Western Buddhism

One meme that mainstream society has absorbed about Buddhism is that it is all about peacefulness and calm. That is not untrue, but it is not the whole story.

The first European woman to reach Tibet's forbidden capital and the most extensive source on the arcane Buddhist practices of a nearly vanished world, David-Neel might be "the most astonishing woman of our time."

It's been about 50 years since the bulk of the Asian meditation masters arrived here. Many of us have spent our whole adult lives trying to practice and absorb what they taught us. S

The "Shimano Problem" and its recent resolution make this an opportune time to briefly explore the subject of Buddhism's integration into the West.

Practical transformation is what Buddhist practice is all about. To practice meditation consistently is to push back hard against the tidal wave of materialism that is quite literally killing the planet.

Either the time has not yet come for Western Buddhist gurus to manifest fully, or we have a major culture clash on our hands here.