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Is there a certain demographic that is attracted to Buddhism in the West?
In my Sangha, obviously everyone has quite a bit in common but maybe the demographic also seems to be very similar i.e.:
- Educated usually at Masters of Ph.D. level
- Quite intellectual
- Wears similar clothes
- Have similar smelling farts (maybe its the lentils)
- Work in education, health or social work
There seems to be very few people from poorer working class backgrounds too. Has anyone else observed similar
Dr Spock = educated intellectual working in an educational environment who has smelly farts but is maybe a wee bit more fashionable than most Buddhists
- Educated usually at Masters of Ph.D. level
- Quite intellectual
- Wears similar clothes
- Have similar smelling farts (maybe its the lentils)
- Work in education, health or social work
There seems to be very few people from poorer working class backgrounds too. Has anyone else observed similar
Dr Spock = educated intellectual working in an educational environment who has smelly farts but is maybe a wee bit more fashionable than most Buddhists
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Comments
oh, and Mac users.
Does that make me fit the demographic profile? I think all of that just means that I'm capable of independent reasoning and thought.
Many of the prominent "western" Buddhist organizations in Houston are either led or co-led by women.
the thing they all have in common though is they suffer.
hmm... I wonder if intellectual/artist types suffer more.
It's possible, given their huge egos built around their brains. They may also have a superior ability/preference to imagine what they don't have or what they should be.
FWIW, I think it would be interesting to see Buddhism (as a practice) catch on with Asian-Americans.
I've known people who practiced Buddhist teachings that were Jewish, Christian, atheist, asian, white, black, blah blah blah. We should celebrate our diversity, rather than focus on demographics. You know who is most attracted to Buddhism in the West? Buddhists. It's true. Look it up.
Oh yeah, and @buddhajunkie, my best friend while I attended a local Lao/Thai wat was a Laotian-American Christian. Go figure.
"Buddhism: The perfect religion for the cognoscenti."
It made me laugh at the time, but I think you do have to have a certain awareness, a certain knowledge, a certain level of connection with what's happening "outside" and "Inside" and how the two are inextricably linked and affect each other...
Now, simply because there does seem to be a 'profile' that fits - does that make us bad? Questionable? elitist? egotistic?
Would the question be better accepted if one were to ask - "how do we make Buddhism more widely and generally accepted without - putting it bluntly - 'dumbing it down'?"
I happen to believe also, that cultural, historical and environmental factors play a huge role. That, and conditioning.
Are British Buddhists different to American Buddhists? My conclusion is, they must be, in some ways.
For a start, More British Buddhists have passports....!
(Disclaimer: That was a joke....:rolleyes:
One difference seems to be that I have not, in the UK, encountered any huge difference in numbers of men/women adhering to, practising or following Buddhism. It seems relatively well divided, here. In fact, perhaps it does err more on the male than female....
Not when I used to be a TB practitioner, Federica. There were always more women than men at the courses and teachings that I attended.
However it does seem to be more divided in the other direction in offline Theravada. (I'm not including monks though)
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And the majority of those attending Catholic mass, outside of Italy - are female.
No, I wasn't either, I was specifically speaking with the proportional presence of laypeople, in mind, alone.
I feel less un-monk'ish by using a MacBook Pro.
Tara is viewed as the source of the buddhas, the personification of Prajnaparamita. In most tantric traditions, female yidams are of central importance to the philosophy and soteriology for that reason. Some of the most important lineages were started by women such as Niguma, Sukhasiddhi, Machigma, etc. The crucial terma tradition was part and parcel of the work of Yeshe Tsogyal in concealing appropriate teachings for future generations.
Women must be viewed as embodiments of wisdom or the root vows of vajrayana are broken. Any bias towards men in Tibetan buddhism has to do with Tibetan culture rather than any basis within the teachings of vajrayana. As dharma has come to the West where women enjoy much greater equality and freedom than traditional eastern cultures, this emphasis on the divinity of women has definitely attracted a large number women practitioners and lamas. There is a long list of western women who are teaching and translating and very highly regarded:
Tsultrim Allione
Sarah Harding
Chagdud Khandro
Lama Tsering Everest
Lama Willa Miller
Sangye Khandro
etc.
I think we will see a quite evenly balanced tradition when it comes to gender as the Dharma takes root in the West. This is a wonderful thing that many ethnic Tibetan teachers that I have spoken to rejoice at.
does druidic, wiccan and in general people that follow nature-based religions or philosophies are (or should be) drawn to the Dharma?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bennett
Therion / Sirius B / Call of Dagon (extract)
"When you watch the sky
You feel a longing from the stars
Enter the limitless
Answer the call you hear
When you take the step
To free yourself from modern life
The sky will shine again"
arupa jhānas anyone?
"There is a long list of western women who are teaching and translating and very highly regarded"
Any Tibetan women there...? (I'm not being argumentative or controversial. It's a genuine question, because western practitioners are given Dharma names and as such their origin is obscured. Thanks!)
Culture feeds religion and vice versa. It doesn't necessarily make everything wrong, but it's not necessarily right, either.
I don't mean to excuse what is definitely an imbalance in historical Tibetan support for women in buddhist institutions, I just think that the West is redressing this imbalance with all haste to match our own cultural values and the inherent equality embodied in the vajrayana teachings themselves.
Some say the Buddhist deity of Compassion originally was female, as Kuan Yin still is, but morphed to masculine in the Vajrayana tradition. June Campbell postulates that there was a supreme female deity, back when Tibet was matriarchal, called Manipadma. The meaning of the prayer, "Om, manipadma hum" originally was in praise of this female deity, she says.
...I always tought the "ॐ mane padme ॐ" mantra was refering to a female boddhisattva (deity in vajrayana).
1. because there are Asian-Americans who don't go to temples.
2. because most Asian-Americans speak English and many, especially the young native-born ones, are familiar with American culture (possibly more so), and therefore they will possibly understand non-temple services better.
3. because it may offer a richness that is absent from your current temple. This may particularly be the case if your temple does not emphasize mindfulness practices, such as meditation.
I'm guessing that those in your target demographic either are showing up now or will show up when ready in those practice centers. If you aren't seeing them, either they don't exist, or they haven't reached a point of seeking out mindfulness practice yet.