[Buddha-l] Re: Another Unitarian perspective on Buddhism

[Benito Carral]

On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, Richard P. Hayes wrote:

> Are  American  Buddhists pretty much indistinguishable from American
> Protestants?  In  many  ways,  I think, it's pretty hard to tell the
> players  without a program. Is an attitude toward wealth and poverty
> one of those ways? I don't know.

   First of all, thank you for this post, I have enjoyed it.

   I  can't  say much about American Buddhism, but I have noticed some
interesting  things here. Maybe I should start saying that Buddhism in
Spain  in a disaster (although I have seen similar approaches in other
countries  too).  Now,  I  have met many people who think that life is
like  a  dream  so,  "What  is  the point of helping?" I have also met
people  who  tink that giving charity is a poor form of dana, they are
more  concerned about giving no fear and things like that. That is why
I  have  started to teach my students in a different way. I teach them
that  it  is  *necessary*  to practice lower forms of dana in order to
higher forms be effective from a soteriological pov. I talk them about
fair trade and eco-social volunteering.

   Best wishes,

   B