u/Elegant-Sympathy-421

Can one use rudraksha mala for Devi mantra?

I know very little about K.S. having practiced mainly in Vajrayana. I am interested in K.S. but wondering if it is such a profound spiritual practice it is now almost dead it seems. lakshmanjoo is said to be the last of his tradition I believe. Why did/ does it not continue in a living tradition?. If I am wrong please forgive me.

I am wondering what average age of sanghas are these days. I can remember 20 yrs back a mix of young and old...maybe 50/50 in centres I visited in U.K. I get the impression that sanghas are now predominantly older folks. Am I correct. If so, why are younger people not connecting to dharma in 2026.

One thing that really gets to me about Tibetan Buddhism is the over the top blurb. given by some when describing a teaching.

For example....when describing Mingyur Rinpoche's upcoming dzogchen course his student Cortland Dahl a well respected translator goes on and on about how special this is. If I go to another teacher his upcoming teaching will prob be described in a similar fashion. It goes on and on and on. There are said to be 84000 teachings and these days after years and years of chasing that special teaching I am quite content with a simple daily practice that is free from all this western style advertising. It just seems that the western marketing style of advertising has moved into the spiritual marketplace. Freedom from desires is not simple it seems.

I am a western guy who has practiced Tibetan Buddhism for over 29 yrs. I have had a few doubts about certain aspects of Vajrayana belief systems recently. One thing in particular is the after death bardos as described in Bardo Thodol. The peaceful and wrathful deities I struggle with. If these Bardo experiences are encountered by everybody why would people with no experience if Tibetan deities see them in the bardo. Do they experience deities relatable to whatever culture they come from.

I just cannot see the peaceful/ wrathful deities as being a universal experience...more like a cultural experience. Any comments?

I often see posts here asking ,' How can I convert to Buddhism?'. Came across this earlier and thought it might be helpful to those with this question.

"There is no such thing as a conversion in Buddhism. You don't convert a person into Buddhism. You just follow the Lord Buddha's teaching and practice the Dharma, then you are a Buddhist.

At the same time, whatever you are, it somehow is blessed. So that every aspect of your life is blessed by the Lord Buddha's teaching. And it is not a conversion.

For me, it is actually evolutionary process. You evolve as a Buddhist. You don't convert as a Buddhist. But you evolve as a Buddhist."

~ Chamgon Kenting Tai Situ Rinpoche

From: "Buddhism and Vajrayana".

Taught by the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa at Palpung Sherabling, March 2006

I often see posts here asking," how can I convert to Buddhism". Came across this earlier and thought it may be helpful to share.

"There is no such thing as a conversion in Buddhism. You don't convert a person into Buddhism. You just follow the Lord Buddha's teaching and practice the Dharma, then you are a Buddhist.

At the same time, whatever you are, it somehow is blessed. So that every aspect of your life is blessed by the Lord Buddha's teaching. And it is not a conversion.

For me, it is actually evolutionary process. You evolve as a Buddhist. You don't convert as a Buddhist. But you evolve as a Buddhist."

~ Chamgon Kenting Tai Situ Rinpoche

From: "Buddhism and Vajrayana".

Taught by the 12th Kenting Tai Situpa at Palpung Sherabling, March 2006

I am sure many of you will have come across this eloquent teacher on You Tube. His talks are very insightful. However I watched a couple earlier this week and they didn't seem so authentic. The language used seemed unusual" toxic friends" " narcissist" etc. also some of his facial gestures seemed a bit off and in fact creepy. I researched a little and found that the you tube site " Buddhism in English" is genuine but there is another site " Lotus dharma path" which features AI.

It is AI generated and Instead of featuring a real monk talking dharma ,they use a focus on relationship and lifestyle advice ("7 Things to Let Go of After 60", "Stay Away From These 7 People") wrapped in loosely interpreted Buddhist vocabulary.

Have you come across these?