It's 50 years since
Buddhist teachers started arriving in the west in the early 60s and Buddhism
crash-landed into the counter culture. So what have we learned about
western Buddhism?
1. It's not all about
enlightenment.
Many who found
Buddhism in the 60s saw nirvana as the ultimate peak experience. A decade later
these recovering hippies were painfully finding out that Buddhism is more
concerned with reshaping character and behaviour than big, mystical
experiences. Younger Buddhists are often more fired by social action
than mysticism.
2. It doesn't focus on monks.
In most Asian
countries Buddhist monks are the real practitioners, focusing on meditation and
study while lay people support them. Distinctions between monks and lay people
does not fit in with modern society and western monastic orders are relatively
scarce. Non-monastic practitioners are often very serious and they power the
various Buddhist movements.
3. Tibetan Buddhism has
baggage.
Tibetan lamas
arriving in the 1970s seemed to fulfill our Shangri-La fantasies. But, along
with inspiration and wisdom, they also brought sectarian disputes, shamanism,
the "reincarnate lama" (tulku) system, tantric practices and deep
conservatism. Westerners love Tibetans, but we notice the baggage.
4. The schools are mixing
together.
Most Asian Buddhist
teachers assumed they would establish their existing schools in western
countries. Hence we have western Zen, western Theravada etc. But the boundaries
are breaking down as western Buddhists, motivated by common needs, explore the
whole Buddhist tradition. The emerging western Buddhist world is essentially
non-denominational.
5. People take what they need,
not what they're given.
For all the talk of
lineage, transmission and the purity of the teachings, western Buddhism is
driven by students' needs as much as teachers' wishes.
6. Mindfulness is where
Buddhism and the west meet.
Buddhist
mindfulness practices are being applied to everything from mental health
treatments to eating out, and we're now seeing a "mindfulness boom".
These approaches apply core Buddhist insights to modern living, making this the
biggest development in western Buddhism since the 1960s. It will probably shape
the next 50 years.
7. But it's not the only
meeting point.
The mindfulness
movement is hyped as the "new Buddhism for the west". But, unless
you're following the noble onefold path, there's more to Buddhism than
mindfulness. Buddhist influence on western culture is strong in the arts,
social action, environmentalism, psychotherapy and practitioners' lives.
8. Westerners can meditate and
maybe even get enlightened.
Numerous Buddhists
I know who have been practising for several decades have made the teachings
their own. Westerners can definitely do Buddhism, and are its future.
9. But sex doesn't go away.
Scandals and
anguished life stories show that, even for people who prize celibacy, sex
doesn't go away. Is this really a surprise?
10. And we still don't know if western
Buddhism is secular or religious.
A growing movement
(as Julian Baggini has discussed) wishes to strip Buddhism of
"superstitious" elements such as karma and rebirth to distill a
secular Buddhism that's compatible with science. That raises a big question:
does following science mean ditching enlightenment? Is Buddhism an alternative
source of authority that challenges the west? Ask me again in 50 years
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