical change through meditation, then go ahead with more modern secular authors. But know that if those modern authors say they are Buddhist inspired, their link to historical Buddhism and to the historical Buddha's ideas is a lot more tenuous than they are implying and would have you believe. Try to evaluate their ideas on their own terms, and see if you like what you see. Furthermore, know that the track record of modern people (and certainly not just modern people) running religious experiments and claiming to be enlightened is not necessarily amazing. 

Anyway, do let me know if you finish the book, and then go back and read something like MCTB. I would be very curious to know your thoughts!

I don't say, "I just zoned out," but I do often say, "sorry, could you repeat that?" I think people are less likely to take offense to this.

Right, I don't blame you for referencing those books to communicate, because they are what a lot of readers on a forum like this would be familiar with. TMI is also important in my personal chronology, but I wouldn't recommend it either. What I would want to popularize among crowds like this is the recent scholarly study and practice of "Early Buddhism." 

I started typing out more of a reply, but I think I should maybe just make a post.

By the way, I started going to a local Zendo within the past 12 months, and it is actually in the lineage of Philip Kapleau Roshi, so one of the books they recommend is The Three Pillars of Zen: Teaching, Practice, and Enlightenment as well (I haven't taken a look at it yet). The Visuddhimagga is debatably in the "Pali Canon." It is a commentary written by the monk Buddhaghosha some 1200 years after the compilation of the Suttas. The book I recommended earlier by Bhikkhu Bodhi is just from the Suttas. 

The books you mention, The Mind Illuminated (TMI), and Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha (MCTB), are quite popular among Western atheists, secular people, rationalists, and technically-minded intelligent individuals who spend a lot of time reading on the internet. I don't mean that pejoratively -- I count myself among these groups. However, if you have read these books, there is still much more to learn (and unlearn). 

They are appealing because they promise to offer Buddhist meditation, insights, and strategies while jettisoning what they consider unnecessary religious scaffolding. Unfortunately, perhaps because of this, they contain numerous errors and often miseducate their readers about meditation and Buddhism in general. For example, Scott Alexander reviewed MCTB positively, saying it made him finally "get" Buddhism. This highlights an understandable bias: monks in robes teaching Buddhism, who accept religious and supernatural elements, are  dismissed as religious men. On the other hand, figures like Daniel Ingram (author of MCTB) and John Yates, a neuroscientist and author of TMI, are seen as offering something more accessible to the secular mindset. There is also just the fact that Ingram and Yates were better at marketing and packaging their books in an enticing format than monks who aren't allowed to touch money (literally). 

However, in some circles, mentioning these books is considered a red flag. It's well-known that readers of MCTB are particularly prone to psychotic breaks and highly unstable practice. From a traditional perspective, this is seen as a clear sign that something is amiss. Bhikkhu Analayo, for instance, has critically reviewed Ingram's book, and it's worth noting that John Yates was involved in a sex scandal.

If you're interested in learning about Buddhism, I recommend starting with the Pali Canon, the collection of Early Buddhist Texts that offer the best historical record of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. This is akin to suggesting that someone interested in Christianity should read the Bible or an anthology of it before diving into modern interpretations that might strip away key religious elements.

The Pali Canon is extensive, so a curated selection is a good starting point. In the Words of the Buddha, an excellent text by scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi, is a great introduction. Once you have a foundational understanding, you can better decide which aspects resonate with you and which might be products of folk religious beliefs.

Eh, maybe I should just make this a post.

Did people seem to find shit getting on everything deep? Did serious writings explore the experiences of all manner of shit, and the nuances of the feces and piss involved?

It doesn’t seem like it? Maybe read Gargantua and Pantagruel for ideas…

Yeah, that's the question. Saying that $|-P\left(X\right)\cdot X|<ϵ$ means that $P\left(X\right)<\frac{ϵ}{X}$. So if $X$ doubles, then it's required that $P$ is at least cut in half. I doubt there is a proof of this per se, but in a situation as strange as this it seems reasonable to me that if you claim you can do 10 times as much of something, then that is at least 10 times less likely. 

I guess the main point I wanted to make is that in the usual phrasings of Pascal's Mugging the choice of $X$ is oftentimes taken after the choice of $P$. But $P$ should be a function of $X$. So the mugger at least has to include this in his argument, and (some of) the burden of proof is on him.