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Sanitizing Buddhism and the erasing Sangha in America by Elitists

This is a re-post of my blog "buddhafolk" on wordpress.com  I feel it is important enough to re-peat elsewhere.   I'm gonna comment on what I wrote in it.

original link:  http://buddhafolk.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/sanitizing-of-buddhism-buddhists-and-erasing-sangha-in-america-by-elitists/

2,555 years ago Buddha passed away leaving the disciples and the rest of the Sangha to remember his teachings and pass them along to the next generations.  Very little has changed in the Sangha who carefully follows the Vinaya which are his guidelines of monastic conduct and instructed in his last bequest.  They carried Buddha's teachings (the Dharma) to various countries teaching and forming practice places for generations with a great deal of sacrifice and effort. 

Comment:  To ignore this well documented and academically sound declared bit of history is ridiculous and childish.  It is a horrible reflection of what passes for elitism and worse yet those who try to claim they are still Buddhist at all when all the while their books, films, websites and centers promote themselves as the experts of what is and is not Buddhist or proper practice.  Is this not a sign of a CULT?

Recently in media by Buddhist orientated sites online and in print through Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and Shambala Sun much has been made about the national form that Buddhist followers should or as they assume will eventually take in the USA.

Comment:  see for  yourself on their websites: http://www.tricycle.com it also has a blog where much is discussed concerning this and it's self-declared only source for Buddhist practitioners the  http://www.buddhdharma.com.  This is the link for another one http://www.shambalasun.com.  All have blogs or blog links.

Their Protestantism of Buddhism or rather a sanitizing or erasing/rewriting of Buddha's history and rejection of what they identify as irrelevant to modern Americans today.  This means all the ethnic Buddhists from Thailand, Sri Lanka, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Korea, India, Tibet, Nepal, Indonesia, Phillipines, Malaysia or other American countries or Europe are to be cleansed and shunned from Americans or American Buddhists as it starts with white men who are protestants who already rejected the catholics because they have monks and nuns... or maybe they are jewish who didn't like christians at all and or even those who prefer to embrace every oddball newly created religion and market it.

They are trying to dummy-down traditional Buddhism because they couldn't figure out  how to make it work for themselves.  Now they are trying to keep it elite and promoting a new version or a rather a odd form of Japanese Buddhism; Wow, even to do that is to disparage the efforts of the Japanese Buddhists in our American history.  But a recent picture in a news article features Japanese robed zen married clergy,  a couple (women are nuns only in Japanese Buddhist tradition and not to hold priest roles like the men can opt for marriage or monk's life)  in a zendo.  The writer asks "What's an American Buddhist?  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/whats-an-american-buddhist/2012/06/17/gJQAJCQrjV_blog.html

Well, it's a circular article first stripping away the Triple Jewel.  No Sangha, no ethnic trappings as they are not considered true or authentic enough to be Buddhist or relevant.  Then at the very end it says careful least 900 years later the adherents reject the efforts of the fabled American Buddhists who magically created a new world order of Buddhists here.

One way to look at this question is through the example of practice. When done correctly, what Buddhist meditators refer to as “sitting”–whether following the vipassana or zazen (or other) approaches to sitting meditation–does not rely on ceremonial chanting and recitations and actions that typically surround collective meditation sessions. This is not to say such ceremonial activities normally performed in an ancient or modern Eastern language are not useful or helpful. This is only to say they are not a necessity for the gradual expansion of consciousness that is the result of regular meditation. If one accepts this basic premise, which can be supported by the sutras attributed to the Buddha, then the conclusion that North Americans could conceivably develop their own Buddhist tradition some day is perfectly rational, if not probable.

This is based on opinion and not on reality, meditation has always been taught as a method but not the exclusive one, the first thing Buddhists do worldwide is to take the Triple Refuge and 5 Precepts.  The next thing they do is join in services that always recite sutras and repeat the Triple Jewel in refuge and action, join in volunteer work in the community and when it's time and there is an opportunity they choose or not to sit on a cushion with the goal of being enlightened eventually.  This provides the stable framework necessary before one sits on the cushions.

2,555 years the core of Buddhist practice has always been formed from the Triple Jewel, being carried and protected by the Sangha who observes the Vinaya.  Also because people who come to Buddhism from new countries took the time to study Buddhism in it's traditional form and upheld it, so the Buddhist culture developed as the Buddha instructed us Sangha who traveled to adapt to the countries conditions and culture with lots of variations in languages, practices and kept the core that is the Triple Jewel.  

The problem in the USA and in many parts of the world is that there is no one identified unified culture.  We are a global society in the USA in reality, much of the myth the elitist create is not real and not reflecting the reality of the people in the USA. There is no one culture.  There can be no one form of Buddhism defining the United States and that is really ok.  The myth is there must be one form of Buddhism for each country, that's the fakery being created by these elitists.

North American Buddhists are likely to create their own traditions and schools of thought, but they should do so with the awareness that they are forging a new Buddhist culture, not the ‘true’ Buddhist culture.

This is so strange that it is very insulting to North American Buddhists anywhere.  There is no need to forge a new Buddhist culture at all.  It does not work.  People in history have tried and when they diverge from the Triple Jewel they are not Buddhist at all, their movements become perverted and vanish.

The worst kind of approach a Westerner would take is to accept wholeheartedly without question any practice offered from any teacher without investigating and studying the history and knowing the standard teachings of Buddha and his disciples.  So 'wholesale acceptance' of Buddhism from the East is not likely the problem here.  It is lack of acceptance and adaptability. Just the last two. 

Comment:  and we can throw in lack of effort to read or study.

Also they seem to have a need to make their own piss in the snow, a male pre-occupation.  That last bit is sadly the reason there is an effort by rags that call themselves the voice of American Buddhists or rather trying right now to lead the Buddhist movement with their money and media forming a horrific laughable council of teachers that fell on it's face and nobody paid attention to it other than to point them out.  Led by the protestant versions of Japanese Buddhism and fringe trend setting teachers and all their writers who make them money... virtually ignoring the Sangha ""(they had one show Bhikkhu Bodhi who got rightfully upset with them and whom they posted as somehow he misunderstood..or he mis-heard them and gee wasn't that embarrassing for him to explode on them during the conference type post on their blog) on whose back they cruelly stepped on to reach their goal as King of the Mountain, they virtually stood and pissed on the the living Jewels, all the while laughing in the faces of those who donate and sacrifice to make Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Americas.  This is soooo christian and not worthy of what is American today.

Comment:  Here is some blogs and with very snerky comments regarding that... starts first with the host of the fabled council of teachers....

http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=923&Itemid=1434

http://theendlessfurther.com/?tag=2011-buddhist-teachers-council

http://notwoo.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/the-new-improved-buddhist-council-now-with-more-enzymes-lather-and-added-vitamins/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/14/america-buddhism_n_876577.html

http://meaningness.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/brad-warner-vs-the-maha-teachers/

OH MY! OUR GOVT RESEARCHERS ARE GETTING INTO THE FRAY:

http://www.neh.gov/humanities/2010/marchapril/feature/american-zenophilia

an onward:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/owen-flanagan-phd/do-american-buddhists-miss-the-point-of-buddhism_b_964188.html

This sanitizing of Buddhism is wrong.  It is a symptom of lack of effort and study of Buddha dharma.  It's rote repetition of wrong teachings based on fear of loss of their own leadership due to aging and somehow they must keep their flame alive and make a historical memory so their efforts don't seem wasted to others.  The fact of the matter is the hippies are old and their start into Buddhism was filled with false intentions, most are failed monks and they are damn mad that people did not support them when they were innocents in robes, so they formed their careers by damning the robes and those that wear them.  All of them... look up the writers for yourself in the rags, tricycle, shambala sun, buddha dharma, the big 3 have featured all white... and all secular people claiming to be experts and leaders of Americans 'cuz they failed to be monks.

Comment:  Kornfield among many others comes to mind with his large spirit rock center, was told by his staff that only a specific Theravada monk,  just one is their chosen one, so I was only welcome if I could be a temporary short-term volunteer... geese don't think it was exactly what I had in mind... I declined.

They said they failed to be monks because they failed to get enough dana to do as they want to do (and become hits in their homelands).  Instead they were ignored perhaps bored in their robes, fearing poverty and they lacked the balls to stick it out they left their robes because there is no money in them.  Then these ex-monks damned repeatedly the very people who had virtuous roots that helped them succeed and go forth and being accepted.

Playing king of the mountain pushing off their competitors.  They promoted themselves as experts saying they have really represented Americans cuz they can have sex and create families... and they want their kids to be able to participate fully in their activities in the zendo cuz they don't feel welcome anyplace but where they want to go and meditate while they ignore how bored their kids are waiting for them and let their kids run around doing things unsupervised while they zone out in hippie bliss or their mental version of it.

I'm sorry this is not how Americans do things, they do things by hard work, patience and sticking things out enduring because they know what really works. This fad by elitists is misleading and harmful and it does NOT meet the needs of common folk and it's common folk that need proper Triple Jewels not fads.  They aren't looking for trends while they work on the line or pack boxes into a truck, they are looking for a community that is stable, intelligent, active in the town, around the corner or even in the grocery.... but not at the expense of their own minds.  

That's where traditional Vinaya Buddhism excels, it's stable it has lots of variety and enough well trained Sangha of monks and nuns to be able to endure and offer Buddha dharma as requested without all the bangs and whistles of slick rags or media blitz... and we will be long enduring whether the elites want to come to us while we are busy meeting the needs of the community where we live and reside in the Americas in and out of temples. 

At my estimate we are well over 10,000 Sangha living in the USA alone and not all of us are ethnic imports from overseas but created, born and raised right here from every ethnic group that can be thought of here.  

Here are some Iowas some Califnornians, some Nova Scotians, some Germans, some Chinese, a few Texans, some Burmese, and a majority of whom are Midwestern people as common as you can get and their shenanigans while enjoying and some indeed being those participating in traditional Buddhist offerings.

Practice and our best efforts

There is sometimes less to be said and more to be done.  Buddhists are really action oriented. We don't talk a lot we do.  All these are truisms.  Some of us aspire to Buddhahood not sainthood.  If you are not seeking enlightenment then you need to check your intent in practicing Buddhism.  Compassion begins with you, if you are cussing up someone then that is a signal you failed big time, reboot and start over.

We have to make our best efforts every moment.  No time to think about it, wish for it or plan for it.  Life is fleeting and we do not have much of it left.  I like real stuff not triteness or quotes from Buddha's teachings to battle with another over who is right and who is wrong.  There is neither, individual's karma and their efforts in this life matter only to them in treading the Path.

I do not mind reading about other's journey's for it can serve as dharma teaching and another's life lessons can inspire and support Buddha's teachings. I do mind when writers put down any of the Triple Jewels which are the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings) and the Sangha (past and present living Sangha).  Most of the failed monks and nuns have become famous writers based upon their slamming of the Sangha.

And that's just not the way to be, refuting your former life as a monk is understandably your own situation for it didn't work for you but it really is too much to read that we don't need Sangha or that they have outlived their usefulness or are a part of an ancient unfair out of touch system of living.  All these failed monks should be shivering in their bones out of fear of karmic retribution over their slander.  For they are committing the worst kind of offense.  Being failed monks they chose to become experts and speak for Buddhism in the West.  After 20-30 years of doing just that all the while slandering the Triple Jewel to an unsuspecting readership they have set forth wrong dharma in print and in word and now on YouTube!

Practice as best you can and keep your faith in the Triple Jewel for it will support your practice.  I do see people progress in a less rigid, less self-imposed puritanical standards and embrace their own efforts to learn a sutra or master some dharma method that they enjoy while others see their practice deepen and mature.  Enjoy your practice don't dread it, if it's not enjoyable just try something else that would interest you.  Buddhism is not boring there are 84,000 dharma doors to enter through!

Keep to those practices that uphold the Triple Jewel and walk away and throw away anything that does not! Do be aware of the standard teachings to avoid fakes and money grubbers.    Buddhanet  has all the traditions and some really good comparison charts in their study section.  That's a good place to start to be familiar with what is universally accepted in Buddhism today.

Stop Tibetan Sangha suicides ACT Now

http://www.change.org/petitions/sangha-in-tibet-stop-suicides

10 away from completing this petition please sign or share it!

Appeal to the Tibetan Sangha the Maha Sangha within Tibet to take very public steps to end this crime! Stop the needless deaths! Stop the abuse by Tibetans who are clearly not interested in the Triple Jewel by recruiting, harming, killing and encouraging the disintegration and degradation of the Tibetan Sangha! It is very unusual for a country known for their history of Buddhist adepts and advanced practitioners to be silent on this matter! In any other country this would generate a very quick and public response by the Maha Sangha. It's hypocritical for Tibetan Buddhists to support this when they are all about compassion and promoting the well-being of all living beings even worms in a construction site! So how come the silence, in our Sangha meetings silence is approval, does this mean the Tibetan Sangha in Tibet approves by it silence? Amituofo! I can't believe that it would! So let me print out this petition soon. See more awful stories by a pro-suicide site.

More at dossiertibet.it

History of Buddhism and mental health in USA and overseas

This is not a complete list but it is a start on mental health and Buddhism today.

China religious reforms from their leaders perspective

Religious, Spiritual, Pastoral & Cultural Care south devon healthcare

1992 NIIH report on Vietnamese mental health experiences

NAMI national minority mental health awareness 2010
History of Buddhism in America

Health and Health Care of Korean American Elderly

Buddhist Ethics from buddhanet.net

CCHP: Laos and mental health seattle, wa

Cambodian pdf a segment states monks came to offer mental health services

A Buddhist approach to mental illness interview by Lama Yeshe FPMT

Buddhism, Medicine, and Mental Health blia article

dharma studio wishmaking

Recently observing some disatisfaction over my undone projects, meaning the space taking ones.  I have longed for more space, specifically a studio and living space separately.  I have lots of Buddhist art projects to prepare and it just doesn't work much in my one room anymore.  Wishing for a solution like an invitation to larger sangha community that would allow me studio space.  I'd still be translating and adding my artistic bent and education background in a unified effort to make more dharma accessible in english.

Packrat

Packrat on Amazon

I've forgotton about my amazon seller account. I posted 20 books I need to get rid of and raise funds for education.

Sangha Walks new digital project proposed

Film & Video

Funding Goal

$1,000 - $5,000

Project Description

Sangha Walks: Collections from Buddhist monastics residing in the USA our untold stories. Ven. Hong Yang a bhikshuni a member of the traditional 2-part Sangha (bhikshu, the monks; bhikshuni, the nuns) documents the stories and experiences from other sanghans across the USA. This collection will be the first from the actual Buddhist monks and nuns in the USA, many are Americans, many are foreigners, all are significantly impacting our US history. Make this project possible by funding one year collection process of film, print, documents from large monasteries, small temples, tiny hermitages, forest dwellers and all have history and wish offer help to all who ask. Our history in the USA is now about 170 years undocumented.

Project Rewards

Access to the collection once it's been documented in film and digital media with reduced prices for membership dependent on level of donation, tour fees, and eligiblity in the future board that would advise, fund, maintain, repair, and add to the collection. Handmade gifts for all Kickstarter donors in the value of $20.


Refinement of project:
Establish and create digital records in video and digital photos from the original items like historical ledgers, records of deeds, contruction photos, pictures from events, mememtos from travels, public works projects, charitable activities, education programs, brochures, cards, art items, clothing, service books, commentaries, translations into English, original religous items, reliquary items, burial services and plots, architecture, fabrics, military service, public office, council meetings, etc or other special projects from local and international news articles from Buddhist monks and nuns (Sangha) residing in the USA since the Chinese immigrants came to build our railroads. To get their cooperation would need site visits, collection of documenation, and considerable website presence.

Preparing for the Dragon Year of 2012

This is the most liberating time, the about-to-change- time of the upcoming Chinese New Year! And to think we lucky Buddhists get to have two new years that actually gives us time to finish our 'old' business and clean up our messes and tidy our homes in time for Chinese New Year if we get too busy for the calendar new year in December! Hah! 

I almost completed my sorting of all my old papers, had stuff from 90s in my college days!  Wow so far threw away 3 large garbage bags of paper, shredded and ready for the power plant to burn and recycle!

I've been able to finalize my health program for the year!!  Aging is the biggest culprit that I am facing.  Geese louise, I remember thinking when I was 35 that I felt 78! now I'm 51 and wonder if that means I feel like a 100!  So when I get to be 150 I can accurately say I know what 300 feels like!!!

Nearly nearly done a month later on editing!

The last phase in my editing of the Yogacara manuscript.  I am not done... I reported on facebook that I was done with the Chinese reformating and that's true! But it's taking me lots longer to edit the English, as I am backtracking my work and making it more readable to the non-Chinese reader.

I just want to get it on Kindle my first effort, but that will probably take me a week to format for that or longer!  Oh, well!

Since we got a big storm coming this afternoon, I guess I will be inside!

Foibled feelings good for me!

Well update on the feelings issue of guests. It turned out well got my daughter and her friend to pick up the girl while I prepared her bed and reviewed my pantry and goodies for her stay. She will be with us for a week while my daughter gets her college week going we both get her to her school next saturday.

They both are sticking to my daughters room and enjoying evenings with their friends, easy on me, while I edite my translation. They are good kids. I am learning more about my foilbled feelings! :)

Settling in unsettled existence

Just when I had my little world set on writing 12 hours a day and accepted that was my dharma role as a bhikshuni, I found an obstacle arising again.

Having annoyance after finding out my college daughter isn't diligent about getting her deadlines met for fall and a phone call from a needy high school boarder requires a 3 hour drive to pick her up from the airport and keep her a few days and take her to school for another 3 hours drive.

Daughter picked up on my feelings, and volunteered profusely thus embarrassing me about my reluctance and offered to find the girl a place to stay outside our home for those three or so days!

I'm chagrined. I need to change myself.

Sangha Walks

This is a Buddhist Bhikshuni blog, originally the idea came from my experiences of walking in lines to anywere me and my sisters were going, either to service or classes. This blog will introduce readers to monastics views and specialize in the Vinaya