Buddhism originated within a particular historical and social context and developed and transformed as it migrated and interacted with diverse Asian cultures over the course of 2,500 years. Contemporary Westerners, however, occupy an intellectual space shaped by an ongoing dialog between scientific and existential/phenomenological approaches to apprehending the world.  Can Westerners absorb the key teachings of Buddhism without surrendering their core beliefs and values to alien traditions, vested authority, or magical thinking and superstition?  Will Buddhism still be Buddhism without them?  This blog is about using reason and one’s own lived experience as the basis for exploring Buddhist teachings, rather than relying on spiritual authority for answers.

“Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher.’ Kalamas, when you yourselves know: ‘These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness,’ enter on and abide in them.

- The Kalama Sutta ^[1]