tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756920.post2492036709825635740..comments2024-01-08T06:21:35.864-08:00Comments on Notes in Samsara: Well, I suppose I'll have to talk about the NY Times & Buddhism in the WestMumon Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01116967568502451788noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756920.post-13049871088487530402012-06-17T06:03:23.461-07:002012-06-17T06:03:23.461-07:00Eisel-
Yeah, it's in part due to Buddhism'...Eisel-<br />Yeah, it's in part due to Buddhism's not being exactly a Western religion on Western terms. "Being" a Buddhist can mean "being" in "multiple religions" at once, or - in Western terms - none at all. <br /><br />And partly it's because there are people who don't find what they're looking for in Buddhism.<br /><br />Petteri-<br /><br />Yeah, I know. But the sort of positive take-away from that article is that at least there's some kind of acknowledgement that becoming a Buddhist appears more mainstream to more Americans than becoming a Mormon. And after growing up and living some 40 years in the NY area, with a dearth of Mormons, and then moving to the West coast, where they're a significant minority (but smaller than Buddhists in this area, I'd wager - we have a lot of Asians on the West coast alone), Buddhism being more mainstream than Mormonism seems to resonate with my experience.<br /><br />Barbara-<br /><br />I'm surprised some bean counter somewhere in that organization didn't say, "Hey we have a bunch of experts in things at about.com. Why don't we run it by them...?"Mumon Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01116967568502451788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756920.post-49224378311704162952012-06-17T03:37:10.303-07:002012-06-17T03:37:10.303-07:00Ha. Jewish Buddhists are not "Juddhists."...Ha. Jewish Buddhists are not "Juddhists." They are JuBus. Even Wikipedia says so.Barbara O'Brienhttp://buddhism.about.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756920.post-4537091904318265872012-06-17T00:13:40.227-07:002012-06-17T00:13:40.227-07:00Also it's a good deal less clear in Buddhism w...Also it's a good deal less clear in Buddhism what it means to 'convert.' I'm sure there are plenty of people who consider themselves Buddhists without ever having gone through a formal ceremony of taking refuge for example. Some traditions and teachers intentionally blur the distinction even more. The one I'm in seems particularly relaxed about it.Brikoleurhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01318706625291447339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7756920.post-19804292486912870532012-06-16T20:29:26.931-07:002012-06-16T20:29:26.931-07:00Although Buddhism has high rates of conversion, it...Although Buddhism has high rates of conversion, it also has extremely high rates of attrition (i.e., "joiners" and "leavers" both need to be calculated carefully in making demographic projections). Many people underestimate this, as conversion to other religions is (no pun intended) not nearly so impermanent.Eisel Mazardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06898869744926590471noreply@blogger.com