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Western Buddhism
Daozen
Veteran
- Is there a 'Western Buddhism' developing, or already here ?
- What are its characteristics ?
- What is/will be its relationship to other Buddhist traditions ?
Namaste
- What are its characteristics ?
- What is/will be its relationship to other Buddhist traditions ?
Namaste
0
Comments
'Not sure' is my answer.
Some sense of Western Buddhism sometimes occurs in the USA but most other places appear to be following Asian tradition.
Nios.
Hi Daozen
Well, nearly all American & English sanghas speak english as their main language. Many sanghas are now run by western monastics and teachers. Many sanghas chant in english, but this is not a conscious decision to create "western" buddhism but to allow people to understand what they are chanting.
Is this what you mean by "western" buddhism?
Nios.
Again I'm speaking in general.
I'm American myself, but I haven't chosen a particular school; I'm something of a universal Buddhist, or a follower of the Buddha-Dhamma (as in the teachings of the Buddha and not a particular school/tradition). This allows me to remain open to the teachings of all schools for what they have to offer, picking up this teaching here and then that teaching there, finding out for myself what works; what is true.
Some "Western" Buddhism is adapted to remove those attitudes that we find difficult to swallow ... humility, the unimportance of our personality and the unimportance of our ideas.
Some "Western" Buddhism is adapted to allow for those behaviors that are considered "wrongful/unwise" in traditional Buddhism ... elevating career and financial success over commitment to Buddhist practice, consuming drugs (street drugs, alcohol, cigarettes), and one's own sexual proclivities.
Some "Western Buddhism" is directed towards becoming happier rather than seeking freedom from attachment to both happiness and unhappiness.
Some "Western" Buddhism is nothing more than an empty pride in being outside-the-norm, or seeking approval of a particular group.
Some "Western" Buddhism is a melding of modern psychology and traditional Buddhist concepts, and it will be interesting to see how this evolves.
Some "Western" Buddhism puts Buddhism into a huge melting pot with astrology, crystals, etc, etc, stirs it up and dishes it out.
What have I missed?
- New Traditionalists: People in traditional sanghas in Western countries who do all their teaching, prayers etc in English or other European languages and generally try to adapt their practice to be more relevant to their cultural background
- Universal Buddhists: People who are unaffiliated with any particular school or tradition, who use ideas and practices from different branches but who nevertheless see themselves as practicing the core teachings in some way.
- New Age Buddhists, aka Hippy Buddhists, California Buddhists: People who freely mix and match Buddhist ideas with other 'new age' concepts that may or may not be tradtionally connected with Buddhism, e.g. alternative medicine, energy healing, chakras, crystals etc
- Rationalist Buddhists, aka Materialist Buddhists: Like New Age Buddhists these people mix and match Buddhist ideas with those from other traditions, but in this case they have a rational, empiric, scientific, sceptical type of mindset, so they are most likely not believers in 'new age' ideas and may also question some of the more 'supernatural' elements found in Buddhism, e.g. the six realms, cosmology, perhaps rebirth too
- Happiness Buddhists: Those people who see Buddhism as simply a benefical psychological tool that may be used to increase personal happiness
What do people think of these emerging categories? Any more?
Namaste
There are some legitimate reasons for the evolution of a western Buddhism. For example in the book Healing Emotions, a record of formal professional conversation between the Dalia Lama and western scientists and researchers, meditation teachers talked of their problems dealing with their practitioners having very low self esteem and this being a large barrier to their practice and learning. It took a lot of explanation for the Dalai Lama to comprehend what they where talking about. He was shocked he could not believe that people could feel so badly about themselves. Our society has done a very bad job at creating a feeling of belonging or connection.
"When in 1977, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso accepted an invitation to come to the West and teach, a new era dawned for Kadampa Buddhism in this world. With the blessings of his Spiritual Guide, Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, Geshe Kelsang took the essential meaning of Kadam Dharma and presented it in a way that could be easily understood and practiced by people not just in the West, but throughout the world.
This precious Dharma taught at first by Buddha, introduced into Tibet by the great Indian Teacher Atisha, and promoted by the great Tibetan Master, Je Tsongkhapa was now available to people of all countries. Through the actions of Geshe Kelsang Kadampa Buddhism has now become a truly global religion."