[rostpribru]

Ponlop is funny! When I saw Karmapa in NY, Ponlop was slinking around in the background, trying to hide from people.

But I really know what he is talking about. Tibetan Buddhist centers in America tend to be really bad about this. I ended up taking a near two year break from affiliation with centers for this reason... find my own practice within myself... it is like there are these two extremes in the community: adopt everything Tibetan, or think that you should (seems to be most popular amongst practitioners) or overly reject thinking that it is superstitious culture. Clinging to either one is a trap from my perspective.

From my perspective, I have to be genuine. If I practice Vajrayana Buddhism, I am still American. But I am not independent of Tibetan culture either because it has influenced me. Neither one of them is me or not me.

...if I practice ngondro it is because it is working for me, or because I am trying it out to see... that's it.