[Buddha-l] Bourgeois Buddhism

[Richard Hayes]

On Mar 13, 2012, at 3:39 PM, Jackhat1 at aol.com wrote:

> 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?

What I have observed is that some people define meditation so narrowly that it does not include devotional practices, mindful hospitality and doing service to those in need. It seems that those with narrow definitions of meditation sometimes also have narrow views on what practice is and conclude, falsely I think, that quite a few Buddhists are not practicing Buddhists. I'm not sure I see much point in trying to estimate to what extent other people than oneself are following the 8-fold path. If there is a point, I'd be happy to know what it is, just in case I'm missing out on something important. 

Richard