[Buddha-l] Re: Filtered Buddhism

[curt]

Jackhat1 at aol.com wrote:
>  
> 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.
>  
>
>   
I agree. The future of western Buddhism will almost certainly consist of 
westerners insisting, ever more loudly and obnoxiously, that Buddhism 
cease and desist from anything that challenges us or that makes us feel 
uncomfortable. I mean, who do these foreign Buddhists think they are, 
anyway? Maybe they should be deported along with the Mexicans.

- Curt