I'm a little late to this party, but I see that there's been an interesting cross-blog discussion going on about capitalism and dharma.
Blogger Jiryu Mark at No Zen in the West was struggling with whether to move his blog to a "bigger" blog platform with advertising or stay where he is and remain ad-free. And this opened up to the larger question of how dharma can support itself in the West. There is an ongoing struggle between remaining free from consumerism while raising funds to maintain facilities (mortgages, utilities, repair) and teachers (food, clothing, heath care).
Obviously, this blog runs advertisements. But of course it is not "my" blog but the New York Times Company's blog, and if it were not contributing to making some profit for the company it wouldn't be here. But of course that's not everyone's situation.
Anyway -- Zen teacher James Ford, who did move his blog to the "big" platform, says we shouldn't get hung up on "purity." He provides this anecdote:
"The premise seems to be that there should be no connection between the Dharma and money.
"Reminds me of something I read a few years back where this perennial theme was once again being hashed out. The thing I recall was how one commentator said his teacher never took money for teaching. And then added how he had no idea how his teacher supported himself. The writer seemed to be suggesting this not knowing was a good thing. Pure.
"Personally I found it creepy."
Not only creepy, but if the student is committed enough to be talking about "my teacher," then it's time to start thinking of giving something back. In Asia, supporting the monastic sangha is an important obligation of Buddhist laypeople and students. Mutually beneficial giving and receiving ties a community together in practice.
The student who gives no thought to how his teacher might be able to live and eat and have a bed to sleep in is is not so much "pure" as selfish, IMO.
On the other hand, we've had a few teachers whose emphasis on building and expansion (and in some cases apparent avarice) compromised teaching the dharma. As always -- equanimity, folks. Avoid extremes.
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