Thanks for joining the conversation.

My thought: it's hard if not impossible to control what people project onto their religious leaders. When does a believer's respect for a teacher become more than that? When does a person's needs exceed the boundaries of the tradition? (If you're looking for a guru bad enough it could turn out to be your dog.)

In Zen, the tradition says the teacher is not a "manifestation of the godhead," which on the other hand is exactly what a "master" is supposed to be in the Hindu tradition. But is that how it's always practiced in either faith? Do all Buddhist teachers kick out the students who are looking for gurus? Do the gurus kick out students who only think they are teachers? Will they keep doing that as the traditions make their way into American culture? (Your guess is probably as good as mine at this point, but I'm not sure it makes the case for Dive-bar Dharma.)

There are Buddhist traditions that make Buddha a god and I suspect even more practitioners. Or, as you suggest, make "Tathagatha" seem like "god" rather than Buddha-nature. For some reason, these traditions don't travel well but if you go to Japan or China they have temples all over. Most of the faithful pray to the old Shinto gods, and only go to the Buddhists to get buried since they control the cemetaries.

The historical "Buddha" was a Hindu-Buddhist, so you're in good company. I wonder if they're chanting "Let true Dharma continue" at the Dive-bar.

I do not have first hand experience with Nichtern's sangha in New York, but I have been part of the sangha (or community) that Noah Levine helped create here in Los Angeles for a little over two years. Many people come to our sitting groups having never meditated before in their lives, and many of us are beginners. However, there are many opportunities in our community for a deeper understanding of the Buddha's teachings theoretically, philosophically and practically.

There was a letter writer earlier that alluded to the fact that Buddhism is partially about lineage, and Dharma Punx L.A is no exception to that. Noah makes it very clear that he is coming primarily from a Theravada Buddhist perspective. We have people in our sangha that regularly study Buddhist texts, attend retreats, visit monasteries, and are just generally looking to deepen our understanding of the Buddha in our lives. Some people in our community are even training to become meditation group facilitators, teachers, and some are even exploring options to enter into monastic life themselves.

This is not hipster-lite dharma, nor is it about creating a spiritual grab bag of New Age stuff, and there is no mistaking dukkha "just" for stress at Dharma Punx either. Even though many of us have tattoos and are young, that doesn't mean that we do not want to study Buddhism's deeper meanings as practitioners and lay people, quite the contrary.

I really encourage people to check out the Dharma Punx website, and Noah's books for more information. If anyone wants to check us out, please come visit...

http://www.againstthestream.com/

http://dharmapunx.com/tdates/default.asp

Buddhist congregations for the tatts and piercings crowd makes perfect sense to me; after all, is there not, in the case of both the visual ("I have tattoos") and ideological ("I am a Buddhist") signifiers/labels/qualifications the grasping after the security of membership in some social grouping, in some "alternative mainstream"?

Vital engagement in the world of the senses does not require tattoos and piercings; vital engagement in the inquiry into the nature of what IS/one's own nature does not require self-definition as a "Buddhist" (or "Hindu," "Sufi," etc.).

The influential British historian A.J. Toynbee once said, "The coming of Buddhism to the West may well prove to be the most important event of the 20th Century."

Your article raises some interesting questions about what a uniquely American or Western form of Buddhism might ultimately be like. In the past 2500 years as Buddhism has spread to new countries it has evolved new forms as it adapts to the local cultures--e.g. Zen in Japan, the Theravada tradition in Southeast Asia, or Tibetan Buddhism, with its influence of the local Bon religion. And your article raises a good point in suggesting that a mainstream American audience, and a younger audience in particular, is unlikely to adopt the Asian trappings of the earlier forms of Buddhism.

I think there is ample evidence of at least one possibility of a form that Western Buddhism might take--the convergence of Buddhism and science. The groundbreaking book that provided a model of this is The Art of Happiness, by H.H. the Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, M.D. a Western psychiatrist, a decade ago. The Dalai Lama has had a lifelong interest in science and for the past few decades an interest in neuroscience in particular. The collaboration with Dr. Cutler on The Art of Happiness and The Art of Happiness at Work is a perfect example of how the essential principles of Buddhism can be distilled and framed within a Western scientific and psychological context, and in this case with an emphasis on practical application to daily life. In that book, Dr. Cutler sought to find supporting scientific evidence for the Dalai Lama's views, as well as strategies to apply these principles in a way that would appeal to a Western audience. Dr. Cutler's approach to framing the Dalai Lama's views in that way seemed to be very skillful and effective--at least judging from the many individuals in the West who have claimed the book changed their lives, individuals who are not practicing Buddhists. Interestingly, that book was the first popular book to present "analytic meditation" as the primary strategy, or even to mention it--unlike the more traditional Buddhist meditation that seeks to still the mind and clear it of thoughts, analytic meditation utilizes logic, reasoning and analysis, much like cognitive therapy techniques. The Dalai Lama is an advocate of analytic meditation, and the addition of this form of meditation seems to be very effective for many Westerners, particularly when combined with some of the classical "stabilizing" meditations that seek to quiet and focus the mind.

The evidence that this approach, combining Buddhist techniques with Western science & psychology, may signal the birth of Western Buddhism can found in the public's response to The Art of Happiness--it was a publishing phenomenon, with a small first printing, it spread mainly by word-of-mouth, ultimately to be read by millions, most of whom had never before picked up a book on Buddhism or by the Dalai Lama--ultimately appearing on The New York Times Bestseller list for 97 weeks, and on bestseller lists in many other Western nations, it has now become a perennial classic manual on human happiness. And lately, it is becoming popular with younger readers as well, who are just discovering it. Prior to that book, the Dalai Lama had published dozens of books, but they had sold only in very small numbers, largely ignored by a mainstream audience. What is equally fascinating, is how that book was on the vanguard of popular books on the topic of "Happiness"--prior to The Art of Happiness, the topic of human happiness was not a popular theme--since that time it has become a white-hot topic, one of intense interest both to the lay community and the scientific community, with a dozen popular books on the topic in recent years, including a number of bestsellers just in the past 3 or 4 years alone.

Within just a few months of the publication of The Art of Happiness, Dr. Martin Seligman coined the term "Positive Psychology," to denote a brand new field of psychology--the scientific study of human happiness and positive mental states--and since the first international conference on this new field took place the following year, there has been an explosion of interest in the scientific investigation of human happiness, leading to the many bestsellers in recent years. Of note is the fact that The Art of Happiness continues to remain the most successful book on the theme of human happiness, even after all these years--and the scientific research which has continued to mount has consistently supported and validated the Dalai Lama's views and the principles presented in The Art of Happiness. Lately there has been some criticism of this "Happiness" phenomenon as a kind of self-indulgent movement, focused merely on self-gratification (although often the criticism is based on misunderstanding the nature of Positive Psychology)--however, with the underlying principles of The Art of Happiness including the absolute conviction that there is an inextricable link between personal happiness and kindness, compassion, and caring toward others, (far from a self-indulgent focus on personal pleasure, the book also emphasizes facing suffering as a natural fact of human existence) -- it will be interesting to witness what will happen in the coming years, and see if Buddhism, assuming a new form in the West, will have an impact on Western or American culture, by transforming the attitudes of large segments of society to become kinder and more compassionate, not because of the Buddha's recommendations to be more compassionate, but because there is a body of authoritative scientific evidence, which is already accumulating, establishing the benefits of cultivating compassion and kindness in directly bringing personal happiness, good health, longer life, more satisfying relationships, and even benefits such as career success.

Interested in The Art of Happiness? Find more information at: www.theartofhappiness.com

Interested in scientific research on Buddhism? Find more info at: www.mindandlife.org