As Kornfield in recent years has been wont to present the traditional Buddhist goals as archetypes or ideals, rather than things that anyone actually attains, I think Richard Hayes’s term Jazz Buddhist would be the best fit. And yes, it is a secular Buddhist perspective.
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The “Upper Middle Way.”
Honestly, until I read the suttas I was always a little confused on what Buddhism even truly meant, at least as a whole system. I was introduced via Mahayana and I still have a love for the literature, but the suttas really opened a big door for me. This off OP info, but relevant I think.
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LOL! I’m stealing that term from you and I am not giving you credit! 
Again, I had that same experience.
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LOL I stole it from someone myself so please spread the good word, haha!
My professor friend, who teaches and practices Shin, taught me the term “Barnes & Noble Buddhism” which I also like; however, it isn’t so much a perjorative since so many people (at least here in the states) started with picking out a random book on their shelf, maybe one of Jack’s, and are now here!
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Jack is trying to be ecumenical. His training was Theravada, but he saw a lot of psychological issues not dealt with in current Buddhism. He then returned to the United States and got a psychology degree. Since the audience for Theravada Buddhism is small, he has to appeal to all religious but not spiritual people. This is why his appeal is larger than Buddhism. If you listen to his talk you will notice he talks about one God, as if he were Christian. And when he talks about Buddhism it is always non-sectarian. He is trying to appeal to the widest possible audience to try to teach them Buddhist principles and practices of blessing suffering.
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I swear that was mine first, circa 2013, but I think I only thought it! I also call it Bookstore Buddhism.
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I’ve seen terms/idioms I made up in Internet conversations show up in published materials.
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The Ann Gleig article.
It’s not my term, I just see some limited resemblances.
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I recall “Barnes and Noble Buddhist” being used as far back as the late nineties. Some Buddhists who were into classical texts would use it as a snooty dismissal of those Buddhists whose reading was limited to Barnes and Noble Buddhist bestseller writers like Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chödrön, Sogyal, the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, etc. And of course Jack Kornfield.
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Well thank goodness Bhikkhu Bodhi snuck onto those shelves or I might’ve moved out to Cali, kept my hair long, become vegan, wore shirts that show the top of my chest, and been a staple at meditation centers where I’d always be smiling and telling everyone that the heart is the center of the universe and that psychedelics are the future. That’s right everyone. I once was a Barnes and Noble Buddhist. 
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Bhikkhu Bodhi helped pioneer using the Internet to spread Buddhist teachings. He ran the Buddhist Publication Society. I often wondered why he focuses on getting his books in print. “Barnes & Noble Buddhism” makes me wonder if believes he will reach more people withe printed books being on bookstore shelves. Okay 2022, displayed on a book seller’s web site.
I’ve been a vegan for most of my adult life. At the time I got introduced to Kornfield’s books I had hair down to my shoulder blades. I never went to California until many years later. I’ve always favored office casual when at work or gym wear at home. I’ve often been accused of being grumpy
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I think this is true. I appreciate it very much that he apparantly wanted to be of help and got a psychology degree.
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Let’s see how many different labels we potentially have for Kornfield Buddhism:
- American Tantra
- Secular Buddhism
- Barnes & Noble Buddhism
- Jazz Buddhism
- American Buddhism
- Western Buddhism
- California Buddhism
- Beat Buddhism
- Hippy Buddhism
- Upper Middle Way Buddhism
- Buffet Buddhism
I may have missed a few more?
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I think this is the no. 1 reason to choose a commercial publisher. It is their distribution channels. Most free distribution books are circulated at temples, which isn’t actually where the “Buddhism curious” people who could benefit most from these are hanging out. While some of the free distribution material does eventually make it back to 2nd hand bookstores and libraries, it’s not a particularly efficient way of getting it there.
You used to be able to get Ven. Bodhi’s translations at Kinokuniya in Sydney (I last visited over a decade ago)…they have foot traffic coming in every single working day from the 97% of Australians who aren’t Buddhist (yet).
It leads to a kind of odd outcome that the most efficient way to distribute a book in terms of distribution channels would be to run a paid and free version at the same time. But publishers obviously aren’t keen on this.
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I think younger people go to the Internet for introductory materials that can be downloaded. Bhikkhu Bodhi’s style is too academic for the Buddhist Curious. I don’t know the numbers, so it could be that many people still go through the main publishing channels and fewer look to get something electronic & free via the Internet.
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The main reason American Tantra is apt is that tantra is a religious movement that affirms things like sensual pleasures, the body, the married lay life, and other things that are seen as obstacles in classic Indian monasticism. In tantra these things are seen as experiences that can be integrated into the spiritual path and don’t have to be avoided.
This is true of Hindu tantra and also Buddhist tantra. Likewise, IMS Buddhism is mainly a movement of laypeople who have sex, enjoy worldly middle class pleasures and are not practicing asceticism. Their teachings downplay the ascetic elements of Buddhism, even though they are drawing mainly on Theravada Buddhism instead of actual tantric Buddhism.
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Another one I’ve heard is “nightstand Buddhist” for those who privately read Buddhist books, etc but who don’t identify as a Buddhist in public. See also, “Bu-Curious” 
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I might be wrong, but wasn’t that exactly what lay Buddhists were doing in the Buddha’s time?
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This is far more than the ordinary layperson, but may be what you were referring to:
Leaving aside Master Gotama, the monks, the nuns, and the celibate laymen, is there even a single layman disciple of Master Gotama—white-clothed, enjoying sensual pleasures, following instructions, and responding to advice—who has gone beyond doubt, got rid of indecision, and lives self-assured and independent of others regarding the Teacher’s instruction?”
“There are not just one hundred such laymen enjoying sensual pleasures who are my disciples, Vaccha, or two or three or four or five hundred, but many more than that.” -MN 73
Extremely important to note that these laymen enjoying sensual pleasures were sotāpanna. Back in ancient India there wasn’t anything resembling the proliferated extent of modern comforts and diversity of sense pleasures, so it is difficult to compare the modern layperson to the ancient. Seems that common layperson in India back then would’ve faced far more discomfort and lack of sensual pleasures, so they were likely far more mentally tough than what we find today. Can’t imagine groups of laypeople who celebrate sensuality getting very far nowadays.
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Indeed! It’s an important point to remember that the Buddha wasn’t a Puritan and that many of his followers lived (for the time) rather lavishly.
However, there is an important distinction: the early lay Buddhists acknowledged ascetic practices as superior, and respected, honored, and venerated those who went forth. Modern, secular Buddhists (largely) do not, even sometimes arguing that monastic practices and teachers are inferior or deficient in some way.
This parallels the shift towards Tantra in late Indian Buddhism, as many Tantric practices were incompatible with the monastic rules, so the very high level Tantric masters were actually lay people. This myth of the more advanced lay practitioner is still around today in e.g. Tibetan Buddhism, despite attempts by their clergy to domesticate the practices through merging/suppressing cults, making the rituals imaginary or symbolic, etc, etc.
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