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Do you think a new school of buddhism will develope in the west?
Jeffrey
Veteran
There are many traditions of buddhism in the world. Do you think that buddhism will develope some new schools in the west?
I think that it may very well. There may even be deists spirituals in the west who incorporate ideas of emptiness, morality, wisdom, etc into their own traditions.. For example taoism was influenced by buddhism. For that matter sufiism, probably jewish kaballah? perhaps pantheism, and hinduism were all influenced for ages since.
But I am also talking about a cultural influence as well as religious. What are the needs of the modern world? We don't have as much time to meditate and study so I wonder what effect that will have? I don't think it is true that to be a buddhist you have to 'drop out'. So how can people in the west become enlightened? Many on the forum incorporate buddhist problem solving or meditation but are not interested in enlightenment. So they go to a sangha with different values.. Now how long will that last before people congregate (including the isolated) and socialize together?
I think if you look at peoples reactions to buddhism over the last years on the forum you can kind of see where westerners are at odds.
I think that it may very well. There may even be deists spirituals in the west who incorporate ideas of emptiness, morality, wisdom, etc into their own traditions.. For example taoism was influenced by buddhism. For that matter sufiism, probably jewish kaballah? perhaps pantheism, and hinduism were all influenced for ages since.
But I am also talking about a cultural influence as well as religious. What are the needs of the modern world? We don't have as much time to meditate and study so I wonder what effect that will have? I don't think it is true that to be a buddhist you have to 'drop out'. So how can people in the west become enlightened? Many on the forum incorporate buddhist problem solving or meditation but are not interested in enlightenment. So they go to a sangha with different values.. Now how long will that last before people congregate (including the isolated) and socialize together?
I think if you look at peoples reactions to buddhism over the last years on the forum you can kind of see where westerners are at odds.
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Comments
my guess will be "theravada (the Pali Tripitaka) + zen (a pragmatical practice)".
I guess we'll find out.
Shunryu Suzuki said as much in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. He basically said the West must develop it's own Buddhism/Zen, as merely aping Asian tradition was just going to create barriers to progress.
And personally, I couldn't agree more. Whilst we must respect all of the history that comes before, we must also find a way to genuinely integrate Buddhism into our own culture. That means the language and forms of practice may change and look quite different from traditional practice, but the essence remains.
Examples - 'Western' Buddhism should ...
- use modern language.
- not feel the need to dress in Asian-style robes.
- ditto temple design and architecture can easily be modern and western.
Of course, we should also consider the big picture and realise that, in the frame of things, Buddhism is a new arrival in the West. It may take decades, even centuries, for the West to truly develop its own form.
for the dresses, maybe just pick ~3 colors and use western clothing? maybe black or prussian blue with a little of yellow/golden.
Sure, I personally like minimalism (in design and architecture anyway).
But I guess only time will tell. It may not be a single aesthetic that emerges, but many.
I do see a lot of teachers teaching Advaita Vedanta along with Buddhism, which took me a while to separate the two.
I think personally since Americans like the "satsang" approach to teaching, so a lot of Advaita Vedanta mixed with Buddhism is going to be the future. Though I see it more and more these days.
Hmmmm
The average lay person can access any buddhist sutra online and information is readily available. This is a bad thing and a good thing, but I'd like to think its a good thing.
The problem now is the over saturation of information and entertainment which increases people's arrogance where they don't know what to believe/believe in any twisted views/self-indulgence on ideas that encourages self gratification.
The modern has now became intolerant and narrowed to traditional moral values, sense of unity and sense of respect/reverence from organised religious practices.
It's more of a case of more freedom and rights people have, the more they complain.
Any move that involves practicing Buddhism as a philosphy but without all the moral codes, sense of reverence and respect you might as be practicing under the guidance of Mara!
All the traditions have been kept for thousands of years for a reason! Reason people want to remove it because it ruins their "fun". While this "fun" is the root of our suffering.
When your oppressed by people who tells you "what not to do" of course you will be unhappy. But when everything becomes permissiable, thats when things gets dangerous. The 3 poison loves it when you give yourself the permission to indulge.
People latch onto the Buddha's teaching concerning "being sketpical" with misunderstanding! It's not telling you to be more arrogant and not listen to any else but yourself! It's told so people would put the teachings into practice rather than just worship, it's also relevant at the time when India is full of many set rituals and old ideas that inhibits spiritual growth. The modern times are not like this! Now the time have became so free that people don't know whats wrong and right!
:rolleyes:
.
I havent read anything from Batchelor yet but from what I have heard from others his ideas seem a little contrary to my own beliefs. He also seems a little anti-establishment, so I'm not sure how interested he would be in incorporating traditional Buddhist ethics and beliefs into a modernized western community. You never know though.
* I learned that word on the homebrew forum
Take environmentalism for example, people would actually make a BIGGER difference by taking small steps like turning off lights more often and eating less packaged food than have protest actions against big evil corporations.
WHen you kill the demand with your own actions you destroy the source.
When your attached to "fighting against something" you will just end up in narrow minded small groups where you can only tolerate "like minded" people. Hence Buddhism will have no strength and cannot be practiced correctly.
People will take in what they like and throw away what they don't feel unconfortable.
They might try to peel of some doctrines like reincarnation and karma from Buddhism and call it their version of Buddhism.... but I don't think this is Buddhism anymore... they should call it something else like... Buddhist influenced -ism
it was (west)yana, but the word used could be different (there's many words for west):
Varunayana
We can see how many things the Tibetan schools shed & drop as they are exposed to the light of educated opinion & truth
"We admit that in different countries there are differences with regard to the life of Buddhist monks, popular Buddhist beliefs and practices, rites and ceremonies, customs and habits. These external forms and expressions should not be confused with the essential teachings of the Buddha."
Spiny
Spiny
Spiny
Great question! I think asking "The West" to form it's own sect of Buddhism is like asking "The East" to fit into one category of Buddhism. From another perspective it also appears that language plays a very important role in the formation of different Buddhist sects. It seems that where language differs, so does the Buddhist tradition.
As far as Greater, Lesser, and Diamond Vehicles are concerned, Western cultures could lean toward any direction or all directions. It will be a VERY long time for western cultures to become that unified when there is so much diversity in Buddhism.
Technology also will play a large role in how the west forms it's own "Tradition". Having such easy access to many different Buddhist teachings, as most western cultures do, will undoubtedly slow the formation of one unified western Buddhist authority as people will have many options and opinions on what to study.
The bottom line is that you don't have to look any further than Western Christianity to see that it takes many generations to form a true religious tradition. In my opinion I think that Buddhism does not necessarily need any more schisms than it already has;However, it is true that every culture needs to make Buddhism it own. As far needing to create an entirely new tradition, we should make sure that we don't get into too much of a hurry. As I alluded to earlier it will take a long time for a truly unique Buddhist Tradition to blossom in the west and any haste in this matter will truly make waste. Just practice how you see fit and allow everyone else to do the same and the matter will certainly take care of itself
These are just my opinions, and I may have echoed some previously posted comments. If this is the case, I apologize.
Metta,
Mr. Fell
After posting my last post I began thinking about a Dhamma talk I heard on the topic of "Original Buddhism". I wonder if western society would be up to the task of bringing Buddhism back to what it was during time the Buddha?
Just my 0.02 of course
In metta,
Raven