Buddhism Theme 3b - Western Buddhism Flashcards
What Buddhist groups are there in Britain?
Thai Forest Tradition, Triratna Community, Sokka Gakkhi
Who were the first Westerners to take interest in Buddhism?
Christian missionaries who wanted to replace buddhism in Sri Lanka in with Christianity
Who and when was the Buddhist Society founded by?
Christmas Humphreys in 1925
Who and when was the Pali Text Society started?
1881 by Rhys Davids
What did the Pali Text Society focus on?
Translating the Therevadan Scriptures in English
What was the colonialist view in regards to Buddhism?
Buddhism was studied from the point of view that it was interesting yet inferior to Western Philosophy
How did British culture change after WWII?
Began to question ‘old ways’ much more
Hippie ‘flower power’ of the 60s made experimenting with Eastern culture cool
What did the English Sangha Trust want to Establish?
A proper English Sangha that was interested in both the practice side and intellectual side of Buddhism
Was the English Sangha Trust Mahayanan or Therevadan?
Therevadan
What is the largest group in British Buddhist?
Sokka Gakki
What is Sokka Gakki a form of?
Nicheran Buddhism
The New Kadampa Tradition is a breakaway group from what?
FPMT- Which is a Western branch of the Dalai Lama’s gelug sect
What does the New Kadampa Tradition believe about the Dalai Lama?
That he has corrupted Tibetan Buddhism to the extent that the Kadampa Buddhism can be only be preserved in the West
What is the Triratna Community?
a ‘Western’ form of Buddhism for Westerners
What did the founder believe about Traditional Buddhism?
Sangharakshita believes that traditional buddhism in the East has become too corrupted with cultural accretions
What else does Sangharakshita believe about Bodhisattva and arhat paths?
They are examples of developments that the Buddha never intended.
What is Sangharakshita’s real name?
Dennis Lingwood
How many non-asian converts identified themselves as Buddhists but are not affiliated with an particular groupp?
20%
Non-affiliated Buddhists are the ____ ___ ____
Largest single group
For many british Buddhists, what sort of beliefs can be too hard to believe in?
Metaphysical beliefs such as Karma or Reincarnation
For British Buddhists, what can the Six Reals of Samsara be interpreted as?
Each ‘realm’ really refers to types of human existence with relative happiness or unhappiness
What did Stephen Bachelor live as?
A Tibetan Monk and then as a Korean Zen Monk
What did Bachelor believe about the historical Buddha?
He did not intend to teach a system of Metaphysics but was only interested in a system of mediative therapy