While many Buddhist schools are “open,” we frequently get drawn into debates about “true Dharma.” While this has some validity (there are cases where Dharma is reinterpreted as nihilism, for example), I think that this where Dharma starts to go off the rails and we lean toward becoming sectarian and dogmatic.

It is more challenging and edifying to find the common threads that run through different traditions (Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, etc.). The truly great Dharma teachers (Thich Nhat Hanh comes to mind) are adept at pointing out commonality in very different traditions.

I recently wrote elsewhere that Dharma cannot be reified by any one text or school. It is to be lived, investigated and practiced. While I appreciate practice within a tradition–especially for the support of sangha–one has to remember that it isn’t something static. Dharma isn’t something you simply “adopt.” You live Dharma.