Buddhist Temples/Teachers

Ren79

So I'm getting quite frustrated. I've been searching for a temple close by or a meditation center. Living in Ithaca, NY I figured finding a Buddhist group would be easy, since it is a pretty open and liberal town. I've only been able to find two.

The first is the Ithaca Zen Center. Costs are 325-375 (sliding scale) for a week long retreat. 225-275 for a 5 day, and 25.00 for a single day sit in. It's free to go there for the weekly and daily meditation sessions.

Then there is the Tibetan monastery here: The Namgyal Monastery. I am really looking into this, because my wife is starting to become more interested in Buddhism as well, and said that if she had to choose a school she most likely would join it would be Tibetan...and to me it doesnt matter..in essence the message is all the same, so i wouldnt mind going there to just be together down this path. The MWF meditation sessions are free (well 1.00 minimum suggested donation), BUT to study the actual traditions and everything they only seem to teach formally at the costs of several thousand dollars for a 3 year student program, or a few hundred dollars for shorter sessions or piece meal classes.

My question is this, is this normal? I never thought Buddhism would come at such a high dollar cost? I always expected to pay something to study it, since these places operate on donations, but I never expected that much.

Is there any other options to formally study the traditions? I would figure to be close to a teacher to start the path w/ a lama would be the best way, but those costs are way more than I can afford.

Any suggestions?

Ren79

anyone? at all?

patbb

vipassana retreats are all free.

the staff isn't paid either. (the staff consist of people who took the retreat, and now want to help other people get the experience they had)

http://www.dhamma.org/

they have centers and offer retreats all over the world.


watch this documentary if you are unfamiliar with vipassana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOoFXOWGC5o&NR=1

murderers changing themselves to become compassionate people?
not bad at all

dennis60

Have you done a google search for Buddhist centers in your area? Usually there are groups that are much more "informal" than the monasteries meeting once or twice a week. They usually have meditation sessions and probably some teaching or book studies. That is a good place to start. I think you will find that the leaders in these small groups have quite a bit of experience, and are willing to pass on their knowledge and practice to others.
I think it is very unfortunate that it costs so much to be around "authentic" teachers and temples. You would think that if the monks had a vow-of-poverty, they would teach for little to nothing. I can not imagine the Buddha and the early sangha charging any money for the dharma that they passed on. Then again begging was an honorable vocation way back then. Now it is considered horrible. Maybe you could find a wandering sage, and it won't cost you anything.

Ren79

thanks both, for the suggestions. and yes, in the OP i mentioned that ive searched , and these two are the only ones within reasonable distance.

fivebells

Hey, Ren! I'm in Ithaca, too! (Doing a postdoc at Cornell.) We should meet up some time!

I guess it depends on what you mean by "reasonable distance." There is a Tibetan study group in Binghamton (you can find them on meetup.com) run by a professor of religion at the college there, IIRC. And there is a Zen group in Syracuse which looks intriguing. But then, I came here from a portion of Northern VA which is fairly remote from the DC nexus, so an hour's drive didn't seem like that much to me. (My girlfriend is doing a PhD at Syracuse University.)

I have been thinking of starting a Wake Up To Your Life study/practice group. Would you be interested?

Ren79

hey 5B...lol small world. I work at Cornell. I'm from CA originally so far for me is a crazy distance to most here, since im used to being in a car for long periods of time...good thing about here though, is no traffic. I saw a group in Bingo (binghamton) but i thought it was a zen group? I saw some in syracuse as well, but for everyday (or every week) trips with 2 kids we always have to find a place for before we go, syracuse is kind of far.

Is this normal though for learning buddhism? i never expected to pay so much money for religious knowledge...i figured it was free for the tibetan monks to share w/ the world...but I suppose they mortgage on their monestary needs to be paid as well. I'll read up on the Wake Up to your Life thing, and let you know. I'd be happy to meet up sometime in the future.

fivebells

I don't know; there might be a Zen group in Binghamton, but the one I was thinking of was definitely studying Tibetan scriptures last time I paid attention.

The request for money is normal; the only context where I haven't encountered it was a Thai Buddhist monastery. It hasn't come to much in my case, though. I would estimate I've spent approximately $3000 over the nine years I've been practicing, the bulk of that on four retreats. Amortized over the time I've spent sitting, that's less than $1/hour. Never really attended a sangha regularly, though. I just reach out for help when there seem to be practice problems. Frankly, by the standards of the guy I usually work with, the IZC weeklongs sound like a bargain. I suspect David would be accomodating to someone who couldn't afford the posted fee. He might get them to perform some extra role like ringing the bell during the retreat. (I believe that's what Ken does.)

Ren79

that WAS the group i saw, but for some reason i thought they werre a zen group...my bad. Ya that's a lot of money, but I may go to the zen center retreat if i can afford it in the near future.