I have been wondering about the apparent vitality of Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism compared to Theravada, and now I find one answer: Theravada is rather ossified, particularly in its own cultural context. A footnote in Wikipedia led me to this site, which is mostly in German, look for Ven. Dhammika and "The Broken Buddha".
He has a blog here: Dhamma musings.
He mentions that his book "The Broken Buddha" is being translated into Indonesian here. At least he is trying to act as a reformer.
Ven. Dhammika's assessment of Theravada is pretty disillusioning. His view is that the Insight Meditation folks in the US are the most vital of western inheritors of Theravada. He also thinks Bhante G.'s emphasis on metta is not very impressive, because there is no emphasis on social engagement. I was wondering about this. Nhat Hahn is more impressive, I am beginning to think, though Bhante G. did make a good meditation manual.
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