[Buddha-l] Spread of Buddhism

[Michel Clasquin]

Franz Metcalf wrote:
>> Now [lack of doctrinal congruence] did not stop Buddhism from moving 
>> into other areas with very different traditions of their own, but 
>> patronage, either royal (eg Tibet, Japan) or by a prosperous trading 
>> class (China) had a lot to do with that. No patronage, no spread of 
>> Buddhism.
> 
> This seems right to me and it set me thinking: who are the patrons of 
> Buddhism here in "the West" (wherever that is)? I don't know about South 
> Africa, but in the United States the patrons of Buddhism are mostly not 
> the economic elite (who have functioned as patrons in past ages), but 
> the cultural elite. 

Pretty much the same down here. Buddhism is seen as an alternative, but 
as the "respectable" alternative, embraced by artists, authors and such. 
State out there in public that you belong to the Baha'i Faith and all 
you get are blank stares, even though they outnumber Buddhists in South 
Africa.

My own conclusion on that was that interest in Buddhism is directly 
proportional to the level of education (relative to a given society) and 
the leisure to investigate cultural alternatives. /pace/ Richard Hayes, 
the *dharma* may be easy to understand, but *Buddhism* is rich and 
complicated, and it takes a certain level of intercultural nous to get a 
grip on it (only to have that grip loosened by Buddhism itself, of course).

This implies that Buddhism in its initial stage of transference from one 
culture to another will inevitably have an elitist air about it.

> That is, Buddhism, and in particular, individual 
> Buddhists have been lionized, feted, and supported by masses of doting, 
> over-educated, sincere, and often naively idealistic followers (myself 
> included). But where these folks tend to have less economic capital than 
> prior patrons, they have equal or greater cultural capital.

Would that still be true today in the increasingly inward and backwards 
looking world, or are we talking about the post-60s-and-70s West here? 
Not trying to start a flame war <g>, just wondering.

-- 
"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so."
-- Bertrand Russell