I agree, Retro. In many cases i think it's simply ignorance, a lack of understanding, depth of experience and practice, perhaps. Passing the Dhamma on as it has been taught in your school or by your teachers, rather then taking some initiative and investigating further.retrofuturist wrote:
Yes, the Dhamma certainly is timeless.
The Buddha is cool.
I've never really understood the compulsion to twist and tweak the Dhamma to accommodate regional ignorances, superstitions and prejudices (and I'm talking equally here about the so-called "West" as I am the so-called "East"). The Dhamma points directly to the proximite causes of suffering and these remain unchanged. If the illness is the same, the cure remains the same.
Sometimes a mistaken emphasis occurs, such as a former forum we once belonged to where there seemed to be an over-emphasis made on certain teachings (karma, rebirth, dependent origination) rather then on the Dharma as a whole, as an interconnected package...
Perhaps?