Our web site is intended to be a place where those of us who have accepted Buddhism as a way of seeing the world can discuss and practice it without what one of our respondents has called the “dross of 2500 years.” Through the centuries, Buddhism has become an amalgamation of folk beliefs as well as traditional wisdom. The central principles The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path taught by its founder, however, are as true and valid today as they ever were. We are hoping to practice Buddhism without the baggage. ~ Dan Bammes - owner of the Sasana Web Site for sceptical Buddhists.

My MANIFESTO and liberation:

Although I still enjoy many things about Buddhism, I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who has noticed a disturbing trend over the last few decades in "American" Buddhism. It seems that most Americans who call themselves Buddhists are a wealthy and well educated elite.
As many people know, Buddhism is a reformation of Hinduism much like Christianity is a reformation of Judaism. The Buddha was certainly a revolutionary and non conformist like Christ was. He not only challenged the dominate religion of his time, he also challenged the social and spiritual norms of his day by teaching that anyone can attain enlightenment as he did. Even with out being of a certain social class or being well educated. Many of the Zen patriarchs and many later Zen teachers to this day were and are reformers of Buddhism when it became too institutionalised by rigid monastic systems and their lineage holders. And in that vain, but not comparing myself to any of these reformers, some people in the Ohio Buddhist Community (Cleveland) have turned their back on me after I left my former teachers and the Mansfield Zen Sangha group I started a few years ago, due to, I believe, their watering down of Zen with Unitarian Universalism, new age theories, middle class values and rigid monastic rules in the sense of "blind faith" and non questioning of authority.
One Cleveland Buddhist and leading member of the Cleveland Buddhist Peace Fellowship took it upon themselves to try and discredit me by twisting the truth to their own advantage. They were judge, jury and executioner, acting like self appointed Dharma police. And no one to this day from the local Buddhist community has ever come forward to support or defend me. I have come to see how people behave (even Buddhists) and it is a real eye opener. "There are flies and there are Buddhas in this human world of ours". I have read and experienced and now see that many American Buddhist only give the Buddha's  teaching on compassion, lip service, rather than practicing it when it comes to people who threaten their ideas and standards about Buddhism. I thought I had gotten away from hypocrisy  and rigidity when I left the religion I was raised in many years ago, but apparently not.
I was also called a "renegade" by my first Zen teacher because I recently wanted to start a new Zen group here in Mansfield after the disappointment of the last group. I like the label "renegade". I don't look upon it as being something negative. If there were no renegades in the history of Zen Buddhism there would be no Zen today.
So to all my friends and Buddhists in Ohio and elsewhere who still support me....

 Welcome to "Renegade Zen" in Mansfield! 

~ Michael

Now renegades are the people with their own philosophies
They change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me
We're the renegades we're the people
With our own philosophies
We change the course of history
Everyday people like you and me, C'mon

~Rage Against The Machine

now that the smoke's gone
and the air is all clear
those who were right there
got a new kind of fear
you'd fight and you were right
but they were just to strong
they'd stick it in your face
and let you smell what they consider wrong.
that's why I say hey man nice, nice shot
what a good shot man.

~Filter