retrofuturist wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 2:56 am
Greetings auto,
auto wrote: ↑Sat Jan 02, 2021 1:31 am
It seem 2012 was the peak when people were into spirituality. 2012 were a let down for many who hoped ascension. Does this nothing happening wearing people down or perhaps it was start of no age, dark passage? no handed down rapture nor body of light.
Forums are flattening. Aliens didn't come? sad life.
Aside from ascension and politics, there's a couple of significant inter-related trends in Buddhism in the West, that I see as having happened over that period of time.
Firstly, we've had the increasing availability of on-line Suttas (and even Agamas) in the English language. Bhikkhu Bodhi did a great job of translating Suttas, albeit mostly in hardcopy or electronic books, and more recently Sujato has done his own translations, and made them and many more available (and importantly, searchable!) on the Sutta Central site. For the first time, it's easy for people to find their own answers to what the Buddha taught, meaning they are no longer as reliant on others for access to the Dhamma - whether they be forumites, or teachers... and that's where the second point comes in.
In the past people had to learn from "teachers", whether that be in the form of "traditions" and/or "individuals". One of the key individuals to die during that period was Goenka. For whatever reason, him and his technique strongly shaped how a lot of the older generation of Western Buddhists practiced. Now he is dead, it seems his organisation is in free-fall, interest is waning, and the only time we hear of it here in 2022 is when thepea complains about their mask mandates.
Likewise, the broader "mindfulness" fad is over, so people either leave the scene, or in rare cases, strive to find what the Buddha himself taught, thanks to the increased availability of actual Suttas. If and when they bother learning what the Buddha
actually taught, they learn that Goenka's techniques and heterodox interpretations of the Dhamma are nowhere to be seen, and neither are Mahasi's meditation instructions. A newer generation of monks such as Ajahn Nyanamoli Thero have introduced people to the idea that external "techniques" are unhelpful, not required, and in many cases counter-productive. Obviously, for those with stronger faith in the Vipassana movement than the Buddha-Dhamma itself, it's been a tough decade. I'm sure they tired of learning that "that's not in the Suttas" as other practitioners executed their duty of The Four Great References of the Mahaparinibbana which Bhikkhu Pesala often mentions. There is now no place to hide.
Also, such is the impermanence of life, the "hippies" who initially brought these interpretations and practices back to the West in the 60's and 70's are gradually dying too. It was folly to assume such splinter movements would be built upon in perpetuity. So paradoxically, we've got closer access to the Buddha's teaching than ever before in the West, but less "movements" and trends that encourage people to actually discover them.
But yes, as noted above, politics is a big one too, and the rise of technology and the ubiquity of smart phones has enabled people to create ever-disconnected echo-chambers of like-minded voices. The resultant intolerance of different views, and the rising divergence in political views, gave rise to conflict here some time ago, and we resolved that initially by exporting worldly and political matters across to the Dharma Wheel Engaged forum. Unfortunately, it's since closed down so when people insist upon shoehorning extraneous socio-political concepts into the Dhamma, we often refer them across to Sutta Central Discourse, who have a "Watercooler" section that remains open for such explorations.
Metta,
Paul.