I agree with some aspects of this article -- but really, is the reason why Buddhists convert "intellectuals" more because Buddhists tend to be "snooty", whereas they look down on the poor and uneducated who perhaps only have faith to go on?Let’s not deny the historical fact that Buddha was the first and a successful leader of missionary activities hundreds of years before Christ got the smell of this earth. Let’s not pretend that we Buddhists do not convert followers. We do but the difference in us is that we love to target the most educated, the most affluent, and the most intelligent pundits of the world rather than taking advantage of peoples’ poverty and illiteracy.
We take peoples’ intelligence and wisdom to our advantage which is the uniqueness of Buddhist evangelism. Perhaps this very prospect is leading us to the other disadvantage: losing our fellow poor, neglected and illiterate Buddhists. And this only calls for the implementation of the much acclaimed Buddhist ‘Middle Way’.
The well established large monastic sanghas and lay Buddhist organizations of the known Buddhist world are effectively failing to perform their duties well enough due to unscrupulous remnants of corruption, misbehaviors, mismanagement and inefficiency within.
It is time for Buddhists to get our act together, look out for one another and redeem ourselves by rallying to Buddha's call to "go forth... for the good of many, for the benefit and well being of many." Failing which, predatory Christian groups will only be too happy to forage by the wayside, preying on our inaction.
Is "Pureland" Buddhism, the Buddhism for the masses? Just cry, "Amitabha!" with all your heart?
It is "KISS", keep it simple stupid -- or shall I say, "it's about the end of suffering stupid!" -- is the medicine of Buddhism getting lost in intellectual verbosity and long explanations?