[Buddha-l] the night i called it a day

[Gary Gach]

only last year, i believe, did dr jon kabat-zinn "out" his mindfulness as
being rooted in vipassana ... ... ... had he tried at the outset to convince
(typically conservative) insurance company-behoven hospital administrators
to teach  forms of southeast asian buddhist meditation to undiagnosable
incurable patients (or suchlike) he might never have gone past square one
(or might have been shown the door).   same for
daniel goleman and "emotional intelligence"  .... of course, it's
"denatured" buddhism, but shows the kinds of inroads basic teachings can
make when labels are not set in stone

 i'm still intrigued by the statistic wuthnow & cadge discovered : 1 in 8
americans avow having heard
teachings of the Buddha which they consider to be a lasting influence in
their lives (not that they're buddhist
nor not) .... perhaps it's religion having given religion a bad name ... &
rose by any other name smelling as sweet

p.s.
in this month's launch of patheos.com's new buddhist portal ... in my
incumbency (incarnation?) there, i'm to bring in many articles by the end of
june on "the future of buddhism..."... original or reprint ... so i welcome
any nominations, suggestions, contacts, etc.     ... other
upcoming topics include fundamentalism and coming of age/rituals ... ... but
yes it is, like a newspaper or magazine, supported by  advertising which can
engender adversity in hearts of some, so perhaps this may be the lst time
i'll mention it at all in these blessedly uncommodified nonmonetized
exchanges ...  (i had nothing to do with their pre-existing library) .... i
began by writing & posting two articles: is buddhism  a religion (a
philosophy a psychology etc) and many paths/one dharma (reprinted at the pbs
website for "faces of the buddha," which continues to post articles) ...
might bring a smile to some ...

one dfharma reminds me to wish joy all good things on the new coming
together
and to wish all good things joy                     metta

Gary Gach
http://www.patheos.com/Religion-Portals/Buddhist.html
http://buddhistchannel.tv
http://word.to
http://community.tricycle.com/group/tricyclecommunitypoetryclub/forum/topics/haiku-corner