I will confess--I DO NOT GET Americanized Tibetan Buddhism.
And I say that as an Americanized Chan Buddhist.
Though I do agree that neither of them have any proscriptions that would prevent Xmas, though it's more of a stretch with the Tibetan variety. We had a tree, a special ceremony (just more musical than the usual ones), and a gift-exchange at my temple.
But the Chan/Zen tradition, especially the Shaolin flavor which is philosophically closer to Taoism than Buddhism-proper, makes absolutely no distinction about such trappings. If they're useful, use 'em, if they're not, ditch 'em --that's about as formulaic as we get.
Tibetan Buddhism is not like that, though, and ever time I see a Richard Gere clone waving prayer-flags and chatting about how nicely their beliefs fit in with American culture, it gives me a bit of a headache. ;)
As a Secular Humanist or Jedi, I am more Deist in my approach to life..:)
I am exploring more spirituality away from religious trappings and have always been interested in Jesus, as a teacher, rather than son of a divine being. I've met a few Buddhists who believe him to be one of the Boddhisatvas.
I will have to contact one Tibetan Buddhist priest of my acquaintance. He manages to integrate his life as a tradesman/plumber and his Buddhist lifestyle.
I suppose like the Chinese, treat it as a buffet. Take what you like and leave the rest?
Actually, the Chinese (or properly "Chan", since Chan Buddhism is actually informed by Hindu ("Siddarthan", if you like) Buddhism and the Taoist teachings, much more than it is actually related to Chinese or any other Buddhism) view is that there are important lessons to learn and skills to develop, and when it comes to what works to develop those skills, they aren't dogmatic but they do have a bit of "Um, why the hell do you think you know more than these seven grand masters again
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And I say that as an Americanized Chan Buddhist.
Though I do agree that neither of them have any proscriptions that would prevent Xmas, though it's more of a stretch with the Tibetan variety. We had a tree, a special ceremony (just more musical than the usual ones), and a gift-exchange at my temple.
But the Chan/Zen tradition, especially the Shaolin flavor which is philosophically closer to Taoism than Buddhism-proper, makes absolutely no distinction about such trappings. If they're useful, use 'em, if they're not, ditch 'em --that's about as formulaic as we get.
Tibetan Buddhism is not like that, though, and ever time I see a Richard Gere clone waving prayer-flags and chatting about how nicely their beliefs fit in with American culture, it gives me a bit of a headache. ;)
Thanks for the video!
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As a Secular Humanist or Jedi, I am more Deist in my approach to life..:)
I am exploring more spirituality away from religious trappings and have always been interested in Jesus, as a teacher, rather than son of a divine being. I've met a few Buddhists who believe him to be one of the Boddhisatvas.
I will have to contact one Tibetan Buddhist priest of my acquaintance. He manages to integrate his life as a tradesman/plumber and his Buddhist lifestyle.
I suppose like the Chinese, treat it as a buffet. Take what you like and leave the rest?
Do you have any sites to recommend?
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