Professor Jiang
Buddhist Philosophy
5 May 2017
In David L. McMahan’s The Making of Buddhist Modernism, McMahan explores the relatively new phenomena of Modern Buddhism. He shows that modern Buddhism is not a monolith, but a complex spectrum of different beliefs. McMahan unpacks modernism to help the reader understand what modernism is and how it works. He describes modernism as a force of change and how this force interacts with Buddhism. He compares the traditional beliefs against modern ones and delves into the key differences between the two approaches to Buddhism. Characters are created and stories are born to give the reader a sense of the different ways the teachings of the Buddha are spread and practiced throughout the modern day. …show more content…
“An American Dharma Teacher” is a middle class Jewish American woman named Rachael who met Buddhism while living in India. When she returned to America, she chose to read more on the subject and got involved in a local Zen center. She would go on long meditation retreats and eventually would go to Japan to be allowed to teach Buddhism back in America. Rachael does not recognize the Buddha as a spiritual being but as a teacher that will lead her to a richer and more fulfilling life. In the Zen center that she runs she forsakes the parts of Buddhist culture that conflict with her world views and runs the center in a democratic manner. She differs from the other two Buddhists since she has delved deeply into the scripture and readings and studied an aspect of a specific iteration of Buddhism. The fourth Buddhist is “A Traditional Monk” named Longsang. He is a Tibetan monk that lives and is educated in India. He is taught the traditional scriptures and is well versed in his religion. Meditation is an option but he chooses to stay and teach. Longsang is similar to Yanisa since they both do not practice meditation often, but Longsang is well versed in Buddhist literature which makes him similar to Rachel in that sense. The fifth and final Buddhist is “An Asian Modernizer” named Ananda. Ananda is a monk, but he was educated in an European university and can speak English. He writes well known books in English and his original language. His popularity in the west lets him talk to influential and affluent people across the world. Due to his travels, he has seen the human experience first hand and this has had a great influence on him. He embraces modern concepts unlike Longsang who has only had a limited education and has not experienced the world on the same scale that Ananda has. Ananda tries to mold his traditional values to fit a modern
Buddhist Philosophy
5 May 2017
In David L. McMahan’s The Making of Buddhist Modernism, McMahan explores the relatively new phenomena of Modern Buddhism. He shows that modern Buddhism is not a monolith, but a complex spectrum of different beliefs. McMahan unpacks modernism to help the reader understand what modernism is and how it works. He describes modernism as a force of change and how this force interacts with Buddhism. He compares the traditional beliefs against modern ones and delves into the key differences between the two approaches to Buddhism. Characters are created and stories are born to give the reader a sense of the different ways the teachings of the Buddha are spread and practiced throughout the modern day. …show more content…
“An American Dharma Teacher” is a middle class Jewish American woman named Rachael who met Buddhism while living in India. When she returned to America, she chose to read more on the subject and got involved in a local Zen center. She would go on long meditation retreats and eventually would go to Japan to be allowed to teach Buddhism back in America. Rachael does not recognize the Buddha as a spiritual being but as a teacher that will lead her to a richer and more fulfilling life. In the Zen center that she runs she forsakes the parts of Buddhist culture that conflict with her world views and runs the center in a democratic manner. She differs from the other two Buddhists since she has delved deeply into the scripture and readings and studied an aspect of a specific iteration of Buddhism. The fourth Buddhist is “A Traditional Monk” named Longsang. He is a Tibetan monk that lives and is educated in India. He is taught the traditional scriptures and is well versed in his religion. Meditation is an option but he chooses to stay and teach. Longsang is similar to Yanisa since they both do not practice meditation often, but Longsang is well versed in Buddhist literature which makes him similar to Rachel in that sense. The fifth and final Buddhist is “An Asian Modernizer” named Ananda. Ananda is a monk, but he was educated in an European university and can speak English. He writes well known books in English and his original language. His popularity in the west lets him talk to influential and affluent people across the world. Due to his travels, he has seen the human experience first hand and this has had a great influence on him. He embraces modern concepts unlike Longsang who has only had a limited education and has not experienced the world on the same scale that Ananda has. Ananda tries to mold his traditional values to fit a modern