Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Where in the world is Buddhism flourishing? Are there buddhist schools in China to US schools forJC
,
0
Comments
Buddhism today
Main article: Timeline of Buddhism:Common Era
By the late Middle Ages, Buddhism had become virtually extinct in India, and although it continued to exist in surrounding countries, its influence was no longer expanding. It is now again gaining strength in India and elsewhere.[155][156] Estimates of the number of Buddhist followers by scholars range from 230 million to 1.691 billion. Most scholars classify similar numbers of people under a category they call "Chinese folk" or "traditional" religion, an amalgam of various traditions that includes Buddhism.
Typical interior of a temple in Korea
Formal membership varies between communities, but basic lay adherence is often defined in terms of a traditional formula in which the practitioner takes refuge in The Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), and the Sangha (the Buddhist community).
Estimates are uncertain for several reasons:
* difficulties in defining who counts as a Buddhist;
* syncretism among the Eastern religions. Buddhism is practiced by adherents alongside many other religious traditions- including Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, traditional religions, shamanism, and animism- throughout East and Southeast Asia.[157][158][159][160][161][162][163]
* difficulties in estimating the number of Buddhists who do not have congregational memberships and often do not participate in public ceremonies;[164]
* official policies on religion in several historically Buddhist countries that make accurate assessments of religious adherence more difficult; most notably China, Vietnam and North Korea.[165][166][167] In many current and former Communist governments in Asia, government policies may discourage adherents from reporting their religious identity, or may encourage official counts to underestimate religious adherence.
Demographics
Percentage of cultural/nominal adherents of combined Buddhism with its related religions (according to the highest estimates).[168][169][170][171][172][173][174][175]
According to one analysis, Buddhism is the fourth-largest religion in the world behind Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[176] The monks' order (Sangha), which began during the lifetime of the Buddha, is among the oldest organizations on earth. Buddhism was the first world religion[177][178][179] and was the world's largest religion in the first half of the 20th century, in 1951 Buddhism was the world's largest religion with 520 million adherents. By comparison, the second largest was Christianity with 500 million adherents[180][181][182][183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190][191][192]
* Theravāda Buddhism, using Pāli as its scriptural language, is the dominant form of Buddhism in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Burma. The Dalit Buddhist movement in India (inspired by B. R. Ambedkar) also practices Theravada. Approximately 124 million adherents.[193]
* East Asian forms of Mahayana Buddhism that use Chinese scriptures are dominant in most of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam as well as such communities within Indochina, Southeast Asia and the West. Approximately 500 million to one billion[194]
* Tibetan Buddhism is found in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, areas of India, China, Nepal that border those countries, plus the Kalmyk Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation. Approximately 20 million adherents.[193]
Most Buddhist groups in the West are at least nominally affiliated with one of these three traditions.
At the present time, the teachings of all three branches of Buddhism have spread throughout the world, and Buddhist texts are increasingly translated into local languages. While in the West Buddhism is often seen as exotic and progressive, in the East it is regarded as familiar and traditional. Buddhists in Asia are frequently well organized and well funded. In a number of countries, it is recognized as an official religion and receives state support. Modern influences increasingly lead to new forms of Buddhism that significantly depart from traditional beliefs and practices.
_______
No, there are are not Buddhist children's schools in China comparable to Christian Children's schools in the West. Buddhism and other religions were actively persecuted until well after the Cultural Revolution. Religion is only allowed in China now to the extent that it keeps people from rebelling against the government or if the government can turn a profit on it, as in tourism in Tibet.
Overall there is an overwhelming diversity of recent forms of Buddhism.[195]
Now Tibet is basically open to tourist bucks, and since Buddhism is the main attraction, the Chinese allow it. But really only for the tourist bucks.
As SherabDorje says, Buddhism for Tibetans is now permitted, mainly either as a tourist attraction or as superficial proof that the government doesn't discriminate against Tibetans. But Buddhism for Han Chinese isn't supported at all. And look at their persecution of Falung Gong, which is very similar to Qi Gong, but practitioners give it religious overtones. (I think Qi Gong had a similar spiritual orientation before the gov't secularized it, I'm not sure.)
Mao's famous quote: "Religion is poison."
I do not endorse P2P movie downloading so of course I have no idea if it's available for free as a P2P. :vimp:
Actually, "Seven Years in Tibet" doesn't have a score written by Geoffrey Reggio so "Kundun" wins "Best Popular Flick About HHDL".
They will both demonstrate China's fight against Buddhism so these posts are on topic in this thread, and a relatively fast and enjoyable way for the OP to get a good answer to the question.
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_61c939020100gb64.html
You can use Google translator to read it.
I wish this forum has less political topics.