Summary: In prepping for our last episode on how to do Shin Buddhist practice, we started thinking about why people do practice and the question of motivations. The conversation starts with a reflection on a <a href="http://pureland2013.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">conference paper</a> Scott heard early in the summer about Buddhism, the self-help industry, and BCA’s “Zen envy” (hat tip to <a href="http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/east_asian/faculty_detail.dot?id=20707" target="_blank">James Dobbins</a> for that awesome phrase!). We talk about what the purpose of Shin and Buddhist practice is in the first place: is it to help create a better self, or a project in radical self-transformation? We meander through questions of ethics, self-critical awareness, and how all this fits into BCA communities today.<br>
