Listener questions: alternative approaches

This episode was inspired by a listener’s question about the relevance of a “Dharma Punx” model to Jodo Shinshu. We start off talking about how Shin Buddhism and the BCA in particular can be seen as “family Buddhism,” a double-edge sword in that it’s great for families but can be a little off-putting for folks without pre-existing family ties. But this raises the question of what is practice in Jodo Shinshu in the first place? This gets us into everything from the traditional dojo and myokonin stories to contemporary youth groups and bowling. (That’s right. We’re going Dharma Bowling.) All of this may or may not answer our listener’s question directly, but it started a great conversation about the ways that American Shin Buddhism is in transition and makes us think about new and alternative models to engage people in the Dharma.