> You do not need to be of a skin color, creed, gender or class to take refuge in the Buddha's teachings. The dharma is for all. Agreed on all points! The Budd

> You do not need to be of a skin color, creed, gender or class to take refuge in the Buddha's teachings. The dharma is for all. Agreed on all points! The Buddha's teachings are foundational to my world view, and I too am "from the West." I do want to push back a little bit though (gently). Your coworker's critique is not necessarily wrong (even if they were making it from a place of ignorance). When I was a practicing Zen Buddhist, I saw a lot of teachers appropriating the dharma to sell their own teachings. Buddhist teachers consulting on the side to corporations (selling the teachings is inappropriate in Buddhism), starting companies to sell services, etc. The teachings were so far removed from the original ideas that they are incomprehensible. Vague spiritual statements, go with your gut morality, confusing dialog, going through the motions (rituals) was all that mattered. How could it be any other way? The West's values are counter to the teachings in just about everyway possible. It could not possibly be transmitted to the West without this kind of modification. Cultural appropriation has happened with every culture Buddhism has encountered from it's origins in North India, through China and Southeast Asia, Korea and Japan, and now the West. We all have changed it somewhat and now claim what we have is more original than the original. However, none of these adaptations can compare with the basic insight of the original teachings in my opinion.