Please Help Some Quesions About Buddhism

[liz1216]

I have some questions on Buddhism. If you can help me I would appreciate that a great deal or if you could refer me to some website that would help too.
:huh:

1. How did Buddhism spread?

2. Where is Buddhism most influential today?
(Is it India?)
3. what sects of Buddhism have evolved over time?
(Has the mediation changed?)

4. How many followers are there worldwide?



Thank you

[a random hack]

liz, any more homework you want us to do?
are we getting good grades?
:lol:

try google :) (http://www.google.com)

[liz1216]

These questions are not for homework. I have been looking at many different religions to find the one I would like to become. I have been reading Huston Smith's book on world religions and these are some questions my partner and I have come up with. Thank you for referring me to Google but I do not like that search engine.

[a random hack]

how are your questions relevant to choosing a religion?
you want a religion that's popular, particularly in india, it seems ?

[beesting42]

dude who are we to say what she should ask or be interested in? I personally find her interest inspiring. Sure it sounded a bit like homework to me too... but hey there is a path for each one of us...

[vicente]

I have some questions on Buddhism

In my opinion, Buddhism is the closest to Reality and the realization of Reality.

http://website.lineone.net/~kwelos/index.html
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo/God-idea.htm
http://gileht.com/Mipham_various_texts_on_...tm#_Toc41049025 (http://gileht.com/Mipham_various_texts_on_Dzogchen_039_for_html.htm# _Toc41049025)
http://www.wie.org/j17/default.asp
http://www.buddhanet.net/ans73.htm
http://www.purifymind.com/WisdomX.htm

I do not care for Google either,..I prefer:
http://www.alltheweb.com/

:)

[a random hack]

I personally find her interest inspiring.

so, return the favour and answer her already :lol:

[sandierox]

When I started to read of buddhism, I was fascinated with how much the way of life was most particularly like "common sense" in religion form. It is the modern day approach to looking at the world from an open and clear perspective which allows one to life freely and be their own personal God.

[VossistArts]

I see random hacks point though. Unless sandirox is like me and would use knowing that the most popular manifestations and popular forms are probably the best ones to avoid, Id think trying to get an idea of the philosophies and general practices of Buddhism and other religions would be the things to look at most. Seems to me though, that almost every wise and enlightened person whose thoughts Ive been able to read, tells us that we must find our own way in this thing ultimately. I dont really see how Buddhists can justify trying to practice and think like the Buddha did in order to reach a space that Buddha is said to have reached. He found that space by abandoning usual conventions and popular religions and philosophies and going out into the world by himself to discover the truth of his things by unraveling his usuall world. Jesus also taught that it is only through ourselves that we find the truth of our things. I dont need to believe this, because it is clear to me that there is truly no other way to understanding than through our own efforts by way of what we are all given to do what has to be done. Adding a religion to my life would be complicating things, and i tend to think that when someone is looking to religion as a way to understanding and truth that really they are avoiding the cold hard fact that nothing outside of theirself is going to do anything for them, that they are on their own in this. Sure things outside of yourself will inspire realization, but nothing is going to do it for you. All the great teaching in the world wont move you an inch until youre open and have energy for apprehending their indications. The best way to practice Buddhism is by not becoming a Buddhist.

[Thomas Knierim]

Well said, VA! :thumbsup: Sadly, the established world religions have a tendency to provide instant answers to deep and important questions and thus tend to put an end to questioning itself, at least in the uninquisitive part of the population, which is probably the most undesirable effect of religion.

Cheers, Thomas

[is-ness]

>> I have some questions on Buddhism. ..

ok, i can tell you only as much i as i can tell you...
(which means what i have searched, found, and know off hand
... and also, should anyone find any corrections to be made...please do so ;-)


>>1. How did Buddhism spread?

the religion and philosophy founded in India c.525 B.C. by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha.
buddhism has always been a migratory religion.
its influence was caught right away, unlike some other religions that developed 100s of years after the founder/creater/prophet of that paticular religion actually lived. however, there have been noted time periods of the decrease and then increase of buddhism...
even though Buddha never really claimed to be the founder, because everyone has Buddha-Mind.
He was just one of the first to awaken and see it..or better yet be it.


>>2. Where is Buddhism most influential today? (Is it India?)

Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) was born and died a Hindu, but he basically reformed a lot of the beliefs that he thought were gettin way too out of hand with the Hindu practice. from what my teacher told me, Buddhism is Hinduism stripped to its puresest form.
in the Huston Smith book, it starts from Hinduism and transitions to the next chapter on Buddhism, and you can pick up on a lot of the similarities.. but later on you learn that Zen Buddhism is also influnced a great deal by Taoism.
sooo... coming back to your question, even though Buddhism started in India, it is not practiced there as much as it used to (see the reply to question # 4)


>>3. what sects of Buddhism have evolved over time?

there are two main sects: Theravada and Mahayana
in the Huston Smith book, the Worlds Religions, on page 136 , there is a nice table listing the main differences
but since they are both off-shoots from Budhhism they will still have similarites as well..
note that on the Theravada column, it says "minimzes ritual" and "minimized metaphysics" , and this might lead one to believe that Zen is practiced by the Theravada Buddhists, but in actuality its usually practiced more by the Mahayanas. (but no need to get tangled up in the differences that much)


4. How many followers are there worldwide?

Top 10 Largest National Buddhist Populations

Country : Number of Buddhists
China : 102,000,000
Japan : 89,650,000
Thailand : 55,480,000
Vietnam : 49,690,000
Myanmar : 41,610,000
Sri Lanka : 12,540,000
South Korea : 10,920,000
Taiwan : 9,150,000
Cambodia : 9,130,000
India : 7,000,000

roughly over 300 million Buddhists worldwide..

[is-ness]

VossistArts: we must find our own way in this thing ultimately.
yes, those were Buddhas words indeed.
thats why sticking to Zen Buddhism might be a good way to go..
my teacher said, Zen Buddhism is Buddhism stripped to its purest form..
(and remember form is emptiness and emptiness is... oh boy, thats a whole different topic ;-)~

[Thomas Knierim]

is-ness: Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) was born and died a Hindu, but he basically reformed a lot of the beliefs that he thought were gettin way too out of hand with the Hindu practice. from what my teacher told me, Buddhism is Hinduism stripped to its puresest form.

That's an interesting way to look at it. Early Buddhism was surely a reformatory movement in the original sense of the word. But I think it was a more than that. We have to consider that Buddha taught "anatta" or "an-Atman", the non-existence of the self, jiva and atman, which basically turns Hindiusm upside down. It departs even from the Advaita-Vedanta concept of the illusionary self.

Cheers, Thomas

[is-ness]

Thomas Knierim: Buddha taught "anatta" or "an-Atman", the non-existence of the self

good point! thanx for bringing that to attention. :)

[MidnightSun]

about 500 millions buddhists at least, dont remember some ppl who are buddhists lives in europe or america or so...

[samadhi-pants]

Asking how many Buddhists there are in the world may be like asking how many Christians there are in the world. Given the characteristics of some of the people that I have met that call themselves Christians I suppose that would be a difficult number to come up with.

As far as Buddhism is concerned, does practicing it necessarily come under the guise of religion? Is not "Buddhism" as described the the original Buddha meant to be the antithesis of belief systems?

My advice is, initially to read everything, and rest your decision on the advice on no one. After you have made your decision (if you find such a decision to be necessary) go find a teacher, but not before.

[scameter]

i agree. one of my major problems with Christians nowadays, or those who call themselves such, is that none of them actually read for themselves the Bible, or really think about it intelligently. they just idiotically believe everything their preacher tells them, like sheep they follow it, as a herd. it's really sad to be honest.

[MidnightSun]

well yeah, most of them dont really belive in that. But they should study it and so on :think:

[scameter]

true. :)

[MidnightSun]

they dont really care and thinks that only life point is to breed. Check out mtv, so much violent and sex, like if that would be only thing at all. They're stupidness will kill themselves (that includes us too).

[scameter]

why is sex and violence so horrible? it's old dogma. everyone thinks both of them are bad, but to be honest, it seems to be very natural: everything commits acts of violence, and everything has sex. so, since people have emotions , why can't we enjoy both of them. even if other animals do too, why is our enjoyment of it so bad?

[MidnightSun]

sex is not bad but violence of course is.

[MidnightSun]

And about sex, u say so coz u never saw somel ****in in the coridor at school or stalking a girl right in the park. Thats too much i think.

[scameter]

i haven't? no, i just saw my own mother ****ing around with two different men behind my father's back while they were still married, and then when they were divorcing telling him that she did and that she was proud of it. to be honest, if i did see someone making out with a girl at school i wouldn't care, because both of them chose to; if they both love their lives or get ruined, i don't care! i think that sex is not bad at all, and to be honest in some cases neither is violence; it's how people do them is what can make them bad.

[MidnightSun]

And the thing happened with ur mother, u think that was good?

[MidnightSun]

You need both violence and sex ,its not bad but thats too much already. I mean stalking, and hitting persons till death with no reason. Why do u think violence is good scam?

[sugah]

who cares about the statisticsss..... look at what buddhism actually teaches you ....
karma and karma.... buddhism helps to find the way out .......the answer to end all of your sufferiNg.....
and the reasoN why ....why the way things are the way they are......
heres the link generalize some of the main points...

http://www.thebigview.com/buddhism/


Thank you for your American interest in BuddhisM....
I am vietnamese thats why...=]

[Kether]

I have been looking at many different religions to find the one I would like to become.

My advice is to not 'follow' any religion, but to inquire freely, using logical analysis, about the world. By all means listen to what different religions and philosophies have to say, but don't join any religious institution - its harder to do it this way, but more rewarding.