[bp9QxekG]

Not saying that this is "absolute truth" or anything, but from my perspective at this moment, I'd say that modern Buddhism has shifted away from direct, unmediated experience to faith in the Buddha, suttas, one's teacher, one's lineage, etc. The Buddha's teachings can never teach us as much as our own senses could, if we could just get away from the addiction to teachers. The teachings seem to me to be designed to make themselves obsolete, superfluous, once we've got the point. Just my musings... ^^