Since there are many options now for Dharma practice in the west, its inevitable that someone will run into many traditions. While some try out different traditions, and then settle with the one that “fits” them best, others take what they’ve learned and try to reconcile and put them all together.
Zen Priest and Theravadin Monk
In this interesting interview with Gil Fronsdale, he talks about how he works with two traditions. He had practiced in the Zen tradition for 7 years and had ordained as a Zen priest, and had gone to Japan to deepen his practice. While waiting for a visa, he went to Thailand and encountered Theravadin Buddhism. He then became a monk in Burma for several years.
In this interview, he talks about how he reconciles these different traditions, and the difficulties he’s had with working with two traditions.
My Experience With Different Traditions
For myself, the best advice I’ve received regarding this came from a friend of mine who is a Vietnamese monk. He mentioned that there are various meditations and practices in the different Buddhist traditions, and many of them complicated, making it difficult to sometimes put it all togther.
As time goes, even if all these meditations seem to become too heavy or complicated to continue, one thing I could always focus on, to unify my practice, is keeping ethics. That is the thing that every practitioner strives to keep, whether they’re a lay practitioner, a novice monk, a fully ordained nun, or a high lama that sits on a throne. As I’m come to learn, this is the fundamental practice that binds all the Buddhist traditions together.
This is a topic I always find interesting, especially learning about other people’s paths towards Buddhism. While I have many friends that grew up culturally with Buddhism, I’ve always wanted to know why someone who grew up in a western culture would be interested in this religion. On the surface, many westeners have the conditions for a happy life, relative to poorer, 3rd world countries. Having a nice place to live, food every month, opportunites for education or meaningful work, and freedom of religion. 
I think specifically within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there’s a strong emphasize on keeping practice commitments. Someone can take commitments to do accumulations continuously (i.e. 100,000 prostrations on continiuous days) or even take on practices for life (6 session guru yoga or doing a mantra recitation everyday for life). After a while, it can obviously become very complicated. Most people live busy lives that they have to balance with their family, work, and their practice. Life seems to get even more busy, while the practice commitments tend to equally get more complicated and demanding. 
Yangsi Rinpoche during one of his teachings made a very interesting comparison between eating healthy and working with the mind. I thought it was so very cleverly put together and appropriate because many people who are interested in Buddhism are also more likely to be interested in organic foods and healthy living options.
The Tibetans have very funny idioms that are very earthly and easy to remember.
. I’ve had to study this topic for several years just to get tiny bits of understanding of it because it’s a difficult topic. However, the implications of the topic are mind-blowing. 
