Buddhism in the west

I can't rmember whether I've mentioned before about the OMF figures pointing to a tenfold growth in Buddhist adherance during the 90's in the UK. The article here is a reflection of that in the US. For those of us interested in emerging church issues there's a lot that we need to reflect upon, andsome that we already know.

This caught my eye:
"As our country becomes more secular, more people are attracted to other religions like Buddhism because they haven’t been indoctrinated as a child," said Glenn Lewis, a founder of the Middletown-based Buddhist Faith Fellowship, said. "They are actively looking for something that resonates with them."
Some people first become attracted to Buddhism, because the traditional monotheistic religions and modern-view of life aren’t working for them anymore. Meditation, an integral practice of Buddhism, also can initially attract them to the religion."

I think we should note the importance of spiritual practice[s] and resonance. There is also the mantra beloved of the NewAge networkers "aren't working for them anymore". Iow the dissonance is too great and the traditional framing of belief and practice doen't make sense experientially. That's our challenge.

I'll leave this with one more quote:
"...there are many more people from the university who come to the house to meditate, but don’t consider themselves Buddhist. People, he and the other students said, can practice parts of Buddhism without being labeled a Buddhist." Which seems to me to be all about the "taste and see" mentality and een the privatization of belief.