Dear GenJo:

I am guessing that any group of believers (particularly, if it is a group of more than half a dozen or a dozen people), including any group of Buddhist believers,  will include people engaging in magical thinking and no-sense. This is where the saying from AA comes to mind: “Principles, not Personalities” (a different wording:  “Principles before Personalities”)- meaning: do not give up on the principles of the group because of people who do not follow or respect any one or more of group’s principles.

“I came from a Christian tradition that embraced magical thinking“- there are, I am sure, people in the Christian tradition who are more decent and overall lead lives that are much more sensible than many people of the Buddhist tradition.

“So, this has led me to be suspicious of any group with shared but subjective beliefs“- the subjective in a group of a dozen or a hundred of people are so very diverse, ununiformed… that we really should- within any group of people- focus on objective principles… and not on personalities, I believe.

anita