Do Americans Miss the Point of Buddhism?

HUFFINGTON POST
By Owen Flanagan, Ph.D.

What kind of Buddhists are American Buddhists? Buddhism is first and foremost a complex philosophy about the nature of reality, the self and morality. Philosophically what is interesting is the connection between understanding that I am no self and that I have reason to be maximally compassionate and loving to all sentient beings. Do most American Buddhists know about the philosophy or enact the moral message of Buddhism? In my experience the answers are "no." Most Americans who say that they are Buddhist mean they meditate, possibly regularly. Thinking that meditation is the essence of Buddhism would be akin to a group of converts to Catholicism thinking that real Catholics say Mass everyday because priests do. [link]

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