I Am Not a Western Buddhist

So I'm surfing around the Buddhist blogosphere and I'm finding a lot of posts debating the whole East-West tension thing. Robes or no robes? Bowing or no bowing? Do form and ritual matter? People have very strong feelings about all of it, and it seems that they won't be able to rest unless they can comfortably put a label on their practice. This religion stuff gets really messy. Thank goodness we're not here for religion.

I'll say it again. We are not here for religion.

If you've read some of my other posts about religion and faith, you might be scratching your head, but I'm not contradicting myself. Religion is important. Faith is important. Teaching is important, and so is the sangha. We need all of these things - flaws and all. We need religion because it's the institution that preserves the teachings. We need teachers for obvious reasons. Faith, not blind faith of course, helps us steer through the ups and downs of all this frustrating religious stuff. Most of us need some sense of community and reassurance as well, and the sangha, when it isn't dysfunctional, fulfills this role.

I think of religious institutions as government bureaucracies. They're like the postal service. They are usually big, full of all sorts of annoying people, rather stuck in their ways, and if you work there you may be required to wear a funny hat. You may not like dealing with the postal service, but it only exists for one function—delivering your package—and it almost always works despite itself. Religious institutions, all human institutions, are essentially like this. Use the post office to mail your package; it's good for that, but please do not loiter. You are not there for the post office experience.

Cut to the heart of the matter. Your religion exists to support this activity. Who are you? I can tell you this: You are not a Western Buddhist. You are not an Eastern Buddhist.

Originally published on my old blog, renegadebuddha.com on April 12, 2006.