You know, we reap as we sow. An interesting book review at Powell's describes the appalling cruelty practised by American hunters and settlers towards wolves and other wild animals during the "settling" of America:

http://www.powells.com/review/2004_08_31

If one believes in karma, then our nation is peopled by a race that probably has many generations to go before these past evil actions will be washed out. Could you or I be paying for these sins? Only thing to do is to practice with vigilance.

from a book review in the current issue of The Economist, reviewing "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason," by Sam Harris:

"moderation is a self-deluding 'myth' which 'springs from the fact that even the least educated person among us simply knows more about certain matters than anyone did 2,000 years ago -- and much of this knowledge is incompatible with scripture.' In other words, religous moderates (who are certainly the vast majority of the faithful) are forced constantly to reinterpret supposedly immutable revelations of the truth in an attempt to reconcile their faith with their reason.

... only when we renounce the impossible paraphenalia of religion -- for example, the virgin birth (attested to by only two of the apostles) or the ascension of Muhammad to heaven -- will reason be free to rescue mankind from religious terrorism ..."

Buddhism does not have to engage in this struggle (at least not among those who have not imported deities, etc. into their practice). With reason as the touchstone to faith, the Buddhists have no fear of what scientific discovery has told us or might tell us in the future.

To me, becoming a “better Buddhist” is a struggle; it is a battle to overcome our instincts. Instincts that are hard-wired into our physical make-up (appetite, lusts, pleasures, the need for stimulation). This struggle is made all the harder by living in a society that makes pleasure and entertainment so ubiquitous. I seek inspiration in examples of the battle that the Buddhist must wage in order to overcome. I found a nice example recently:

“Peacocks range the poison-plant jungle,
Never drawn to the medicine-flower bed,
Since they thrive on the essence of poison.

The elegant spiritual heroes
Likewise range the jungle of the life-cycle;
Not fond of the sweet gardens of pleasure,
They thrive in the jungle of sufferings."

From the opening verses of The Blade Wheel of Mind Reform, as presented in Robert Thurman’s “Circling the Sacred Mountain.”

The Buddhist is a warrior, not a drowsy contemplative.

"Bathing the Buddha?" Our local IBPS Buddhist temple has photos posted of various activities from their Buddha's Birthday celebration. A month or so ago they had a display of very famous relics (the Buddha's finger?) that is traveling the country.

This is exactly what the Western buddhist seeker is trying to avoid in a religion. It is commonly observed that there is quite a split between Asian immigrant buddhists and western converts. This split is easy to understand. The Asian buddhist (I know this is a generalization) sees his or her religion pretty much like Christians do in the U.S. -- full of ceremony, regular days of attendance and ritual. The typical western convert is interested in avoiding this aspect, or at least of making it secondary to the real practice of meditation and striving for enlightenment.

So I wonder - can these two streams converge?

Still seeking a more robust image of the buddhist for the western audience. I can't help but think of Elvis Costello's angry delivery in "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding"

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, just makes me wanna cry.
What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?