[Buddha-l] Social codes [was: Gandharan Buddhist Art at NY Asia Society]

[Federico Andino]

> I think Federico's observation is accurate. Further, the same dynamic occurs with contemporary teachers. When faced with, say, a Zen teacher (not mentioning any >of the myriad names) screwing his students, other students will often be unable to process the events. They adopt one of several strategies, including denial, >blaming the victim, reframing the actions as "teachings," abandoning Buddhism, etc. While these strategies are often successful in the short term, I do not think >they are sustainable in the long term. Nor, of course, are they in the spirit of the Buddhadharma.
>
> To avoid the dashing to pieces Richard mentions, Buddhism in the West needs to bridge the gap between the reality of its texts and teachers and the ideal of its >ancient myths and its modern projections. This is hard work, and I think other schools can learn a lot from the example of the Jodo Shinshu school in Canada and >the US.

I agree totally. That´s why, after some years of teaching as seriously
as I could, I try now to bring Buddhism to my country in a language
germane to it. I have had some pretty bizarre insults for it (one
reader of my blog told me that only an old Zen monk could teach
buddhism and no one under 40...guess the Buddha himself is left out)
but on the whole, it´s been a nice experience.

F.