Dear Sensei Tony - What do you think about American Buddhism? This is Sandra.

Hi Sandra- This is a big question that I’ve addressed more fully in my various books (https://www.asksenseitony.com/store) but I’ll do my best to give you my brief opinion here. First of all, we have to dispense with the duality of the Buddhist faith as either a philosophy, or a religion. When one understands the etymology of both words, namely that philosophy is the love of wisdom and religion is that which reconnects to our truest, universal self, there is no real dichotomy. Often there are popular and pedestrian uses of words which are entirely lacking in their root meaning and I personally refuse to conform to such uses when they usually just represent the current zeitgeist and not the actual root meaning.

And while anyone of any background can rightly learn and utilize the deep psychology and healthful physiology of the Buddhist teachings, there are those who would just adapt them in a purely secular fashion, and reject the larger promise of the historical reality.

So, as a lover of religious wisdom, let me offer a brief explanation of how my faith tradition has  historically adapted to the cultures it has lovingly transformed. There is a quote from the Buddhist scholar, Donald S. Lopez Jr., in his book The Story of Buddhism: A Concise Guide to Its History & Teachings, that I especially like:  “Buddhism puts on the cape of the local hero”. I believe that he is showing that Buddhism adapts to local cultures by incorporating or reinterpreting existing local beliefs, deities, and heroes so it appears familiar and skillful in each new region. By this phrase, Lopez is saying that Buddhism doesn't arrive as a rigid, identical system everywhere; instead it takes on local forms—assimilating indigenous gods as bodhisattvas or protective spirits, adopting local myths and rituals, and framing its teachings in culturally resonant terms—so it can be accepted and integrated into different societies while preserving core Buddhist ideas of liberation.

What that means to me is that the universal wisdom of the Buddha is assimilated into the local archetypes. This has meant putting on the “cape” of western culture, which is the Judeo/Christian influence, romanticism, the arts, psychology, the renaissance, science, and the values of classic liberalism.

Now, I’m not suggesting either an absolute or diminishing approach to western forms (I personally believe that Buddhist wisdom is actually at the root of the same). Rather, we teach the Dharma by using the language of the culture proper. Not a hasten hybrid but sharing the universal wisdom in the contemporary idiom. For example, our Dragonfly Sangha’s  Four Directions System of Mindfulness ( asksenseitony.com) utilizes western psychological language to transliterate the universal wisdom of the Buddhas. Likewise, we use religious language and forms that are naturally from the Judeo/Christian traditions. Here are some examples:

1. We are not allergic to the word “God” or “Lord”. For us, God can be a symbolic word for Oneness or the Ground of Being and The Lord is a humble expression for both Shakyamuni Buddha and the eternal principle of universal consciousness within us (Tathagatagarbha).

2. The “Soul” is our word for the Ego Self and “Spirit” is again, another way of talking about our True Self.

3. We use the word Reverend for clergy and our community is like a temple or church.

4. We conduct Meditation Services as religious ceremony and follow a yearly liturgical cycle of the seasons.

5. Our seminary graduates are trained and ordained as clergy to uphold the sacred offices of priests, pastors and teachers (For example, Sensei is a Japanese word akin to “Rabbi”). Our first among equals in the Order of the Dragonfly and the Sangha is similar to the role of an Abbot and Bishop.

6. We use the word Prayer to represent our invocations and supplications with succor and serenity.

7. We use the word Angel for emanating Bodhisattva archetypes and Saint for those who live out of their True Self.

8. We teach that we are a union of two heuristic aspects, human (namarupa) and divine (bodhi), transmogrified as one Buddha nature.

9. The Christ for me, personally, is the Great Bodhisattva, an incarnation of the Buddha Maitreya and a unique expression of universal consciousness.

10. I love and utilize great western works of literature, music and cinema, and the Hebrew and Christian Bible as references for teaching the Dharma.

Now, to be crystal clear, all are welcome at our communal table. We embrace all who are in need regardless of belief or background, but we also do not shy away from presenting the complete meaning of the Dharma. We are neither slaves to a provenance past or conformists to a positioned present. Rather, we do our very best to move into the possible future, sharing the wondrous teachings of the Buddha with all beings.