Steve Hagen's Buddhism Plain and Simple & Some Advice

I'd like some advice from the community here on how I should proceed.

My primary knowledge of Buddhism comes from Steve Hagen's "Buddhism Plain and Simple", Alan Watt's "The Way of Zen", and Stephen Batchelor's "Buddhism Without Beliefs" (I know this one is a controversial one).

But above all, it's been "Buddhism Plain and Simple" that has endured. I've read it 3-4 times at this point. I can't think of any thing in the book that I disagree with. But a lot of posts in this community lately have contained a lot sectarian sniping, particularly about the topic of Zen, and frankly I'm not really sure what I should do next.

My wife jokingly describes me as a Buddhist to friends, but I'm not sure what that really means in practical terms for me - I don't self-identify that way to others. But, frankly, I find myself craving (oops!) community and the company of experienced practitioners to help develop more consistent practice.

There is a Buddhist temple within reasonable driving distance, but I can't read their website and just based on what I can understand, I'm afraid that I might feel like a cultural tourist and, worse, find something that is superstitious and petitionary and dogmatic in its own way (much like my Christian upbringing).

So - in short - based on my interest in Steve Hagen's book, how should I go about seeking community? What 'kind' of Buddhist would I be? Is that even a meaningful question? And are these western books pretty skewed from the perspective of traditional/cultural Buddhism to begin with? I really feel like I don't know what that label means.

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