[Buddha-l] Re: Filtered Buddhism

[Jackhat1 at aol.com]

In a message dated 6/26/2007 8:26:47 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
twin_oceans at yahoo.com writes:

On the  other hand, I don't think that socializing and
meditating exclude each  other.  Healthy sanghas have a
balanced mix of both, in my  opinion.  Or at least
there is room to socialize.  Personally, I  have no
interest in beer and bowling, but may other sentient
beings be  free to enjoy them!


========
I agree. The sangha I attend now is exactly that. On another note, I live  in 
Chicago. Many if not most of the successful sanghas here are peer lead with a 
 tenuous connection to any lineage holder. None of these I have attended have 
any  devotional aspects. My sangha doesn't even have a Buddha statue around. 
Many  members of these sanghas regularly attend national retreats, for 
example, those  held at Spirit Rock or IMS. Buddhist centers run by ethnic monks have 
a problem  attracting regular members partly because of a language problem 
and partly  because many monks are poor teachers not knowledgeable in the 
suttas. In my  experience, this is the future of western Buddhism.
 
Jack



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