[Buddha-l] Bourgeois Buddhism

[Jackhat1 at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/13/2012 4:06:48 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
rhayes at unm.edu writes:
 
> It has been my experience, limited though it might be, that  the Western
> Buddhists I know follow the 8-Fold Path while ethnic  Buddhists I know do
> not. 

Just out of curiosity, which angas of  the eightfold path do you see
people not following? Are you claiming they  don't follow these limbs at
all, or that they are just not very good at  them, or that they are
totally ignorant of what the limbs of the eightfold  path are, or
something else? I am curious what exactly the observation  you're making is.
===============================
Here in the Chicago area and in other areas of the U.S. I have  visited, 
few ethnic Buddhists meditate, i.e., the mental development segment  of the 
8-Fold Path: right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.  The 
trend I see is that local Buddhist organizations such as Korean Zen,  Thera. 
Buddhists and so on split into two groups. The ethnic groups go to  devotional 
events but never go to meditation retreats or sessions. In a local  Thai 
Buddhist center few of the ethnic monks meditate. Any meditation session  will 
consist entirely or almost entirely of Westerners. Have you observed  
something differently?


I am not saying one has to meditate to be a Buddhist. 
 
Jack