Agreed on all counts. I think this is the best way of looking at him and his value to western society.dharmacorps wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2017 9:08 pm I discovered meditation through MBSR years ago and found Theravada Buddhism from there. At the end of the course, the teacher said "to learn more about where this comes from go to access to insight". For me this was perfect, but I realize there are many variations on MBSR. But I do feel it provides some tools for modern, secular people, which make it more likely to understand Dhamma. JKZ's books are a good starting place if you are coming from an atheistic and skeptical background. My only criticism is it is superficial if not deepened.
Many non-Buddhists, like you, have arrived at Buddhism via MBSR - which is a good thing.
Many others have been helped by MBSR - which is a good thing - but not followed through to Buddhism - which is okay.
And I don't believe there have been many people who would have found Buddhism except that they found MBSR first and settled for the lesser teachings, so the existence of MBSR hasn't harmed or misled anyone much.
Kim