This video gives me significant hope for the future - specifically in today's difficult and somewhat shocking circumstances (3.5 years after you produced it). The fact that secular Buddhism is growing, enabling more people to learn and practise the principles of Buddhism can only help to make (in your words) a " wiser, kinder, less stressed filled world". Thank you for yet another masterful explanation Doug.
Thanks Doug! Found this one really interesting. What interests me as well, is how the Buddha's path will or can develop in the modern western world for people who want to take it more seriously, like an Anagarika, who don't really want to become a monastic in a certain asian tradition. So 'the development of a more full time commitment to the (secular version of the) Buddha's path in a modern western world.' It seems like the only way to really study and practice this in the west, is on your own, besides a regular job, and spend a fortune on retreats or airplane tickets. Then finding a good teacher somewhat nearby is pretty difficult in most western countries. Some people might be lucky to live near a temple or something. - Being homeless and begging for food is just not seen as a good thing here, also the climate is not really conducive for living in the forest cheaply. - The role technology could play in linking students and teachers so they don't have to travel so much. - Retreats, and long term retreats, can be really expensive here. The Goenka course is one of the few I can imagine in the west. Which is not really for long term study and practice though. What I also find interesting is the secular take on the whole balancing of the work on yourself and giving back. Renouncing or engaging. Setting yourself right and helping others. (Of course this is a big deal of the whole Arahant and Boddhisatva in Theravada and Mahayana.) All the best and thanks for the excellent videos.
Excellent comment, yes thanks Joris. I agree that there is a gap at the high end of the modern western approach to practice. It's culturally hard to be a monastic, particularly so if one is of a secular bent!
Hey Doug, I was wondering if you'd be interested in doing a video on Anagarikas, Upasakas, and how this sort of practice might fit into a secular Buddhist practice. While full ordination as a monk might not be feasible or of interest to a secular practitioner, this sort of halfway point might be of interest to someone who's secular, but interested in a serious practice. You might talk about Anagarika Dharmapala, Upasaka Kee Nanayon, and Upasaka Culadasa as examples of such practice.
Thanks Frank, it's something I'll definitely keep in mind. As you remember since you had a good comment on the video, I touched on this topic awhile back, but perhaps not in the depth you are looking for: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GytXVx6ZQSo.html
This is the first of your videos I've seen. I found the content interesting and will definitely watch some more. The frequent video cuts were incredibly distracting though. You managed the editing well; I definitely would have noticed some of the over-dubs from the audio alone, but none of them were jarring; the frequent, jittery jumps in video, however, became difficult to watch. I personally would have preferred a less tight delivery with a few ums, ahs, and pauses in it to the jittery video.
Thanks a lot for the comment Hugh, it's very valuable. The editing is something I struggle with. Basically it seems as though most folks want RU-vid videos that aren't much above five minutes long, and the material I'm dealing with is sufficiently complicated that getting it down that short is HARD! So I edit pretty severely just to get down to 10-20 minutes. I'm going to pay attention to comments though and if this issue keeps coming up I'll leave in more of the ums and pauses. That'll mean longer videos, which is a tradeoff. I've got a significant number of videos in the can already that will be similarly edited, so I ask for your kind indulgence over the coming weeks. Meanwhile if anyone else has thoughts about this let me know in the comments. I may ask for comments in a future video as well.
In Taiwan, Buddhists have always been at the forefront of new ideas, new movements, and new political ideologies. The Tzu Chi, for example, an overwhelmingly female-based order, were outspoken about marriage equality, and are hugely involved in medical equality for all. They have struggled tirelessly against conservative Christian groups that are trying to reinforce western exclusionism within society.
Another interesting book is Alicia Turner's 'Saving Buddhism'. It deals with the changes in Burmese Buddhism starting with the colonial time. She describes the "re-emancipation" of the laity with another step: first the traditional role of the laity as giver of dana, then as an upholder of sila with consequences for the whole sasana and only afterwards taking up meditation. Like Braun, she places the empowerment of the laity firmly in what I call a religious context, i.e. the (perceived) decline of the sasana, the Buddhist religion, and the fear of its cessation. It seems at the outset it was not a movement for personal salvation, but for the prolongation of the sasana.
Just a small nuance about Christian proselytizing in 19th c. South Asia that I wonder about. Christian salvation had its appeal because it was possible in this life. On the one hand, there was a Theravada reformist movement to go back to the basic teachings of the Pali Canon, but on the other hand there was (still is) the Dhammakaya tradition in Thailand and Cambodia that does promise achievement of nirvana in this life. It is essentially "Tantric Theravada". So I wonder how the Dhammakaya tradition fits into this history since the Christian proselytizers would have more difficulty convincing Dhammakaya practitioners given that the latter believe that they already have a way to achieve Nirvana very quickly. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-M1KcXP6T6ag.html
Thanks Kevin, the Dhammakaya movement is a 20th c. phenomenon, so quite recent. While "Tantric Theravāda" goes back centuries, I don't know enough about its interaction with Christianity. Tibetan Tantra has quite a different idea of enlightenment than that in the early teachings for example, so it might not be comparable.
I second what Doug said. The Dhammakaya Movement (mostly in Thailand, but exists around the world) is quite modern, in that its foundation and spread all occurred in the last 100 years, roughly. Its Yogavacara/Tantric Theravada roots however go much further back, and its teachings are claimed to go all the way back to the Buddha. However, it's doubtful it would have ever encountered western religions in the 19th century, as its practices at the time were highly esoteric and practiced in only a handful of settings amongst monks - to the extent that the founder of the Dhammakaya Movement, Venerable Luang Pu Sodh Candasro, claimed it to be a recovery of the Buddha's lost meditation technique. The Dhammakaya Movement is similar in ways to the other modern revivals and reforms of Buddhist traditions, in that they prioritize and focus on meditation as a means to finding peace, and achieving deeper and deeper meditative attainments, until attaining the core of the Dhammakaya, Nibbana - and that it's possible in this life. I have practiced under teachers of both the Dhammakaya tradition as well as those of the Mahasi tradition. They are all lovely and amazing people, with both practices capable of bearing great fruit - albeit not that easily!
Any thoughts or comments on BA Ambedkar? I'd love to see a video about him and the type of Buddhism he taught. I don't know much about his movement, but I'd love to learn more!
