[Buddha-l] Bourgeois Buddhism

[Richard Hayes]

On Mar 14, 2012, at 5:30 AM, Joy Vriens <joy.vriens at gmail.com> wrote:

> Let’s stop the self flogging for a minute 
> (Bourgeois Buddhism, ouch ouch), yet not be total Caucasian pricks, and 
> assume it is not only the prosperity that makes democratic countries 
> attractive, but also (some of) the enlightenhed principles.

For those of you who live in Europe, there may be a few enlightened principles still lurking around to provoke admiration and even a little hope, but the lights have been completely and irrevocably extinguished in the United States of America, the United States of Mexico and the Dominion of Canada. All that remains here is unrestrained greed, seething hatred and dismal delusion. Any light that dares show up is snuffed out quickly and enthusiastically. Buddhism in this part of the world has not been part of the solution. It has been part of the problem. 

Richard Hayes