the need for social groups?

[Ensapa]

Why is there need for so many Buddhist groups? It is not as if having an extra group would make a difference in spreading the Dharma in the region. I found this on buddhistchannel.tv that there is this group that represents young people who practice buddhism called YBAM, and another group that represents tibetan buddhists called VBCM, and now there is another one called MNEB. What? What is the use of these groups other than increase delusions? They say it is to encourage fellowship but i do not see anything interesting coming out of these groups apart for wesak celebrations or the occasional buddhist conference. Being buddhist isnt about the feeling of belonging in a group, it is about applying the teachings...making clubs in the name of Buddhism is ridiculous indeed.

Why does one small country like malaysia need so many groups to represent them? isnt just one enough?

About The Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM)

YBAM is the leading Buddhist youth organisation in Malaysia, coordinating more than 260 member organisations in the nation through 13 State Liaison Committees. It strives to unite Malaysian Buddhist youth and to develop a society of wisdom, compassion and gratitude. Visit: www.ybam.org.my

 
About Malaysian Network of Engaged Buddhist (MNEB)

MNEB is a network of Buddhist leaders,  that encourage members to encourage activities that drives social change. MNEB Believes that social change believes must spring from deep spiritual practice and based the philosophy and practice of Kalyana Mitra (spiritual friendship). Visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/engagedbuddhists


About VBCM
The Vajrayana Buddhist Council of Malaysia, or VBCM in short, is a council or umbrella body consisting of member organizations which represents all Vajrayana Buddhist traditions in Malaysia. It also accepts individuals who are inclined towards Vajrayana Buddhism as associate members.

We aspire to be a council body whereby Buddhist Societies from the four Tibetan Buddhist Traditions can work together under one umbrella to co-ordinate the religious activities of Vajrayana Buddhists.

[Benny]

I think this is still good news ! I rather the youth in Malaysia be joining a Buddhist Association than say something like Death Angels Motorcycle Gang or Hunters Youth Association !

In this day and age where there are millions of excuses to not be spiritual , we have this bunch of kids who still want to get together to do something "dharmic" or even in the name of dharma is indeed something out of the ordinary now.

Common we have to admit that there is indeed much effort gone into it,  to form a religious grouping of 260 youths ! That in itself is a feat to say the least,  who knows how big they can get in time. I was a buddhist youth association member before and those days brings back many fond memories of dharma sharing albeit in the kindergarden level but nevertheless it was very formative learning for me.

We did not achieve much then, but who knows what our young and mischevious minds could have committed had we NOT join a bunch of " positive " buddhist youth who sacrificed their time to make it all happened for us. To those young people, I say thank you for making the effort ! I would not be typing this here had it not been for that Buddhist Youth Association that i joined 23 years ago. Thank you for the sharing !

[bambi]

I agree with Benny. Yes there may be a lot of Buddhist organisations around but hey, they may be achieving much more than we know. Look at all other countries, there are many Buddhist organizations in their country but it is a good thing. Meaning that Dharma is growing. At the end of the day, it is how these organizations made people understand Buddhism and of course spreading it. I wish I had the good fortune to meet one when I was younger instead of spending it at churches and Sunday schools which I attended and had many questions. There were no such organizations near me then. I rejoice for those organizations listed below. Thank you for sharing Ensapa.

[buddhalovely]

The experience of suffering is the starting point of Buddhist teaching and of any attempt to define a distinctively Buddhist social action. However, misunderstanding can arise at the start, because the Pali word dukkha, which is commonly translated simply as "suffering," has a much wider and more subtle meaning. There is, of course, much gross, objective suffering in the world (dukkha-dukkha), and much of this arises from poverty, war, oppression and other social conditions. We cling to our good fortune and struggle at all costs to escape from our bad fortune.

This struggle may not be so desperate in certain countries which enjoy a high material standard of living spread relatively evenly throughout the population. Nevertheless, the material achievements of such societies appear somehow to have been "bought" by social conditions which breed a profound sense of insecurity and anxiety, of restlessness and inner confusion, in contrast to the relatively stable and ordered society in which the Buddha taught.

[biggyboy]

Yes it may sounds good to have one Buddhist body/group to help others in sharing the Buddhist teachings and applying them.  But first ask yourself (Ensapa) where did you join or get yourself involve with at this point?  Why are you in another Buddhist group if you have not nor want to join the mentioned groups (for example), if I may say so?  Forgive me if am wrong. Obviously, different groups attract different dispositions of people and feeling comfortable to be with certain group(s) that may appeal to each individual.   Okay, spiritual aside...even we as an individual in samsaric world, we tend to clique with certain groups or friends that we are comfortable with most of the times.  What make it different then with having more Buddhist groups in any one country?

Who knows, different Buddhist groups may help different individuals in their own way onto the Buddha's path.

[Ensapa]

Yes it may sounds good to have one Buddhist body/group to help others in sharing the Buddhist teachings and applying them.  But first ask yourself (Ensapa) where did you join or get yourself involve with at this point?  Why are you in another Buddhist group if you have not nor want to join the mentioned groups (for example), if I may say so?  Forgive me if am wrong. Obviously, different groups attract different dispositions of people and feeling comfortable to be with certain group(s) that may appeal to each individual.   Okay, spiritual aside...even we as an individual in samsaric world, we tend to clique with certain groups or friends that we are comfortable with most of the times.  What make it different then with having more Buddhist groups in any one country?

Who knows, different Buddhist groups may help different individuals in their own way onto the Buddha's path.

I do not think that Buddhist groups are inherently bad, just that I dont see a need for so many groups to suddenly sprout out. We are all people, unfortunately, and we are always out there, trying to distinguish ourselves. The formation of too many unneeded groups will just give an air of exclusivity to the members instead of encouraging people to actually practice the Dharma. It becomes an elitist thing already. On this level, groups are not beneficial but they are detrimental to our spiritual practice because we associate ourselves in a group to differentiate ourselves.

But groups could serve as an excellent support at the same time, depending on the motivation...