American-Buddha.com's Iconoclastic Message Takes It To The Head of The Pack Among Online Buddhist Websites

American-Buddha.com offers a liberal brand of Buddhism that emphasizes free thought and speech among Buddhists. The iconoclastic website came to popular attention when it published Tara Carreon's controversial article, "Another View on Whether Tibetan Buddhism Is Working In The West," arguing that traditional Asian Buddhism is too rigid and dogmatic for American students. According to the site's Alexa rating of 40,600, the message is popular.

Do Asian religions in general, and Buddhism in particular, provide answers to the confusion experienced by modern people? Not according to Tara Carreon, the outspoken webmistress of American-Buddha.com, whose essay, "Another View On Whether Tibetan Buddhism Is Working In the West," chronicled her dissatisfaction with the increasingly popular religion after twenty-five years of involvement. http://www.american-buddha.com/tib.bud.working.htm Ms. Carreon, whose website recently reached an Alexa rating of 40,600, explained why she thinks her site is generating so much interest. "Most American Buddhists think that Buddhism is a religion that blends easily with scientific thinking and modern morality. Nirvana sounds better than heaven or hell. Meditation sounds more sophisticated than prayer. But the truth is quite the reverse. In Tibetan Buddhism, the doctrine is quite specific on these points: scientific thought is deceptive; you are far more likely to go to hell than to experience nirvana; and meditation is primarily prayer to the guru. I ended by realizing I was in a cult controlled by the antiquated viewpoints of men who dominated a feudalistic culture in Tibet, and are attempting to build a new one on American soil. This is obviously not the party line, but as an insider of over 25 years, I can tell you from personal experience. On the website there is plenty of documentary proof of these things, and I think my viewpoint, although often derided by Buddhists upholding traditional views, has an inescapable allure for the Buddhists, who cannot avoid being fascinated by the fact that I have rejected the popular formulation of the doctrine."

There is no doubt some of the website visitors are unusual. A recent thread, entitled "Would You Be Happier as A Christian?" found Ms. Carreon engaged with a Danish Christian psychologist concerning the need for rules in religion. Ms. Carreon, as you might surmise, rejected the notion in strong terms. "I'm a big fan of Thomas Paine, and have many of his works on the website. His view of God, as presented in The Age of Reason, has greatly affected my thinking, and his view of the individual, as presented in The Rights of Man is fundamental to my belief that the individual should never be asked to surrender the essential freedom to reject an idea or belief. There is no authority, religious or secular, that can override that freedom."

Like any true webmistress, Ms. Carreon watches her stats, and notes "A huge correlation between my presence online and the number of visitors. It's strange, as if they could actually feel me there." One thing she would like to see different -- "More interest from site visitors in the riches of the Western tradition. The works of Lucretius, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Paine, these very noble western thinkers, to me are worth more than all of the Asian chants and rituals you could ever perform. I do not miss practicing Buddhism, although it was very difficult to give it up. I have a very positive alternative view now, though. Instead of turning away from life, trying to escape suffering, I turn towards it, trying to appreciate. It is a very Western attitude."