DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**Forex Trading Software** · 07-10-2012, 02:03 AM

I saw an article 'Dharma is Culture' by Larry Yang in the Huffington Post and wondered if anyone had any comments. Here's an excerpt of the last section:

"From the perspective of culture, the development of different Buddhist lineages of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, is not only about scriptural developments and interpretations, but also about the Dharma's transformation through the cultures with which it came into contact. In a real sense, it is the aspect of culture that produced the lineages of the Dharma.

What is fascinating about the malleability of the Dharma is that when the early European colonists arrived at their places of dominion in Asia, it took European cultures years, if not decades, to realize that they were not encountering different religions (for example, the differences between the spiritual practices in Sri Lanka and in Japan). They were seeing the same spiritual tradition across different cultures.

It is historically documented that the Buddha's Teachings create profound influence and transformation on every culture it meets, and also has incredible resilience to adapt to local cultures and forms. This is also supported by contemporary analysis from experts in the ancient languages of the time after the Buddha's passing, that there was probably never a singular "Dharma" that was without the influence of multiple cultural contexts. The Dharma changes culture and is changed by that culture.

The Dharma has always been about Culture.

This phrase is not just about the artifact of historical facts. It is about how we can learn from how the Dharma has been lived, so that we can embody it even more fully for the multitude of cultures within our lifetime and into our future human condition. How will the Dharma change our cultures, and our relationship to them? How will our cultures transform the Dharma into the beautiful expressions of their creative humanity?

The Dharma continues to be about Culture -- whether we are aware of that or not is a factor which will either lead us to create more freedom or less freedom for all of us."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-...p_ref=buddhism .

.

07-10-2012, 02:03 AM	#1
Forex Trading Software Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 440 Senior Member	Dharma is Culture I saw an article 'Dharma is Culture' by Larry Yang in the Huffington Post and wondered if anyone had any comments. Here's an excerpt of the last section: "From the perspective of culture, the development of different Buddhist lineages of Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana, is not only about scriptural developments and interpretations, but also about the Dharma's transformation through the cultures with which it came into contact. In a real sense, it is the aspect of culture that produced the lineages of the Dharma. What is fascinating about the malleability of the Dharma is that when the early European colonists arrived at their places of dominion in Asia, it took European cultures years, if not decades, to realize that they were not encountering different religions (for example, the differences between the spiritual practices in Sri Lanka and in Japan). They were seeing the same spiritual tradition across different cultures. It is historically documented that the Buddha's Teachings create profound influence and transformation on every culture it meets, and also has incredible resilience to adapt to local cultures and forms. This is also supported by contemporary analysis from experts in the ancient languages of the time after the Buddha's passing, that there was probably never a singular "Dharma" that was without the influence of multiple cultural contexts. The Dharma changes culture and is changed by that culture. The Dharma has always been about Culture. This phrase is not just about the artifact of historical facts. It is about how we can learn from how the Dharma has been lived, so that we can embody it even more fully for the multitude of cultures within our lifetime and into our future human condition. How will the Dharma change our cultures, and our relationship to them? How will our cultures transform the Dharma into the beautiful expressions of their creative humanity? The Dharma continues to be about Culture -- whether we are aware of that or not is a factor which will either lead us to create more freedom or less freedom for all of us." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-...p_ref=buddhism . .
	Quote