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@Kerome said:
I very much like the sound of Bernie Glassman's Zen Peacemakers street retreats...
Me too.
Cosy and safe middle class meditation in a comfortable exclusive quiet environment ... or engaged dharma? Which would the Buddha do? [answers to the usual suspects ...]
Safe Buddhism? Is it for the vulnerable?
When we bear witness, when we become the situation — homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death — the right action arises by itself. We don’t have to worry about what to do. We don’t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.
Loving action is right action. It’s as simple as giving a hand to someone who stumbles or picking up a child who has fallen on the floor. We take such direct, natural actions every day of our lives without considering them special. And they’re not special. Each is simply the best possible response to that situation in that moment.
—Bernie Glassman http://opcoa.st/01yxB
Some people have the plan ...
2
personDon't believe everything you thinkThe liminal spaceVeteran
edited April 2016
No one is really going to come here and advocate for a fee for service Dharma like looking through a restaurant menu, so I've only argued for charging if donations aren't sufficient. I think though that there are important things to say about the benefits of dana and the downsides of charging.
If you charge, a student could develop the attitude that since they are the customer they could demand certain things from the teacher.
Leaving support up to donations promotes the development of generosity in the supporters and renunciation and non attachment in the receivers.
Charging for teachings would leave those with low incomes on the outs. Even if exceptions are made not everyone would be willing to humble themselves enough to ask.
I'm sure there are other good reasons and I'd like to hear what others might have in mind.
So I think it is a difficult tension. Charging may cheapen the Dharma but relying solely on donations probably won't be sufficient to spread Buddhism to the west. My intuition is that there is some model that relies on both, charging for some things and offering others for free through the donation box and fundraising.
Comments
Me too.
Cosy and safe middle class meditation in a comfortable exclusive quiet environment ... or engaged dharma? Which would the Buddha do? [answers to the usual suspects ...]
Safe Buddhism? Is it for the vulnerable?
When we bear witness, when we become the situation — homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death — the right action arises by itself. We don’t have to worry about what to do. We don’t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.
Loving action is right action. It’s as simple as giving a hand to someone who stumbles or picking up a child who has fallen on the floor. We take such direct, natural actions every day of our lives without considering them special. And they’re not special. Each is simply the best possible response to that situation in that moment.
—Bernie Glassman
http://opcoa.st/01yxB
Some people have the plan ...
No one is really going to come here and advocate for a fee for service Dharma like looking through a restaurant menu, so I've only argued for charging if donations aren't sufficient. I think though that there are important things to say about the benefits of dana and the downsides of charging.
If you charge, a student could develop the attitude that since they are the customer they could demand certain things from the teacher.
Leaving support up to donations promotes the development of generosity in the supporters and renunciation and non attachment in the receivers.
Charging for teachings would leave those with low incomes on the outs. Even if exceptions are made not everyone would be willing to humble themselves enough to ask.
I'm sure there are other good reasons and I'd like to hear what others might have in mind.
So I think it is a difficult tension. Charging may cheapen the Dharma but relying solely on donations probably won't be sufficient to spread Buddhism to the west. My intuition is that there is some model that relies on both, charging for some things and offering others for free through the donation box and fundraising.