[Buddha-l] Re: Filtered Buddhism

[jkirk]

Joanna Kirk wrote:

"He [Michael Moore] shouldn't forget to film also the point where the dana
appeal gets noted by one or other of the teachers. Dana rhetoric is often
quite illuminating."

Yes, it can be.  In some centers there is so much fundraising done for this,
that or whatever project comes to the leader’s mind, that everybody burns
out and the spirit of practice kind of gets lost in the shuffle.  In the
past, I’ve also sat at a few centers where all the leaders did after every
single sitting period was whine about how they couldn’t support themselves
as monks did, solely with dana.  This task of preserving (?) developing (?)
creating (?) Buddhism in the secular west is indeed daunting.

Katherine Masis
============
"...where all the leaders did after every single sitting period was whine
about how they couldn’t support themselves as monks did, solely with dana."

Indeed, I have heard those very whines,including one where it was pointed
out to us by the leader that (he) had to put his kids through college just
as we did! 
Huh? This guy has authored a well-selling book, and runs a sangha in a big
city, probably has a wife who has a good job...
The crass materialism of this dana appeal, coming after a retreat that I
felt had been very beneficial, was grating and a jolt. "Snap 'em back to
reality!"
This technique is quite conducive to producing dana more than one can really
afford, considering what one pays for the retreat and the transportation
getting there.
Joanna




       
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