Intro to Buddhism |
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Population
It is a big group that God wants us to care about. The number of Buddhists in the world is difficult to know. Dr. Alex Smith says, “Truly there is little pure Buddhism on earth, except among some dedicated intellectual Buddhists and long-term committed priests. Nevertheless, Buddhism is the integrating and identifying religion of approximately one billion people. Buddhism is bigger than you think.” (Evangelical Missiological Society, Spring 2000). Other researchers do not place the numbers so high, not counting many of the “folk-Buddhists” of China who have mixed ancestral practices and Chinese religions with Buddhism. Even so, the numbers are significant. Operation World, 21st Century Edition shows the following countries are predominantly Buddhist. Those with 40-90% Buddhists are:
Some countries have a lower percentage, but have significant numbers of more than a million Buddhists. These are:
Even the United States has over one thousand five hundred Buddhist temples and many Buddhist organizations. Alex Smith puts the number of Buddhists in the USA at ten million! This growth has been within the last several decades. Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, France, Indonesia, and Mongolia each has several hundred thousand Buddhists. The first step we must take is to be a learner. Ask many questions, both about Buddhism in general and specifically about our Buddhist neighbors and friends. What are their views of life and death? What do they think about God and Christianity? What are their hopes and fears? What do Buddhists and Christians hold in common and where do they differ? When we realize how many Buddhists there are, doesn’t it make you want to understand them and learn how to live GodŐs compassion among them? We learn about them so that we can better respect and appreciate them. We learn about them so that we can better bless and help them. As we explore the beginnings of Buddhism and its basic beliefs, letŐs look for areas of similarities and differences with Christianity.
Beginnings and Beliefs
Buddhism takes its name from its founder who was called “The Buddha” which means “the enlightened one” or “him who is fully awake.” His name was Siddhartha Gautama and he was born in 623 B.C. as a prince in a section of India called Kapilavatthu near the Himalayas. The story says that at his birth wise Brahmins predicted he would either become a great ruler or an ascetic who would help many people. His father wanted to make sure he would be a ruler, so he lavished pleasures on him and protected him from seeing suffering. Gautama married a princess named Yasodhara and had a son named Rahula. One day Gautama slipped out of the palace and saw four scenes that changed his life. He saw an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic. The first three scenes brought home to his heart the striking reality that age, sickness and death come to all. The fourth scene gave him a hint of a possible escape from the cycle of death and rebirth. Gautama left the luxuries and privileges of the palace, renouncing everything in order to search out a way of escape from suffering and death. He diligently practiced self-mortification and meditation until he almost died. While nearly starving, Gautama recognized that extremes asceticism was as useless as pleasure seeking. He ate, then sat down beneath a Bodhi tree determined to meditate until he could find a better way. According to the story, exactly on his 35th birthday he attained enlightenment, destroying all mental impurities and gaining perfect understanding into all realities, therefore called “the Buddha,” “fully awake” or “enlightened.” He continued to reflect on his insights for seven weeks and determined to spend the rest of his life helping others move toward the same. The Buddha preached his first sermon called “Setting into Motion the Wheel of Dharma” and ordained the first disciples. The Buddha sent out 60 disciples to teach others and spent 45 years in active ministry. He died at 80 years of age in 543 B.C. His last words were “Verily do I say unto you: Perishable are all conditional things. Work out your way with diligence.” He proclaimed “the four noble truths” which are:
This eightfold path is an extremely important part of The Buddha’s teaching. It is a combination of meditation and good deeds through which people detach themselves from all desires, both good and bad. Each one is a distinct discipline with deep meaning. Many Buddhists recognize the depth of morality required here. They see it as a path that will require many lifetimes of study and action. The eightfold path includes:
The Buddha taught people to depend on their own actions for salvation. The Buddha did not teach a belief in a supreme God. He said this was the unknowable thing. Instead he called people to learn from what they could observe and to turn from evil and do what is good. Buddhism is seen by many as a rational, even scientific philosophy that promotes a high morality.
Buddhist Scriptures
As time passed The Buddha’s teachings and stories were gathered into what is called the Tripitaka (three baskets).
These writings have been translated into many languages. The Dhammapada is a much later compilation of 423 important verses from the Tripitaka to summarize the path of dharma (Buddhist teaching).
What is a Buddhist?
There are various types of Buddhists with different beliefs and practices. However, many would say that a Buddhist is someone who values and follows the Triple Gem. Such a person says,
Most Buddhists would say they follow the five precepts: Do not kill, do not steal, do not commit sexual immorality, do not lie and do not use anything intoxicating. Most Buddhists believe in the law of karma which teaches that every good deed will have a good result and every evil deed will have an evil result. Many Buddhists believe they will go to heaven or hell after death to receive their rewards and punishments and then be reborn into this world for better or for worse depending on how much good and bad karma is left. This belief in karma and the desire to escape suffering motivates many Buddhists to meditate, perform ceremonies and do good deeds to obtain merit. There are Buddhists who do not believe in any supernatural experience, rejecting gods, spirits and miracles. These practitioners of Buddhism focus on its teachings and philosophy. However the vast majority of Buddhists strongly believe in supernatural beings such as evil spirits. Many worship other deities which come from the Hindu religion or their own ancient folk beliefs.
Diverse Buddhist Groups
It is important that we remember there are many “denominations” of Buddhists and a great variety of cults more or less connected to Buddhism. Two major divisions are called Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada is more conservative, claiming to hold more closely to The Buddha’s original teachings. Theravada is sometimes known as Southern Buddhism, since it is especially practiced in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana is considered to be more liberal and is known as Northern and Eastern Buddhism, practiced more in China, Japan and Korea. Mahayana often speaks of bodhisattvas, enlightened beings, who in a sense act as Saviors. Mahayana is further divided into various sects such as Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen. Theravada Buddhism is more likely to reject such concepts and focus on salvation through ones own efforts. Another major grouping is Tibetan Buddhism, popularized by the Dalai Lama. He has emphasized moral and ethical elements that foster tolerance and peace. He has down played the Tantric elements and magic central to Tibetan belief Wherever it has gone, Buddhism has been tolerant of folk beliefs and the people have invariably mixed their previous religious practices with Buddhism. Hindu ceremonies and celebrations are practiced in many Buddhist countries. Animistic and ancestral worship practices may be more central to the people’s lives and yet they still call themselves Buddhists. The Kwan Tin cult has attracted a growing following with its focus on a female bodhisattva who is supposedly full of compassion and mercy. In western countries Buddhism has mixed with New Age and even Christian concepts. Why is it important that we know about this diversity within Buddhism? So we can know how best to communicate God’s love among Buddhists. We must study and listen carefully or we will likely be misunderstood. These lessons will not give a specific fool-proof presentation that fits every single Buddhist. Instead we are looking at God’s holistic approach for truly loving our neighbors. Our focus will be on general principles that can be applied to the needs of those we meet. |
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