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

**sapedotru** · 09-07-2012, 04:05 PM

....I find consistent with his point is more & more Western Buddhists, including Western monks, are taking refuge in Western scholars, such as Gombrich, Professor Ian Stevenson & the like, instead of the Noble Sangha that have dedicated their practise to the realisation of heartwood (Emptiness)

I wonder if this is because Buddhism may have become more of an intellectual exercise for some, rather like reading, studying and writing essays for a university degree. There are so many books and different sites on the internet that can be read and pondered endlessly. However, some of this information could be pointless gobbledegook and there's always a possibly that the all important ground-level practice might be getting neglected in the process.

It also seems like people might be becoming less inclined to actually seek out teachers and meditation groups if it requires some travel out of their local area, or a weekend away at a centre or monastery. (I'm not including people with disabilites or heavy family/work commitments in that)

09-07-2012, 04:05 PM	#12
sapedotru Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 367 Senior Member	....I find consistent with his point is more & more Western Buddhists, including Western monks, are taking refuge in Western scholars, such as Gombrich, Professor Ian Stevenson & the like, instead of the Noble Sangha that have dedicated their practise to the realisation of heartwood (Emptiness) I wonder if this is because Buddhism may have become more of an intellectual exercise for some, rather like reading, studying and writing essays for a university degree. There are so many books and different sites on the internet that can be read and pondered endlessly. However, some of this information could be pointless gobbledegook and there's always a possibly that the all important ground-level practice might be getting neglected in the process. It also seems like people might be becoming less inclined to actually seek out teachers and meditation groups if it requires some travel out of their local area, or a weekend away at a centre or monastery. (I'm not including people with disabilites or heavy family/work commitments in that)
	Quote