Datong & Wutaishan

As some of you may know if you’ve been following me on Google+ (which means none of you know) I’m here in China for nine months studying at Renmin University through UChicago. I’ve been in Beijing since early April and right now I’m on break for five weeks, so I decided to travel around the country. I also figured this is the perfect time to resurrect this blog and write about my travels. I started the trip with a few days in Datong, followed by six in Wutaishan where I met up with a friend and then headed to Pingyao for a coupe days. The first thing I was struck by when I went to the train station was how many people were traveling at night on a Sunday. The station was super busy. 

The hustle and bustle outside the Beijing West train station.

Once I managed to get on the train I found my seat and got ready for the six hour ride to Datong. This was my first mistake, deciding to get a seat ticket because there were no hard sleepers for the night I wanted. I should have held out; for anyone considering taking a night train definitely don’t get a seat, it’s worth it to be able to get a good night’s rest unless you intend on passing out all day when you arrive at your destination. When I got to Datong I got off the train and realized I had no idea where the hostel was. Luckily I spotted two 老外 (i.e. white people) ahead of me heading toward the exit and figured “what are the chances they’re not going to the youth hostel?” So I caught up with them and sure enough, we were all going the same place. After catching the bus a kind Chinese man pointed us to, asking half a dozen Chinese people where the street was and being led through construction by a random Chinese guy we arrived at the hostel. 

I see what the hostel was going for, but their efforts fell a bit short...

Almost immediately after arriving at the hostel I made plans with the French couple, a Chinese tourist, and a Portuguese artist to visit the Buddhist grottoes. Maybe not the best idea, given how much I’d slept (I didn’t) ok the train, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. How often do you have a group form up, ready to go, immediately after arriving in a hostel? So after a quick breakfast of street food (which is good everywhere) we got on a bus. 

Iconic large Buddha statue at Yungang Grottoes, featured in many Chinese art history textbooks.

Despite my exhaustion, I trekked through the entire complex and it was fascinating; you could really see the transition in style between different areas. At one point the statues all seemed much more Chinese. I’d taken an art history class where this was brought up and it was nice to see it myself. They’re also all just beautiful. We were all pretty beat so just took it easy that afternoon/evening. We decided the following day to check out the Hanging Temple (悬空寺) and Hengshan (恒山). To do so we had to book a private car, for which it turned out we had just enough people. 

The above photo is of the hanging temple. Pretty neat and nice to see, but honestly it’s just ok. Not the best temple I’ve seen. I was slightly underwhelmed. 

This statue (and chill bro) were at the bottom of the mountain. It just started raining lightly when we arrived, so we bargained hard for some shitty ponchos and began the climb up. There were a tonne of awesome Daoist temples on the mountain, pretty much all staffed by Daoist monks (some with pretty awesome hair). 

The above was at the top of the ridiculously steep steps up to one of the main temples. As I turned to appreciate the view I saw a bunch of kids eagerly scrambling up the stairs. I’m still amazed by how almost anything is exciting to children. The views on top of the mountain are spectacular and I imagine with better weather they’d be even more so; definitely deserving of being one of the five sacred mountains in China. The following day I went to the area around the local temple where some sort of cultural event was being held, most of what I saw was just a bunch of kids performing dances and martial arts. It was interesting and it looked like the kids were having fun, though I have no idea what an Indian dance has to do with Chinese culture. 

That evening I was walking around with a couple Chinese guys and the Portuguese artist. We just walked through some construction and wandered around trying to find food. After dinner, on our way back to the hostel, we saw a bunch of people burning money on the streets. I tried to take a picture but one Chinese guy, my soon-to-be travel buddy, swatted my hand away and in a thick accent said “no” and proceeded to explain how it was rude and bad luck to take pictures. Turns out we’d decided to go on our evening stroll on Ghost Day, when Chinese people burn fake money as an offering to the ghosts of the recently deceased. It was pretty emotional; I saw a couple people crying and wailing on the sidewalk. My sense of shame and desire to take a picture were battling intensely. I eventually gave in and was rewarded with a blurry photo. 

The next day I left for Wutaishan with one of the Chinese guys. He’s treated me to lunch the other day and I think partly out of concern for me he decided to accompany me to Wutaishan (he was going there anyway but I don’t think originally was staying in the same hostel). 

Side note: for whatever reason a lot of Chinese people are into western astrology. I thought it might have been the people I hang out with in Beijing, but this guy and a couple others also asked me randomly what my star sign is. I think it’s a bit strange; if anyone can explain I’d be grateful. The bus to Wutaishan was amazing. The views were gorgeous and while I normally dislike photos taken through windows, it really was a spectacular view I have to share. 

We got into the hostel mid-afternoon and went out to see a few temples. All the temples are fantastic. I could feel the charge when we drove in and I could still feel it, despite the shops hawking incense and beads and snacks. We first went to the main area and just saw a few temples there. Saw the iconic white stupa and its Tibetan-flavored temple, a temple near there and another one around the back. There aren’t really words to describe the impact I felt and how amazing it felt to be there. There were a TONNE of monks. I sent a WeChat message to a friend; it read “MONKS. MONKS EVERYWHERE!!” Since childhood I’ve loved monks and the idea of monasticism for some reason (I was an odd kid), so this was super exciting for me. 

The following day we went to a couple other temples in the morning and then in the afternoon we caught a private car up to the northern “terrace” (北台). It was gorgeous and super foggy; if you wanted you could get lost in that fog. There was a main temple under repair and a small second temple with a stupa off to the side. 

Mantra graffiti carved into the stupa (pictured above).

My buddy (who I could not communicate with because his accent made him unintelligible to me) left the following morning and so I spent the day wandering around the main area some more. That evening I had a few beers with some Chinese guys at the hostel; chatted about why we were there, what America is like, love, sang a Chinese song, and they taught me several ways to say “jack off” in Chinese. My favorite so far is 打玉米, which translates as “hit the corn cob”. 

Apparently Chinese guys like this game where when a friend passes out from drinking you slap him repeatedly and laugh. I thought it was funny at the time but had also had several beers. The next day I took it easy and just read most of the day. I’d like to say it was BA research but it was just the last book in the Wheel of Time series. That afternoon I went with the guys to get ingredients for dinner. The English translations for the shops were hilarious. 

After waking up early the next morning I went to explore a few more temples I hadn’t seen in the center. I wandered up a hill and into this exquisite temple that had a small hall dedicated to Tsongkhapa. The statues were beautiful. Unfortunately you’re not supposed to take pictures in these places and the attendant was watching like a hawk so I don’t have any photos. At the end of the the temple was a main hall, to the side of which was a small room with a near looking altar. I walked into the room and started to back out, since there seemed to be some meeting going on, but some Chinese guy came up and told me to sit and brought me some tea. After a few minutes the other people left and I say down with the guy and a couple other people hanging around while the monk chatted with us. After a while we went to get food with the rest of the monks and a few other lay people. After lunch the monk gave me a few books and proceeded to give a teaching for half an hour from one of the books. Sadly I did not understand most of it. 

But he was super nice and told me I should keep studying Buddhism and Chinese. Was encouraged to come again and come often. After that I strolled into my favorite monastery, a super nice Tibetan style one with an amazing side hall dedicated to Yamantaka and protectors. The room was gorgeous; wood interior, exquisite statues, many offerings and it was clean (which if you’ve been in the average dusty Chinese temple is a big deal). Again, wasn’t allowed to take any photos. While I was wandering I met a really nice girl from Inner Mongolia who was traveling a bit before starting college in Chengdu. We wandered around a bit and had quite the hike up to one of the highest monasteries in the central area, up on top of a nearby mountain. The view was gorgeous but, to be honest, the temple was a bit anticlimactic after the hike. 

The locks are left by visitors hoping for security. It’s a super interesting example of very direct symbolism. Also oddly pretty. From there we went to another temple, 南山寺. On the way we met these two Tibetan monks from Sichuan who were super friendly and chatted with us about why they were there and talked with the girl about her trip to Chengdu. At the temple, she was blessed (which involved a surprising amount of slapping on the back and arms) by a monk who then asked for a “donation”. Being a poor student she offered a couple yuan; the monk rudely waved her away. I’m sorta wondering if he was actually legit or just a local dressed up looking for easy money from tourists. From there we parted ways and I went back to the hostel. Or that was the original plan. I met a family on the bus back who were going to this spring and associated temple on the way, so undecided to go with them. After wandering with them and getting my photo taken, I gave them my WeChat info (which is a program everyone reading this should download and use) and then left. I have since been messaged daily by the middle-aged guy in the group, asking where I am and what I’m doing and when I’ll be visiting their home (at this point never); it honestly got sort of weird. 

The next day I went to 白云寺, “White Cloud Temple”, and hiked a good hour up a mountain to see a very famous cave at the top. I stood in the ridiculously long line for a good forty minutes before deciding I’d rather not wait what I was jovially told would be another two and a half hours. The line was ridiculous; the picture below is after waiting for thirty minutes. 

Besides the fantastic views on the hike up, one benefit was meeting my Tibetan monk friend again, who just has one of the kindest old man faces I’ve ever seen. 

Old Tibetan monk I kept running into (and later met again at Lama Temple in Beijing).

I stopped by another temple on my way back to the hostel, Tibetan styled with some fantastic statues and a huge number of red ribbons in one section, which travelers write wishes on for wealth, love, children, etc. 

At the hostel I was semi-surprised to see +Aliza Warwick, whome I planned to meet in Xi’an (and whose blog, battered suitcase, is definitely worth a read; quite the travel writer and photographer). She managed to leave Beijing a few days early and caught up with me in Wutaishan. After a relaxed evening we decided to hike up the southern “terrace” (I’m really not sure what a better translation is, but there definitely is one). It was an amazing hike with fantastic views that took us the entire day. The temple at the top, once again, was gorgeous, fascinating, etc. 

The next day we went to another temple more centrally located, whose name escapes me, and found a wonderful little shrine to Mao in the back, complete with offering bowls of cigarettes. Apparently he had stopped in the temple on the way through Wutaishan and it’s become somewhat of a pilgrimage spot itself. 

We left the next day for Pingyao, which will be covered in the next post. Spoiler: Pingyao was not nearly as interesting. While you’re waiting for the next post, if you enjoyed this blog make sure to check me out on Twitter (@justinhudgins) where I retweet funny and interesting things and Google+ where I post quick thoughts on my travel, Buddhism and tech, and photos from my travels in China.

Tsegyalgar West

I'm sitting in this cafe and I realized that I didn't really talk a whole lot about my time in Mexico despite that being one of the supposed subject of the Devotion post. Whoops.

So, how about a post that's actually about Tsegyalgar West?

Boulder at first gate; OM A HUM painted on the rock

I was there for the entirety of winter break and then some; I was flying standby on a friend's employee pass and  my original flight was delayed, so I was there for an extra few days.

The place is really beautiful. If you'd like an idea of how it looks, you can google "Tsegyalgar West" or check out some of my photos here. It's a fairly remote and rustic area, the most developed buildings are the casitas and even they have pit toilets. The casitas aren't my favorite part of the land; they're these concrete structures that are built and colored in such a way as to not really fit in with the rest of the landscape, in my opinion. But the other structures are pretty nice, as permanent structures go. The kitchen/dining area just has a palapa above it, as does the platform for Vajra Dance.

breakfast

While there the schedule was pretty relaxed. After a week or so there, our Master began a retreat, which we listened to via webcast. After the webcast each morning I would help prepare food; we split daily tasks up between the people at the Gar and my main task was breakfast. Along with the teachings, which were two hours every morning for a week, we learned/practiced some basic yoga and a couple different dance practices. Since it had been some time since I'd done these practices, it was nice to relearn and reconnect with them. It was also great learning from the instructors there, both of them are fantastic teachers with an impressive passion and depth of knowledge.

Apart from that week, the schedule was relatively relaxed. We would do a little bit of daily practice of yoga and dance most days and a few times people went off the property to a beach or just to relax. We also did some physical work around the property while there, moving gravel and things like that.

One thing I loved about being there, apart from the clean air and relaxed atmosphere, was the structure of meals. Lunch and dinner tended to be long-lasting affairs, taking up a good couple hours. The time was filled with great conversation and alcohol, which I really enjoyed. Actually, something that struck me was how generous pretty much everyone in the community is. People didn't really think twice about buying a bottle or two of wine and sharing with everyone at dinner. It was fantastic.

I loved the place. I was sad to leave and I'm looking forward to returning this coming winter break. A resident currently there is working on building sustainable retreat huts on the property, not far from the kitchen. It sounds like a great project and from pictures I've seen, I'm really excited for them to be completed and I'm hoping to stay in one when I go back.

I think that's about it. If anyone has any questions about my experience at Tsegyalgar West, feel free to ask in the comment section below!


Peace.

So, what's in a name?

Wow, what's this? Two posts in three days?? What's going on?!

I said I'd explain the new title of the blog and, seeing as I have yet to start a short essay due tomorrow, this is the perfect moment!

I'm currently studying Tibetan at my university and when my professor mentioned that proverbs are incredibly important in daily interactions between Tibetans, I decided to look around for a collection of proverbs. While searching I stumbled across Pema Tsewang, Shastri's "Like a Yeti Catching Marmots: A Little Treasury of Tibetan Proverbs", which is a little collection of 108 traditional Tibetan proverbs in both Tibetan and English, along with a brief explanation if necessary. The first proverb in the collection, and the one that gives the collection its title, is explained by the following:

"The Yeti, or Dremo in Tibetan, is a dim-witted mythical beast said to feed only on marmots. It sees a marmot, grabs the hapless creature, and then sits on it -- saving the delicious morsel for later. And then the Yeti sees another marmot and leaps up to snatch it - while the first marmot makes a quick break for freedom. An image of bumbling, foolish effort - and the pitfalls of greed."

While I can't say I identify as much with the greed aspect, I certainly feel a kinship with the Yeti as a fellow bumbling fool, stumbling after ideas the way the Yeti stumbles after marmots. It's also just a funny saying.

So, there you go. That's it.

Devotion

Lately I've really been ramping up my Santi Maha Sangha studies in preparation for my teacher's retreats this summer. One of the many topics covered in SMS is devotion and faith. According to the text, faith is the foundation of pretty much all practice. Which makes sense; without faith, why would you ever bother practicing? And devotion to the teacher is an extension of this foundation.

So, I thought I'd make a well overdue post about my time in Mexico and talk a bit about devotion.

I spent ~24 days of winter break at Tsegyalgar West, a retreat center in Mexico within my teacher's mandala. While there I spent a lot of time both engaging in actual practice and relaxing with the other members of the Dzogchen Community. One thing I was struck by is not only how amazing our teacher is but also at how amazing our community is.

Something uniting all of us is our devotion to Rinpoche. In fact, I'd say that's one of the only things uniting all the members of our Community; our devotion to Rinpoche and our dedication (however strong) to the Teachings.

Devotion is a wonderful thing. I just watched Words of My Perfect Teacher and in it, Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche makes a great point. Devotion is about confidence in and understanding of the law of cause and effect; if we have the right cause and conditions then it will produce an effect. Devotion is understanding that the Teacher and His Teachings are the cause and the effect is Buddhahood and so long as there are the conditions of correct understanding and exertion in practice, the effect of realization will follow that cause. That's really what devotion is about, it's understanding that all realization comes from the Teacher and a deep appreciation for the deep compassion expressed in teaching all of us.

Every time I think of how much effort my teachers expend in traveling and teaching and explaining and doing practice, I feel a very profound sense of devotion and appreciation. I would venture to say it's one of the more profound emotions I've ever had. It's certainly the unique emotion that's not caught up with my own bullshit. And I think that's part of the point of devotion; it's not about us, it's not about our tension or our trips or our issues. It's a pure sense of gratitude and a deep understanding.

And I think that's really fantastic.

Alright, time to do some reading. Peace.

Reified identity

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who is interested in gender studies and she mentioned a couple that is attempting to raise their child without a gender.

I'm all for not pushing gender stereotypes on children and I think that any reasonable person would agree, you should create an environment in which children feel free to express themselves, whatever form that expression may take.

In my mind, though, trying to push your ideas of the importance and role of gender onto a child is inappropriate. Ethics aside, I simply see no real difference between raising your child in a gender neutral environment and raising your child in a "gender heavy" environment. Either way, you're really just pushing your opinion of gender on the child and this can result in a lot of confusion. I appreciate the idea that individuals should be allowed to choose their gender, but I don't think that's realistic or reasonable; either gender is a social construct and any choice isn't really going to be much of a choice or gender is something determined by biology and you're just really confusing the kid.

People are conditioned and gender is part of that conditioning. We should be aware of the limitations of our conditioning and transcending those conditions we're able to is positive. I just don't think that gender is one of those limitations we can transcend.

I think the main reason I find this idea irksome is that it's the same type of reification of identity that I see happening in so many communities; the gay community, minority communities, feminist communities, etc. These communities more often than not, in my oh-so-humble opinion, attach too much importance to very incidental aspects of their existences. It shouldn't be important that you're a woman or a minority or a homosexual; it's important who you are and what you do in your condition with your life. That's not to say that we should ignore these differences. Personally, I love Tibetan culture and I think its preservation is important. If you think that gay culture is important or interesting and you want to study it or become involved, that's fine. I just think there are many people who attach too much importance to it and this causes a lot of tension and the more tension you have, the more problems you're going to have.

As an example, the same friend that mentioned this couple also gets quite offended when someone talks about gender in a disparaging way. My opinion is that if she took her gender or gender less seriously and was less tense about it, she wouldn't suffer offense as frequently and wouldn't feel so negatively when people disparage it, which I would like to point out is most often in the form of jokes or gentle ribbing.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe this is all part of my personal tension. Regardless, I think that people are too tense and should really learn how to relax.

Speaking of relaxing, I should really go do some practice. Ciao.

Just another gear in the war machine?

I mentioned to a friend at lunch today that I've been thinking about military chaplaincy as a potential future career and she asked the obvious question: "How does that square with your Buddhist beliefs?"

It's actually a really difficult question to answer because I'm not entirely sure. At a surface level it seems like being in the military, supporting even tacitly the "war machine", wouldn't be compatible with Right Livelihood. You really shouldn't be involved in work that leads directly to the deaths of beings and that's kind of the business of the military.

At the same time, isn't it a positive thing to pursue a profession in which you deal directly with the suffering of others? Isn't it part of Right Livelihood to get right into the thick of it, the muck of human experience, and help those who are unfortunate enough to have found themselves caught in a series of events that led them into that situation? I feel like we should feel compassion for those who felt like they had no other options but to join the military. We probably should feel even more compassion for those that enjoy the idea of killing and join the military to do so. Imagine the mountain of negative karma they're accruing.

Which isn't to say I don't have personal motives in considering military chaplaincy; it's not all compassion. The idea of retiring in twenty years with a good pension and benefits is incredibly attractive. I like that I could be retired by the time I'm fifty and have the rest of my life to dedicate to Dharma practice. Who knows, maybe I could even go into serious solitary retreat. Even if that's not the case and I have other responsibilities, a wife and children, I could still do a lot with that time. I could start a retreat center, travel, teach in my spare time, go back to school, do shorter solitary retreats, or at the very least just dedicate more time to Dharma practice.

I also think there's something to be said for the reasons an individual does something as more important than what happens incidentally. According to the Dharma, in order for karma to be complete there has to be intent behind the action; to my knowledge, incidental acts don't accrue karmic consequences. So, if my intent going in is to help individuals caught in that situation, shouldn't that override any unintentional support?

Ultimately, it doesn't really matter what I think. I've got years before I have to make this decision and when it comes time to make the decision, I'll ask my gurus what I should do and follow their advice. It's just an interesting question to kick around until then.

Harder Than I Thought

Writing a blog post is difficult.

I think part of the reason I find it so difficult is the same reason I rarely post things to my Facebook or G+ account, which is a sense that nothing I have to say or share is really of great import.

I mean, what makes me, or anyone else for that matter, think that what they're writing is worth the time to write or read? It's certainly not the case with most things that I put here.

That being said, I definitely recognize the value of something like this. It's a way to share thoughts in an open way, to receive feedback and grow in intellectual maturity. It's also a pretty decent way to hone writing skills, though that's clearly not what I'm using it for.

Anyway, this is really just a hold-over post to indicate I'm still interested in doing this, I just need to think of something worthwhile to post.

Great Expectations

I've realized over the past couple weeks that more than anything else, expectations can ruin an experience.

I was so excited to be back at school, excited to be back with friends and interact with them, talk with them and enjoy my time in the dorm.

I was so excited to attend a dorm party tonight, to chill with friends and get to know first years more, to just hang out and have a good time.

So far, on both counts, I've been disappointed.

And it's not so much the experience itself that has let me down or the people that make those experiences. There's nothing inherently making either of those anything other than just what they are.

What I think happened is I expected too much. Rather than just going in relaxed and letting things be whatever they will, I expected something and, predictably, those expectations were disappointed.

Expectations color your vision, they make you more resistant to change, more resistant to things being other than what you envisioned, and envisioning being entirely comfortable, thoroughly enjoying myself this past week really got in the way of actually enjoying just whatever came my way.

I wouldn't say that this is a negative thing. At the very least I've realized that I need to just relax and let things be.

It's also really helped me realize that I'm distracted. Life has gotten in the way of living and I need to get back to my personal values and personal practice. I should be a Buddhist first and foremost, not in addition to a student or a friend or any other part of my existence. My faith should qualify my experiences rather than the other way around, and I fear that the past couple years this hasn't been the case.

It's time I put what I believe into practice. I need to stop just reading and start also doing.

I guess it's a fortunate thing that I've been disappointed and felt isolated and lonely lately. It's reminded me what's actually important to my life rather than what I've allowed to distract me.

Hopefully this new-found conviction continues further than the next few days.

Dorm-room Dharma

So, one of the Buddhist practices I engage in is called chöd. It's a really fascinating practice with many different levels of meaning, various ritual practices, melodies to prayers, several instruments. It's a very rich and profound tradition in its own rite. If you'd like to know more, feel free to google chöd or check out the Tibetan School of Healing Chöd, which is one group/lineage I'm connected to.

So, anyway, this post isn't really about chöd. This post is about being loud in a dorm. Chöd is a loud practice involving chanting, singing, a big drum, a bell and what's basically a trumpet and can last anywhere from 20 minutes to several days (though, let's be honest, I'm more on the 20 minute end of the spectrum). I've also got other practices to do, like ritual feasts, also involving singing and a bell, that are fairly loud. So, how do I balance being respectful of my neighbors while also engaging in my faith? Do I just do the practices in the middle of the day when they're probably not there? What if they are? I have no idea what my neighbor's schedule is like, what if he studies at one in the afternoon? (Weird, right??) I just don't know. There's also the fact that I usually do my practice before going to sleep, which really isn't going to work. I doubt anyone wants to listen to that ruckus around midnight, so I guess it's time for a schedule change.

It's also not just about being respectful. It's also about being self-conscious and wanting to avoid judgement. About equal with not wanting to be considered rude, I don't about to be considered that weirdo that makes a bunch of weird noises in his room in the middle of the day. I feel a little ridiculous explaining these practices and the reason for them to a bunch of "intellectuals" who think it's bollocks already.

And maybe that's an issue. In fact, I already think it is. I shouldn't care so much what other people think. Maybe people think I'm a little weird. So what? Maybe they think what I'm doing is stupid. And? I should give far fewer shits about others' opinions and perceptions, especially in this situation.

Which brings up a quote I like by Tsem Tulku Rinpoche. "If being me offends you, maybe I'm not the problem."

I really should just be me. Noise and all.

"Applied" Buddhism?

So, lately I've been following this guy, Bill Schwartz, on Google+. He's a Chicago based Karma Kagyu practitioner and I look forward to meeting him and speaking with him sometime this fall. From everything he's written, he seems like an incredibly grounded, experienced practitioner. He doesn't claim to know it all and he doesn't try to bullshit people, something I find refreshing in the online Buddhist community.


Anyway, he's become fairly prolific on G+ lately and a lot of what he has to say is legit and, while he says insight is overrated, I find several of the things he says to be rather insightful.


He wrote yesterday:


"I don’t understand, “Applied” Buddhism.

As a Tibetan Buddhist, for me, Buddhism isn’t something to meditate upon and then skype about your findings.

We listen, contemplate, and meditate."

And it really got me thinking about Applied Buddhism as a concept among Western Buddhists (Westerners who are Buddhists, not some new sect of Buddhism; the whole idea of there being a Western Buddhism annoys me, but that's for another post).

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate intent behind Applied Buddhism: taking compassion in meditation and attempting to carry it out into the world in the form of volunteerism and activism. I'm very aware that it's all too easy among Westerners for Dharma to devolve into an intellectual circle-jerk.

Still, I think that it is, in a sense, unnecessary and actually somewhat harmful to Buddhism in the West to act like there's something called "Applied Buddhism" because it creates a false dichotomy, like all Buddhism isn't applied.

Buddhism, at its core, is about manifesting compassion and wisdom in everyday life. Dharma is pointless if it doesn't have a real impact. Otherwise, what are we doing? Sitting and staring at our navels, spouting platitudes? All of Buddhism is applied, all of Buddhism is meant to be brought from the cushion in your routine. That's the point.

Saying "Applied" Buddhism is like saying "free gift" or "lesbian woman". If your Buddhism isn't applied, you're not doing it right.

So, I also don't get "Applied" Buddhism.