[Buddha-l] Buddhism and dana, church and charity

[Sally McAra]

Benito Carral wrote:

>On Tuesday, March 8, 2005, Richard P. Hayes wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Are  American  Buddhists pretty much indistinguishable from American
>>Protestants?  
>>    
>>
>
>Maybe I should start saying that Buddhism in
>Spain  in a disaster (although I have seen similar approaches in other
>countries  too).  
>
>  
>
Hi there,
I'm in New Zealand doing a PhD (I'm an occasional reader of Buddha-L 
postings... - check the link after my signature to see what I do). I 
might also call myself a Buddhist, except that I think about the 
different ways the word can be (mis) interpreted and hesitate.

Re the discussion of church and charity - I am also interested in the 
idea of "Protestant Buddhism" as it has been developed to think about 
how "converts" (I'm using this term very crudely to distinguish from an 
equally crude and problematic "immigrant" Buddhism) practice Buddhism, 
influenced by their own cultural backgrounds.
 I don't quite know what Benito means by Buddhism being a "disaster" in 
Spain ...do you mean it is more "navel-gazing" than compassion in action?

By the by, I'm just wondering what people on the list think as to how 
much difference it makes if a convert Buddhist has atheist or Catholic 
or Protestant or Jewish (or various other options) origins, and if so if 
this would influence the kind of Buddhism they are attracted to 
(Tibetan, Zen, innovative vs traditionalist etc)?

By my own observation that seems to be less relevant than other things 
such as being fairly well-off, middle-class or "elite", educated, 
liberal progressive background. I think many Buddhists (like Evelyn) do 
give quite generously of time and money to charitable organisations, 
without being *seen* to do so because they don't do so via their 
Buddhist organization (if u see what I mean). Certainly I do that 
myself, choosing to give time and money to Amnesty International and 
some local environmental organizations (promoting bicycling as 
sustainable transport, see www.can.org.nz).

Is there any point in trying to persuade my local Buddhist centre to do 
those things.. I can see they are busy trying to run meditation & Dharma 
classes etc; also for all I know the individuals who go there give way 
more than I do, but they do so privately... But what do you think - 
should Buddhists try to get their *organizations* doing such things??? 
The trouble is, most Buddhist organizations themselves have been set up 
to teach certain kinds of practices (meditation and Dharma study) not 
charitable work. Does this mean such organizations are set up to be 
selfish and should reinvent themselves? Or is it best to keep things as 
they are, with individuals keeping "church and charity" separate?

Cheers
Sally

-- 
Sally McAra
PhD candidate
Department of Anthropology 
The University of Auckland
Private Bag 92019
Auckland 1001
New Zealand
http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/ant/Student%20Details/StudentPages/SallyMcara.htm