Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
- appicchato
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
Sometimes I feel like an apple in a bowl of oranges...but after thirty some years in Thailand I think that's always going to be the case (for a Caucasian in Asia)...in a wat or otherwise...and also find it a little strange to contemplate being a monk in the West (where the level of practice (I've read) seems comparable to, or (in instances) surpassing that of the East (if indeed they can be compared))...for me personally I find the level of support, and deference (among other things) here to be of real benefit, as well as incentive (in the attempt to maintain a high level of monastic discipline) on the path to liberation...just musing here folks...
Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
Hi Bhante
Metta
Ben
I know that feeling.appicchato wrote:Sometimes I feel like an apple in a bowl of oranges...
Thank you Bhante for being such a wonderful support here (at DW) for us all. The path of liberation is at times, to quote Bob Dylan, a long and lonesome road.appicchato wrote:...find it a little strange to contemplate being a monk in the West (where the level of practice (I've read) seems comparable to, or (in instances) surpassing that of the East (if indeed they can be compared))...for me personally I find the level of support, and deference (among other things) here to be of real benefit, as well as incentive (in the attempt to maintain a high level of monastic discipline) on the path to liberation...
Metta
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- DNS
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
So is this monk still in Thailand? I could not tell from his blog. If he is still in Thailand, how is he going to escape Thai culture? If he opens a new monastery (link to it did not work at his blog) in Thailand, who will be his supporters?gavesako wrote:Here is a relavant blog entry from a Western monk who finally gave up trying to fit into a Wat Thai due to the ethnic and power issues involved:
Apology of Yuttadhammes
http://yuttadhammo.sirimangalo.org/post ... tadhammes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wish him well and hope he finds a suitable place for his practice. (btw, in case anyone misinterprets the tone, those are not rhetorical questions, I really am interested in the answers.)
Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
I gathered he was talking Thai Wats in the USA...TheDhamma wrote: So is this monk still in Thailand? I could not tell from his blog. If he is still in Thailand, how is he going to escape Thai culture?
Mike
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
Ah, okay, then that would explain it better. At the blog there was no e-mail address, just skype, which I don't have yet. So I posted a comment at the blog asking where he and the monastery are located.mikenz66 wrote: I gathered he was talking Thai Wats in the USA...
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
Hi Retro
What did you mean by the 'come and see' aspect of the dhamma being appealing in the west?
What did you mean by the 'come and see' aspect of the dhamma being appealing in the west?
With Metta
Karuna
Mudita
& Upekkha
Karuna
Mudita
& Upekkha
- retrofuturist
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
Greetings RYB,
Metta,
Retro.
Benefits can be obtained, known and verified here and now... not just "on promise" in some post-mortem fantasy land like is offered by the theistic religions which are flailing under the weight of modern science and reason.rowyourboat wrote:What did you mean by the 'come and see' aspect of the dhamma being appealing in the west?
Metta,
Retro.
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
A good passage from Ven. Sujato's letter:
http://bhikkhuni.net/bhante_sujato.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;In addition, my own experience in Australia has been that such distinctions are losing their meaning as the East becomes Westernized and the West becomes Easternized. The debate between 'cultural Asian' Buddhism versus 'secular western' Buddhism is, to my mind, an artifact of the first generation of Western Buddhists, and has no relevance to the young Buddhists I encounter regularly. ...
I agree completely with Susan that the Sangha will be an essential inspiration for emerging Buddhism in the West; and also that the existing Sangha is in serious need of reform. This need for reform is not just a 'Western' outsider's point of view, but is desperately felt among serious practitioners in traditional Buddhist countries. However the manner of that reform should be what Buddhists have done throughout history: go back to the original teachings, investigate what the Buddha himself taught, and seek for ways to apply that in our present context. This demands a serious commitment to the study of early Buddhism, not just 'tossing' out what we don't want.
Bhikkhu Gavesako
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)
Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
Kiṃkusalagavesī anuttaraṃ santivarapadaṃ pariyesamāno... (MN 26)
Access to Insight - Theravada texts
Ancient Buddhist Texts - Translations and history of Pali texts
Dhammatalks.org - Sutta translations
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Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
I added a DhammaWIki article about this subject:
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Western_Buddhism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Western_Buddhism" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Re: Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada
I would say both Western and Modern.
These two terms are not mutually exclusive.
Modernization happened mainly due to the Western influence.
The scientific/technical/material revolution happened in and spreaded mainly by the west.
Dhammawiki article says their approach is like below.
Bhavana (meditation practice)
Study
Sila (morality)
Dana (generosity)
Bhavana (meditation practice)
Nibbana (the goal)
I would say about the first two:
Bhavana (meditation practice/ stress management)
Study (mixed with own interpretations)
These two terms are not mutually exclusive.
Modernization happened mainly due to the Western influence.
The scientific/technical/material revolution happened in and spreaded mainly by the west.
Dhammawiki article says their approach is like below.
Bhavana (meditation practice)
Study
Sila (morality)
Dana (generosity)
Bhavana (meditation practice)
Nibbana (the goal)
I would say about the first two:
Bhavana (meditation practice/ stress management)
Study (mixed with own interpretations)