The Dalai Lama in The US

The Dalai Lama is touring in the US now and he has recently met with the President Obama in the White House despite protests from the Chinese government. However, the White House took great pains to ensure it is not a meeting of two heads of state and President Barack Obama reiterated the US stand that Tibet belongs to China.

I am not for or against that stance but I am just amazed at how liberal the United States in accepting Buddhism. This is probably also a reflection of how much Buddhism is growing in the United States. I find it interesting that Buddhism is growing in the West and waning in the East. I think Buddhism has massive appeal in the West because it has a very developed system of understanding the mind and has many methods to tame the mind and offer many viable solutions to our modern materialistic world.

People need that these days. People need something that offers a readily acceptable explanation of our condition and Buddhism offers that. The good thing about Buddhism is that one can just readily apply any of its methods and practices without embracing the entire religion. This modern approach to spirituality is something the Buddha recommended and he asks his disciples to not blindly accept what he says but put everything he say to the test. Hence, this appeals very much to the modern Western mind and… well… to the Eastern mind as well.