How open are current Zen Buddhism masters to teaching westerners?
score:4
Thich Nhat Hanh is a world renowned Zen master who has monasteries in France, USA and several other countries. He teaches and ordains students and monks from all cultures and ethnicities.
His method of teaching is especially suited for the modern age, since Eastern or Western, cultures are increasingly all the same thanks to globalization.
I believe Western students will benefit most from working with such teachers, who understand both cultures. Firstly, there's no language barrier, secondly, the western manners and habits won't cause offense or impede progress, and thirdly, the teaching is especially suited for the intellectual Westernized person.
I believe Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh to be no less than a living Bodhisattva, a jewel among teachers. He doesn't teach anymore after an illness a couple of years ago, but his Plum Village tradition still carries on along the path he charted.
One could also travel to Japan or China, many do, but finding a good teacher there can be hit or miss without knowledge of the language, culture and traditions. Ultimately though it is not the teacher, but the student who plays the largest role in enlightenment.
There has been no one who has not been enlightened for want of a good teacher. When there is ardent desire to learn the Dharma, the Dharma will seek the seeker out.
More post
- 📝 Buddhism and Stereotyping Perceptions
- 📝 Can mind be free from becoming?
- 📝 Is the Avatamsaka Sutra the only Buddhist scripture that talks about multiverse?
- 📝 Unnecessarily Complicated Analysis of Anapanasati
- 📝 Causes of specific illnesses/death
- 📝 I have forgotten how to live
- 📝 Do only sentient being suffer
- 📝 How does Karma works?
- 📝 Is it ok for lay meditators to have counsellors/therapists/psychologists
- 📝 Balancing, renewing or gaining Faith
- 📝 Is there any advice in the Buddhist scriptures that would help a leader balance a safe economy with people's concerns about sickness & death?
- 📝 What does "abandoned for no future renewed existence" mean in this sutta?
- 📝 How do you balance your desire for liberation with your wordly desires?
- 📝 Will aiming for emptiness instead of awareness of breath help attaining meditative absorption states?
- 📝 Is stream entry in 20 or 30 years of practice realistic?
- 📝 Are there situations where it is wise to remove oneself from parents? My philosophy is to set an example to others though the path of a bodhisattva.
- 📝 What is the perspective of the western buddhist cannon websites?
- 📝 Is it a good or bad sign that meditation is sometimes a frightening and nervous activity?
- 📝 Is there a proper English word to call Brahmas?
- 📝 What are ways "common" and not so known to practice the first kind of proper giving?
- 📝 Who are the past Buddhas mentioned in the Canonical Works?
- 📝 How to chant the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo?
- 📝 Some people are not human?
- 📝 Difference between "Becoming" and Anicca
- 📝 How can you know that meditating isn't selfish?
- 📝 Sutta Reference
- 📝 Looking for a historical text or a contemporary study of such text on how it is that this world is or isn't a "pure land"
- 📝 Unpleasant side effects of meditation
- 📝 Is secular Buddhism a religion?
- 📝 The Story of Buddha
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How open are current Zen Buddhism masters to teaching westerners?
- 📝 How compatible are (Theravada) Buddhism and the Western life?
- 📝 How compatible are Buddhism and Communism?
- 📝 How Atheism and Buddhism are different?
- 📝 How do zen practitioners balance the mix between Buddhism detachment and Taoism attachment?
- 📝 How does teaching of Buddhism deal with waste? How does teaching of Buddhism deal with acceptance even it causes unhappiness?
- 📝 What are the differences between Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism?
- 📝 If all things are impermanent, then how can Buddhism make absolute assertions?
- 📝 Without reproducing, how is buddhism a proper belief in a world where resources are limited?
- 📝 How to explain what Buddhism is?
- 📝 Does Zen Buddhism have canonical texts?
- 📝 Are Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism the same thing?
- 📝 How to deal with bad past karma that makes my current life miserable?
- 📝 How are 'conceit' and 'identity-view' not the same?
- 📝 How compatible are the beliefs of atheists and Buddhism?
- 📝 How to combine Buddhism with being a parent?
- 📝 What are the differences/similarities in the concept of faith as used in Buddhism and Christianity?
- 📝 How to refute the idea that Buddhism might be actually "too extreme"?
- 📝 How does Dating work in Buddhism
- 📝 What are the differences between "Nirvana" in Buddhism and "Moksha" in Hinduism?
- 📝 How irony and sarcasm are seen in Buddhism?
- 📝 What is ignorance in Buddhism and what are examples of ignorance?
- 📝 How effective are guided meditation sessions in achieving the benefits of meditation?
- 📝 How does Buddhism describe God?
- 📝 In simple words, how are body sensations linked to moods and feelings?
- 📝 How does Buddhism explain consciousness if there is no self?
- 📝 How should a lay person respond if they see a monk teaching something contrary to Dhamma?
- 📝 How does Shambhala differ from traditional Vajrayana Buddhism as it is practiced in Asia?
- 📝 How is the Concept of Consciousness in Psychology Related to the parallel Buddhism concepts?
- 📝 Are practical solutions to everyday suffering that contradict Buddhism Upaya or avidya?