thornbush wrote:Name 3 challenges in our present age/time that you think Buddhism is facing now and why.
1. Overcoming wrong perceptions based on ignorance and assumption. I'm convinced if more people understood the logical and practical nature of Buddhism, there'd be a lot more people in this country I could talk to!
2. Avoiding Christian persecution. For this one, I think the underlying reason is the ongoing conflict between Christian zealots and Islamic militants. I think many Christians here feel they are under attack by Islamics and, in their frenzy, they lump all non-Christian religions together in their threat-basket out of ignorance. Let me be clear: there are no direct threats from anyone, but they do keep track and take care of their own if they find out you're not of their tribe.
3. Acceptance of the non-conventional aspects: rebirth, devas, hells, etc. These things were probably givens in the Buddha's time and many are probably still widely accepted elsewhere, but we're "too sophisticated" here in the west to be very open-minded to such things. I will admit they pose a challenge to my agnosticism.
thornbush wrote:Name 3 challenges that you face as a Buddhist in daily life and why.
1. Time. Specifically, time for
quality practice. When you commute 90 minutes/day and spend another hour-plus exercising because you work nine hours/day at a desk in a fabric-covered box, there isn't a lot left over. Some may ask why I don't change jobs and the simple answer is that I'm too close to the end to switch gears now. The old "give up a little now for more later" mentality.
2. Knowing where to
best spend what time I do have. My list of reading materials grows with every visit to this forum!
3. Questions, questions, questions. The only reason I don't post more questions here is that I need time (see bullet 1) to read, understand, and follow through on the answers I've received to the questions I've already asked! And I'll say again how indispensable this forum is to my progress! Thanks to all for their help and guidance.
Regards: AdvaitaJ