[Buddha-l] Denigrating Buddhism

[Jo]

Katherine wrote:
> At what point does holding the tradition accountable, warning doe-eyed 
> enthusiasts about the excesses of the tradition, etc., cross the line 
> into contempt—such as Donald Lopez’ writings, for example?  Take a 
> look at our discussion thread “Western Self, Asian Other” in January, 2010.
> Katherine Masis
> ==========================================================

I could retitle this topic, De-denigrating Buddhism
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3932740 

Here is a response to pilgrim behavior, which is of a piece with tourist behavior, on a trail to a sacred site in India. A young British woman, Jodie Underhill, living near McLeod Ganj and a follower of the Dalai Lama-- now dubbed the "garbage girl"-- organized a troop of volunteers to go around the area picking up and recycling non-biodegradable waste, and organizing educational programs based on re-use and recycle. Too bad there wasn't a similar group in Luang Prabang when I visited there three years ago, where one could see drifting white plastic shopping bags all over the place in what had been dubbed a UNESCO World Heritage City.  That UN label escalated the number of visitors to the old former capital city of Laos, and thus the garbage was also escalated even as the merchants always associated with such places did a bang-up business from the tourists.  

http://tinyurl.com/3kyukc7  The mountain cleaners' newsletter and a nice video of one of their pilgrim trail jobs. 
These people are doing their spiritual practice working to keep the geo-spirituality physically clean, a practice that we all know facilitates the inspiration of being in such places. (My thought, not posted as theirs.) They need more volunteers, folks. Anyone about to go to McLeod Ganj?

Joanna