Modern Theravada, not Western Theravada

[rowyourboat]

Hi Retro

What did you mean by the 'come and see' aspect of the dhamma being appealing in the west?

[retrofuturist]

Greetings RYB,

What did you mean by the 'come and see' aspect of the dhamma being appealing in the west?

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.

Metta,
Retro.

[gavesako]

A good passage from Ven. Sujato's letter:

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.

http://bhikkhuni.net/bhante_sujato.htm

[David N. Snyder]

I added a DhammaWIki article about this subject:

http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Western_Buddhism