buddhist practical question

[sadinred]

Hi can you help me?

I've been going to a local buddhist meditation "class" for a few weeks now ,and they require a $10. donation for each 1.5 hour class. Is this normal. It seems to me that it should be free. It's a local branch of a...well, of here:

http://www.meditationinflorida.org/

I also get a little creeped out by the many photos of the Spiritual Leader of the Kadampa Buddhist Center that are placed in the meditation room.

Are these two things normal??

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. How does it feel to you?

Some places charge for the space, and so a donation is asked to cover that fee. I do a lot of work with the Dances of Universal Peace, and we request a love offering in the places we rent, but we don't ask it in places where the space is free. In other parts of the country, I know there are Sufi classes where a fee of around $10 is charged to attend; however I have never heard of someone without funds being turned away.

But I understand your "creeped out" feelings. I've been around people who follow a guru and who have his photos around-that guru was not one my heart said to follow, so I stopped hanging around those people. I also get "creeped out" if I find people are charging for spritual activities and don't need to give the money up in rent for the space or in a fee for a guest speaker, etc.

If these practices don't feel right to you, stop going and keep on seeking what you are looking for elsewhere. In my personal experience, when I came upon the path that was right for me, everything felt right inside-I felt complete. May you have this experience as you find your path.

[sadinred]

2. thanks. That helps. The class I've attended is in the home of

the teacher - no rent paid there! It's not about the money, (though $40. a month is expensive), what bothers me is that there is a charge at all. I know of a Buddhist meditation center in Western Mass where you can attend for a week and they refuse money! It's only when you return for a second visit that you may donate if you'd like to. I think spirituality and money don't mix, unless, as you wrote, it's to cover expenses.

I like Buddhism a lot. I think I'll look for a different teacher though.

Thanks again ayeshahaqqiqa.

[Metta]

3. Yes, normal. So are your reactions.

As a practicing Buddhist since the late '60s, I can tell you that these things are normal. If you're going to a school as opposed to meeting in someone's living room, a donation is normal. Even there, a donation is acceptable to expect. It offers people the opportunity to make merit by giving and by symbolically acknowledging the worth of what they're getting. It also provides people the opportunity to take posession of their practice in addition to doing the work and to support the one's who bring the teachings. $10 is cheap. I charge $15 for a 45-60 meditation session and most of my clients pay me $20.

Photos? More of the same. In the Northern schools of Buddhism, as opposed to the southern schools of the historical Buddha, the most important person one can venerate is one's teacher, then the teachers in one's lineage. So, what they're doing is what I'd expect. They'd be remiss if they didn't.

Are your reactions some kind of entitlement so you don't have to get involved in the program?

[sadinred]

4. "Are your reactions some kind of entitlement so you

don't have to get involved in the program?"

Good question! Really good question and one I have been considering myself. I actually miss the class.


I have a real reluctance around religion. AS soon as I saw all the pictures I thought "DOGMA". I so distrust religion.

[Metta]

5. You're on to something.

Please keep your reluctance around religion, or not. I suspect that doesn't have much to do with your class. The pictures are *their* thing, expressing devotion, as I said earlier. If they're giving you religion, then your reactions are appropriate given your preferences. If, on the other hand, they're not, then your reactions are what we call a response generalization based on your misunderstanding of their pictures.

The fact that you're missing the class is a message from your innermost self to you.