Thankfully in our defense, many men and women have been paying their karmic dues, while we have been raising hell and heavenly children. While we faught against the wars, we were paying for with our hard-earned taxes, a dedicated cadre of monks, nuns, and academics have been plowing through the tomes of Sutra and mental sediment of actual Buddhistic practice... to bring the Dharma directly to our door.

Friends here in Japan, many working at the sectarian-affiliated Buddhist universities speckled throughout Kyoto and her suburbs, have fought diligently for cognitive consistency, facing daily the hypocrisy of religious bureaucracy. We knew this as children of Christian cults, as Catholics, Baptists, and Republicans. We saw in our youth 'applied' theology, in the politic of capitalistic democracy, sexual bipolarism, and Christmas-holy consumerism.

Living here, we found the virtues of the Japanese are cultural attributes and not theological. The hodgepodge of superstitions, and form-obsessed conformity, works to make this a prosperous and safe society. Work, community concern, and a healthy dose of time-spent educating, has created a functioning social system, with the usual assortments of gripes and kudos collimating in a highly functional tribalism.

The smell of Buddhist philosophy can be discerned here by the serious scent detector, but there is as much animism and fast-food deep-fry in the mix. It is my opinion that for Americans, and other practitioners of modern Buddhism like Australians and Europeans, there is more depth and breath in the smelting pots of Western Buddhism, than here in Asia.

Mind you, one needs to check one's sources, so there is nothing like time in Burma, Thailand, or India for a bit of authentication, and that inevitable demystification. Surely my time spent in a Zen monastery and in pilgrimage was well invested... But, considering the pressures of time, look to your local Sangha for a hearty meal of actualization, before booking your flight.

New Age has come of age and can be found in the Dharma podcasts listed in iTunes. First rate translations of the classics, from each denomination, allows one access 24/7. Articulate preachers, from each historical and modern adaptation of Buddhism, guarantee both intellectual and pragmatic cross-referencing to your own practice. There is a Sangha for everyone, often found on-line, if not in commuting distance. Be here now, apparently, is as accessible and applicable in Jersey as here in Kyoto.

Google and see.