Tricycle Talks Being a 'Bad' Buddhist with Sharon A. Suh
19 snips
Dec 10, 2025 Sharon A. Suh, a theology professor and president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, shares her insights on what it means to be a 'bad' Buddhist. She critiques the narrow focus on meditation in Buddhism and stresses the importance of diverse practices like gratitude and art. Discussing her anthology, Emergent Dharma, Suh highlights the significance of community over individualism, the influence of bell hooks on love as an action, and the evolving nature of Buddhist identity through collective experiences.
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Caught Between Two Buddhist Worlds
- Many Asian American Buddhists feel caught between white meditation centers and ethnic temples that don't fit their experience.
- Emergent Dharma gathered diverse voices to create a written sangha addressing that gap.
PARI's Foundational Community
- Sharon recounts PARI's origins as a 1990s scholar community that validated Asian American religious studies.
- That community still meets and many original members contributed to the anthology.
Seeing Buddhist Women Reshape Authenticity
- Sakya Dita revealed a vast, visible world of Buddhist women's leadership across Asia.
- That exposure challenged Western assumptions about what 'authentic' Buddhism looks like.
