The Future of American Buddhism

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Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Crazywisdom wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 7:25 pm I'm not wrong about the 4th Amendment. Due respect to your late father, but the erosion of the 4th Amend was designed to allow police to arbitrarily stop and search people of color the street. It was all about cat and mouse, has nothing to do with the press.
My point was that 4th amendment never intended to deal with police to begin with. It was a response to British troops billeting in houses, etc.

The issue about inflation happened when Obama turned on the spigot in '09 and they have yet to turn it off. The crises of late are just the trigger that turn hope into fear.
Nonense.
You didn't from your father about the overcrowding problem in prisons? Must be nice to be from Massachusetts.
He discussed it. He, like everyone else, thought the main problem was from drug busts, minor offenses.
For a more perfect union I'd rather be somewhere one side doesn't hate and want the extinction of the other.
The only real point you have made is that you have mixed background, and I am from OG Mayflower invader stock. Is it an advantage being white in the USA. Of course it is. I never denied it. But the system put into place by those old white guys back in the 1780's started something good that will never stop, unless of course people abandon the project. Right now, that project is very much damaged in many countries. But it is not damaged in the West. I get it, btw, if you prefer to live elsewhere than the US. The US is not everyone's cup of tea. But I don't think the Christian Right will take over the whole country. They certainly won't succeed in New England.

I still maintain the future of Buddhism is right here in the US.
Natan
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Natan »

Talk about friends in low places. I lived on 37rh and International. I saw Oscar Grant get handcuffed and shot in the back from my front yard. Days later there was a shooting war in Oakland. Some guy was pulled over in his car, pulled out an AK 47 killed cops and they sent in the army. Holed him up in a complex and let the bullets fly. Obviously he got shot. Constitution at its best.

There's a big difference from being jaded to facing threat of death. Ideas go right out of the window.
Last edited by Natan on Wed Apr 20, 2022 9:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:10 pm Don’t wanna move to Mexico, but I have to say that sometimes hanging out with Mexicans was a lot less exasperating than hanging out with Americans.
For sure. If I were going to move anywhere it would be New Mexico. Too many white people in Colorado, AZ, etc. I have all that back here. Why would I want to move to place with just as many white people as where I come from? Also, my partner was born in Mexico City and speaks fluent Spanish. Miami is ok too, but too GOP.
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Johnny Dangerous
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

Malcolm wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:47 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:10 pm Don’t wanna move to Mexico, but I have to say that sometimes hanging out with Mexicans was a lot less exasperating than hanging out with Americans.
For sure. If I were going to move anywhere it would be New Mexico. Too many white people in Colorado, AZ, etc. I have all that back here. Why would I want to move to place with just as many white people as where I come from? Also, my partner was born in Mexico City and speaks fluent Spanish. Miami is ok too, but too GOP.
I will probably move back to New Mexico once I approach retirement age. It has some real downsides when you are younger, but if you are financially stable land is cheap, and the mix of cultures and people is one of the coolest things. Lots of the US just seems super uptight if you grow up in New Mexico, in my experience. The West Coast especially has some things that really clash in terms of communication, social expectations, etc. Everyone is very concerned with propriety in a way that New Mexicans just don't give a shit about.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Johnny Dangerous wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:03 am
Malcolm wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:47 pm
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:10 pm Don’t wanna move to Mexico, but I have to say that sometimes hanging out with Mexicans was a lot less exasperating than hanging out with Americans.
For sure. If I were going to move anywhere it would be New Mexico. Too many white people in Colorado, AZ, etc. I have all that back here. Why would I want to move to place with just as many white people as where I come from? Also, my partner was born in Mexico City and speaks fluent Spanish. Miami is ok too, but too GOP.
I will probably move back to New Mexico once I approach retirement age. It has some real downsides when you are younger, but if you are financially stable land is cheap, and the mix of cultures and people is one of the coolest things. Lots of the US just seems super uptight if you grow up in New Mexico, in my experience. The West Coast especially has some things that really clash in terms of communication, social expectations, etc. Everyone is very concerned with propriety in a way that New Mexicans just don't give a shit about.
Vermont is chill.
KristenM
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by KristenM »

I really love a lot about Brazil, but it’s no paragon of justice. Anyone remember this prison riot with 16 decapitated and 56 dead or so? Half a million people are imprisoned in Brazil.

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Queequeg
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Queequeg »

Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:20 am
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:03 am
Malcolm wrote: Wed Apr 20, 2022 8:47 pm

For sure. If I were going to move anywhere it would be New Mexico. Too many white people in Colorado, AZ, etc. I have all that back here. Why would I want to move to place with just as many white people as where I come from? Also, my partner was born in Mexico City and speaks fluent Spanish. Miami is ok too, but too GOP.
I will probably move back to New Mexico once I approach retirement age. It has some real downsides when you are younger, but if you are financially stable land is cheap, and the mix of cultures and people is one of the coolest things. Lots of the US just seems super uptight if you grow up in New Mexico, in my experience. The West Coast especially has some things that really clash in terms of communication, social expectations, etc. Everyone is very concerned with propriety in a way that New Mexicans just don't give a shit about.
Vermont is chill.
What are these places you speak of?

Image
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:54 pm
Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:20 am
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:03 am

I will probably move back to New Mexico once I approach retirement age. It has some real downsides when you are younger, but if you are financially stable land is cheap, and the mix of cultures and people is one of the coolest things. Lots of the US just seems super uptight if you grow up in New Mexico, in my experience. The West Coast especially has some things that really clash in terms of communication, social expectations, etc. Everyone is very concerned with propriety in a way that New Mexicans just don't give a shit about.
Vermont is chill.
What are these places you speak of?
Far away from NYC, which I loath.
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Queequeg
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Queequeg »

Well. Just some random comments on the article.

This new reactionary right... what's interesting is its vitality. I don't see any particular consistency in their ideas other than they think the ideology nominally adopted by mainstream corporate America sucks, but what else is new? Of course the ersatz multicultural whatever is bull shit. Of course their veneer of caring just covers greed. But these people aren't some populist vanguard - their just contrarians from the same backgrounds and educated at the same institutions that produced the leaders of mainstream corporate America.

The diagnosis of a "cathedral" aint wrong. Its the prescribed cure that is appalling. They want a Julius Caesar to bring back white male Christian rule. Trump was a useful idiot for these people. The real imperator is still incubating.

I don't see these people spreading their ideology widely. They're self-hating bourgeois douche bags with bigoted attitudes obscured by GenX cynicism. They're little different from white collar bourgeois douche bags who go along and get along that you find in every thriving metro area across the country. I'm sure there's a lot of intersection there. The danger is that they could slip their guy in to the oval office, someone who isn't a self sabotaging buffoon.

Here's the other thing they have going for them - they're having fun. Yeah, its douchebag fun, but in the same way that rednecks are having fun with ATVs and guns, they're not restrained by pious articles of faith. That just increases their fun because they also get the rush of being transgressive wwith their fun because the left is full of dowdy scolds. Probably some grotesque outgrowth of GenX black trench coat punk. The left is losing in this regard. There's no joy on the left, just fretting and pious inquisitions. The left went from "free love" to "believe women". We leave no room for messy fun. We leave no room for heterodoxy. Underrepresented voices must be heard and everyone else needs to STFU.

The Left has a better vision, but we gotta loosen up a little. These killjoys on the left are the same people who passed prohibition. They see fun and the slightest negative outcome means it needs to stop. We used to have voices like Abbie Hoffman, and take your pick of musicians - Lou Reed, for one. Yeah, it was king of bro-ey, but this has got to be a fight among bros.

The reactionary right needs to be countered, but not with the LGBTQ activists from campus shouting them down and barring them from talking. This is a long term project where the evil of their ideas need to be exposed from under their layers of cynical mush mouth bull shit. I don't think the culture on left intellectual circles has it. We need a muse.

Someone needs to take the torch from Bernie.
Last edited by Queequeg on Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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Queequeg
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Queequeg »

Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:48 pm
Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:54 pm
Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:20 am

Vermont is chill.
What are these places you speak of?
Far away from NYC, which I loath.
You fundamentally don't get this place. ITs not about loving or loathing. Its walking a tightrope with no net. No safe spaces. Everyone has to deal with each other. I like New England, especially Vermont, but the pursed lip judginess of New Englanders repels me.
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
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justsit
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by justsit »

Looks like we got fooled again. Plus ça change...

https://exhibitions.lib.udel.edu/1968/h ... cal-voice/

The guy second from right in the photo is George Wolkind, an old friend of mine.
Genjo Conan
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Genjo Conan »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:19 pm
Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:48 pm
Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:54 pm

What are these places you speak of?
Far away from NYC, which I loath.
You fundamentally don't get this place. ITs not about loving or loathing. Its walking a tightrope with no net. No safe spaces. Everyone has to deal with each other.
I grew up in Brooklyn. Still love it and think of it as "home" in some Proustian way, but wouldn't want to live there. Daily existence in NYC is a pain in the ass. Not hard--though plainly it is hard for a lot of people living there--but just kind of a schlepp. I think to really thrive in NYC you have to thrive on the schlepp. "My bodega was closed, so I had to take two trains and a bus to get a carton of orange juice--but man, it's the best orange juice in the city, you can only get it in Bayside, I'll give you the name of my guy."
Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 2:19 pm You fundamentally don't get this place.
What's there to get? I've lived in cities, been to NYC many times.

I don't like the constant traffic, the noise, and the crowds. At least LA has beaches, and SF, wine country.

The benefits of NYC do not outweigh the negatives, YMMV.
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Queequeg
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Queequeg »

Genjo Conan wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 3:48 pm I think to really thrive in NYC you have to thrive on the schlepp. "My bodega was closed, so I had to take two trains and a bus to get a carton of orange juice--but man, it's the best orange juice in the city, you can only get it in Bayside, I'll give you the name of my guy."
I'm actually Bridge and Tunnel, from the northern burbs, doing the NYMetro life cycle - born and raised in the burbs, spend young adult life in the City, and return to the burbs to breed. Maybe when we're old we'll go back to a nice little apartment on the Upper West, but probably not - where would I have my wood shop?

NYC Metro is a megacity, one of the few in N. America. It is a world unto itself. I left for stints - Tokyo, Boston - but I've never wanted to be anywhere else. The unavoidable, unrelenting diversity, the jaded attitudes, sharpness of having to be quick on your feet and on the draw, the anonymity in the crowd. Schlepp, grind, having a guy, and arguing about the best way to get to Columbus Circle. Its a crucible, not for the feint of heart, but rewarding.

Not conducive to contemplative practice - you need a lot of discipline. But then again, a lot of opportunities to put other aspects of dharma into practice. And there's plenty of places to go upstate for retreat. The Hudson Valley and Catskills are quietly emerging as a Dharma region.
Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:28 pm What's there to get? I've lived in cities, been to NYC many times.
Spoken like a bumpkin tourist. cities (lower case "c") are not comparable to the City. NY is only comparable to other international Cities.
I don't like the constant traffic, the noise, and the crowds. At least LA has beaches, and SF, wine country.

The benefits of NYC do not outweigh the negatives, YMMV.
NYC has beaches. Great beaches. And Long Island and the Jersey Shore a train ride away. Wine country? A place where alcoholics can cover their habits with a veneer of earthy sophistication? Sure.

YMMV indeed.

:smile:
There is no suffering to be severed. Ignorance and klesas are indivisible from bodhi. There is no cause of suffering to be abandoned. Since extremes and the false are the Middle and genuine, there is no path to be practiced. Samsara is nirvana. No severance achieved. No suffering nor its cause. No path, no end. There is no transcendent realm; there is only the one true aspect. There is nothing separate from the true aspect.
-Guanding, Perfect and Sudden Contemplation,
Malcolm
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Malcolm »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 5:43 pm
Spoken like a bumpkin tourist. cities (lower case "c") are not comparable to the City. NY is only comparable to other international Cities.
I'd take London over NYC any day.
NYC has beaches.
Atlantic beaches generally suck.
Wine country? A place where alcoholics can cover their habits with a veneer of earthy sophistication? Sure.
The food in Napa, and in Cali in general, beats the food anywhere else in the US. And I am not talking about restaurants. Who cares about sophistication?
narhwal90
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by narhwal90 »

I found Berlin way more comfortable than London or NYC. Years ago I almost bought a milling machine from a school in downtown NYC, fortunately the van I rented had transmission issues on the highway so I bailed- had visions of trying to load that thing out on a sidewalk under the tender ministrations of the NYC police and getting a truck in and out of there is the stuff of nightmares.
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Shinjin »

NYC and London have nothing on Fargo, North Dakota.

(joking)
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Konchog Thogme Jampa
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 6:10 pm

I'd take London over NYC any day.

You’re more than welcome to come to London and give some transmissions anytime! :sage:
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by amanitamusc »

Queequeg wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 12:54 pm
Malcolm wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:20 am
Johnny Dangerous wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 1:03 am

I will probably move back to New Mexico once I approach retirement age. It has some real downsides when you are younger, but if you are financially stable land is cheap, and the mix of cultures and people is one of the coolest things. Lots of the US just seems super uptight if you grow up in New Mexico, in my experience. The West Coast especially has some things that really clash in terms of communication, social expectations, etc. Everyone is very concerned with propriety in a way that New Mexicans just don't give a shit about.
Vermont is chill.
What are these places you speak of?

Image
Ii was born in Vermont. It is just way beyond my pay grade.Some way i will get back.
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Virgo
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Re: The Future of American Buddhism

Post by Virgo »

narhwal90 wrote: Thu Apr 21, 2022 6:20 pm I found Berlin way more comfortable than London or NYC.
Have you been to Munich? Curious how you would compare it to Berlin. I'd really like to go to Oktoberfest one year and see the rest of Munich too, if I can get the time off in the fall.
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