[Buddha-l] Can Buddhism "evolve"?

[Bob Zeuschner]

When I studied evolution at U.C.L.A. many years ago, the professor 
stressed that "evolve" does NOT imply going from simpler to more 
complex, and most decidedly did NOT imply going from good to better.

There was no value judgment in my use of the term "evolve." I was not 
suggesting that Chinese, Japanese or Tibetan Buddhism was better than 
its Indian sources. Just adapted.
As the environment changes, things adapt to their environment or cease 
to exist.

Buddhism in China adapted to the Chinese environment, assumptions, and 
expectations. It it hadn't, it wouldn't have survived.
Buddhism has been and will continue to adapt to American environments, 
assumptions, and expectations, and if it doesn't, it will remain a tiny 
relatively unimportant world-view of a handful of Americans.
I vaguely recall that in the last chapter of "Zen Mind Beginner's Mind" 
Suzuki roshi points out that American Zen is already different from its 
Japanese antecedents, and this was good.

I will have to find the Blackmore book you mentioned. I have her book on 
the evolution of consciousness, but didn't realize she also wrote on 
Buddhism.
Thanks.
Bob
Dept. of Philosophy

Piya Tan wrote:
> It's interesting how words work. The word "evolve" for example, usually 
> connotes some level
> of "natural selection" which apparently applies to Buddhism it seeps 
> into the fabric of extra-
> Indian societies, and is in turn transformed by the fabric itself into 
> new religions, albeit rooted
> (even tenuously) in Indian Buddhism.
> 

> 
> Piya Tan
> 
> 
> 
> On 5/26/07, *Bob Zeuschner* <rbzeuschner at adelphia.net 
> <mailto:rbzeuschner at adelphia.net>> wrote:
> 
>     Indian Buddhism did *evolve* in China, and Japan, and Tibet.
>     Chinese Buddhism tried to be Indian, but ultimately it was not Indian
>     Buddhism.
>     American Buddhists may try to identify with the traditions of their
>     Ch'an, Zen, or Tantric founders, but I suspect American Buddhism will
>     not be Japanese, Chinese, or Tibetan.
>     But it may take a a few hundred years to evolve (I hope we have a few
>     hundred years).
>