forestofclarity

Welcome!

Splitting this off from the BES thread. Krishnamenon (and others) take this position, but this is also often rejected in Advaita circles, explicitly so in the Vedantasara for example. There is an interesting split in opinion on this if people want to have a discussion.

Douglas Duckworth's Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teaching is also an excellent summary of Mipam's view in easy to read language.

Time is short, better find out!

I actually think Western thought aligns fairly well with thought from India in ways that it does not with China or Japan. Some people find that certain Tantric expressions are less patriarchal or masculine. A lot of modern Western therapy is discovering what Buddhism has had for millenia-- in some ways, the interaction has spurred a lot of growth in psychology IME. There is a broad expression such that there are always examples and counterpoints. But ignorance doesn't arise from the East or West, and the fundamental nature is beyond male and female. So I think there's a difference between truth and culture and between therapy and spirituality. Not a lot of Western therapists seem to display the signs of mastery of traditional practitioners. OTOH, a lot of traditions are not so great at dealing with the aches and pains of lay life, parenting, etc. I think modern therapy is valuable for dealing with life, but not so much for transcending the issues of birth and death. However, there's no reason to choose one or the other exclusively. Most of my teachers have said some issues are better dealt with therapy and others with spirituality.

People have claimed that we have more awakenings and stronger practices these days than ever before. However, looking at the apparent state of the world, I'm not convinced. I think most of the newer practices and movements tend to lull people into a false sense of spiritual realization. Even so, I would rather people practice some form of spirituality than none at all. Traditions developed their "modern" practices a few thousand years ago--- in Tantra and Dzogchen, for example, which is one reason you see more of this and less people developing very deep states of concentration and samadhi.