Right off the bat, pretty sure I goofed the origin story of the word “meh” and its reference in The Simpsons. I’m sure someone out there will correct me in the comments. If you can get through the first ten minutes of what’s basically a therapy session for Harry and the next five minutes of… Continue reading the DharmaRealm: Generations
We pick up our conversation from last time about the attrition problem in American Shin Buddhism, its possible causes, and solutions. This time we focus on our listener's suggestion that there is an essential anti-institutionalism within Shin Buddhism. We're on the fence on that one; we want to be cautious about reading too much of… Continue reading Institutionalism, anti-institutionalism
A listener wrote in to ask about the problem of attrition in the Buddhist Churches of America (or Jodo Shinshu more generally) and suggested a few possible doctrinal reasons for declining membership including Shinran's seemingly anti-institutional and anti-ritualistic understandings of Buddhism. Harry and Scott tackle these questions starting with the assumption that membership is declining.… Continue reading Listener question: challenges facing the BCA
