I get overwhelmed all the time. So, I just say "not yet." It is not necessary to dismiss that which we are unable to understand -- that is sour grapes. With time, study, chanting, concentration, and reflection; insight arises; it actually becomes possible to understand what presently seems impossible to grasp.
It is not so much the jargon, but what it means, that can be highly useful, for one who wishes to truly benefit from Buddhism. As for putting off new people, as someone suggested too much jargon might do, marketing Buddhism to the messes is not really my gig. I suspect that almost anything that has too much popular appeal is probably not worth pursuing.
I know that might seem sardonic, or worse, elitist. I just wonder at what point does changing Nichiren's teaching, so that it is not much different from other popular self help schemes, turn it in to something other than Buddhism? A friend once told me that he liked Soka Gakkai because it taught what he already believed. My reaction was, why bother then? Why do we practice Buddhism? Is it so we can stay as are, and receive some self affirmation, to build up our self esteem?
It is not so much the jargon, but what it means, that can be highly useful, for one who wishes to truly benefit from Buddhism. As for putting off new people, as someone suggested too much jargon might do, marketing Buddhism to the messes is not really my gig. I suspect that almost anything that has too much popular appeal is probably not worth pursuing.
I know that might seem sardonic, or worse, elitist. I just wonder at what point does changing Nichiren's teaching, so that it is not much different from other popular self help schemes, turn it in to something other than Buddhism? A friend once told me that he liked Soka Gakkai because it taught what he already believed. My reaction was, why bother then? Why do we practice Buddhism? Is it so we can stay as are, and receive some self affirmation, to build up our self esteem?
No comments:
Post a Comment