Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Examples: Monday, today, last week, Mar 26, 3/26/04
Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.

New Buddhist

As Buddhism comes westward ho ho ho ...
what will we add and subtract?

Here is my possibilities:

Add:

  • individualised dharma
  • Ties
  • cultural integration
  • virtual reality dharma

Remove:

  • irrelevant cultural preferences
  • not so super superstition
  • heirarchy
Shoshin1karmarama

Comments

  • JeroenJeroen Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter Netherlands Veteran
    edited December 2020

    Add:

    • A clear view of the Buddha as a human being
    • An integration with science
    • Teachers everywhere

    Remove

    • Fuddle-headed ancient dream thinking
    • unnecessary biases
    Shoshin1
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited December 2020

    Add
    -A more skeptical mindset
    -Balance with a greater inclusion of the feminine perspective

    Remove
    -Magical thinking
    -Fundamentalism and parochialism ("my dharma is better than your dharma")

    Don't add
    -Our own cultural biases as unexamined ground truths

    Shoshin1
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran

    Today the thought came to me that it would be good to add some of the things I would like to keep. Pretty quickly that became a long list, so I thought it might be better to bring up a philosophical framework to help think about modifying or changing things without losing things of value in the process.

    The idea is known as Chesterton's Wall. My understanding of it is that one should have an understanding of the purpose or function of a hypothetical wall before being allowed to remove it. Maybe that wall is obstructing your view or preventing you from getting to a destination so you'd rather it not be there. But maybe that wall is a load bearing wall for your house or it keeps the foxes out of the hen house and one should have the knowledge as to its function before removing it.

    To me this is why it is a good idea for someone to have some depth of experiential realization with the practice before deciding what is fundamental and what is modifiable.

    howlobster
  • Good point @person

    However the foxes are already in the hen house. Laying eggs. So for example:

    • Women sangha still frowned on by cultural, religious, patriarchs. Pah!
    • Middle class, privileged bias. Gentrified dharma. Pah!
    • Outmoded fairy tales for the infantile, gullible, ignorant. Pah!

    Meanwhile ...

    -A more skeptical mindset
    -Balance with a greater inclusion of the feminine perspective

    -

    A clear view of the Buddha as a human being
    An integration with science
    Teachers everywhere

    New Buddhist?

    karmarama
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    edited December 2020

    The point of Chesterton's Wall isn't that you can't ever make changes, just that you should understand what you're doing to avoid throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Maybe the wall isn't load bearing or even if it is you can remove it you just need to install a support beam to replicate its necessary function, or maybe it turns out foxes are more important than hens.

    lobster
  • Add

    • Understanding of the different spiritual needs of different people
    • Cultural diversity based on accepting different cultures, instead of Western people co-opting a culture alongside a spiritual practice
    • Democracy and accessibility (whether physical, emotional or financial)

    Remove

    • Atheist superiority mindset
    • Fearmongering
    • Structures that give individuals a lot of wealth and power that could lead to abuse

    I very much agree with @person about the wall so I can't really suggest massive changes to the doctrine as I don't have to wisdom to do so. However, the system and the shape it has taken in the west is something that I think is worth pruning and scrutinizing by anyone who is participating in it.

    lobsterperson
Sign In or Register to comment.