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On the topic of Buddhism as a conversation, here’s a snippet (both clip and quote) from a retreat with Ken McLeod on religions as conversations: http://umquotes.blogspot.com/2011/07/religions-as-conversations.html
This is from A Trackless Path II, session 3: http://www.unfetteredmind.org/audio/podretreat.php?code=ATP2#here
@ Marc — I will follow up with at least one post soon that’s inspired by the conference. But for descriptions of what happened there, I’d recommend:
http://www.openbuddha.com/2011/07/30/buddhist-geeks-2011-day-1-5/ [Al Billings]
http://www.c4chaos.com/2011/07/bgeeks11-awakening-is-an-epic-win/ [~C4Chaos]
Videos of all the sessions will be posted to the Buddhist Geeks site eventually!
@ annbraun — Thanks! The text on the first page you linked is great. Here’s part of what Ken McLeod said:
Now, what keeps a religion alive is that the conversation never comes to an end. And in particular the questions are asked and answered anew in each generation. And when you look at the history of Buddhism, you find that that’s exactly what has happened. Buddhism has displayed a remarkable capacity for, to use a modern phrase, reinventing itself in generation after generation.
He starts out talking about Greek philosophy outside the Socrates-Plato-Aristotle lineage. I’m a big fan of that, and intrigued by its possible influence on Buddhism.
I hadn’t really encountered Ken’s work before this conference; I was impressed.
Here’s another great write-up:
http://www.nikkichau.com/2011/08/01/reflection-from-buddhist-geeks-conference-11/
(She mentions me in passing—Hi Nikki!)
Some quotes that really resonate for me:
Rohan Gunatillake mentioned the Satipatthana Sutta *and* Y Combinator in his talk. Mind. blown. In any case, being at the Buddhist Geeks conference, I felt… relief. I still had to figure out who I was talking to to some degree, but I felt a bit more free talking about Ceiling Cat and Double Rainbows in the same sentence as dharma, and that, is a really great feeling. I’m now thinking of that scene in X-Men, First Class, when the mutants found each other and realized that they didn’t have to hide who they are, or a part of who they are, and that they did belong to something.
I hope she makes the “Meditation: It Works, Bitches” T-shirt! (Non-Geek readers: it’s a geek joke…)
I so wish that I would have been able to attend the conference. However, I have had interesting practice in the forrest of Sweden with other Aro gTér folks and now I am happily swinging sword in the Ling Gésar retreat.
Hi David, very glad I stumbled into your world here. And can you fix a typo? McCloud is spelled McLeod. Thanks. Ann
Hi Ann – Yikes! What an embarrassing mistake for me to make! I’ve fixed it. Thank you very much for pointing it out.
Awesome - wish I was there too. I’ll do my best to make the next one, for sure. And David, you’ve been coming up a lot in virtual chats I’ve had lately, though I know nothing about you. Your blog(s) is wonderful, how did I ever miss it before? Anyhow, shoot me an email some time; always great to connect with more young(ish) Buddhists in the West :)
I’d love to hear a more detailed write up of the conference, love the podcast, wish I could be there…