Expert: Laurie McLauglin - 7/24/2010

Question
Hi, I am very new to learning about Buddhism.  I was looking at a local temples web site and saw that there will be a talk given by a Reverend.  Does Buddhism have Reverends, Priests, etc... or do you call your teachers Monk or Teacher, or Master?  I don't mean a proper title for the instructor I mean isn't Reverend and Priest a Catholic term?
Thanks,
Eric...

Answer
Hi Eric -

Thanks for letting me answer your question.

From my experience at least in the tradition I follow and the ones with which I am familiar the title Reverend is not used.

However, a teacher of Buddhism might use that title in order to westernize themselves and to help make the dharma more accessible to western folks.

As I said, I don't know of any instances in Buddhism where a teacher is called Reverend. Zen Buddhism from what I know does have priests.

I am Tibetan Buddhist practitioner and we call our teachers by a variety of names depending on what their credentials are the most common of these are Geshe, Rinpoche and Venerable.

But each Buddhist group calls their teachers by different names which usually come from the part of the world where the Buddhism was practiced.

Some Buddhist teachers have taken western names or adapted western titles so that they are more accessible to western culture.

I hope this help to begin to answer your question. Don't hesitate to ask any further questions on this or any other topic.

Namaste - Laurie