Boosting Buddhism

zenff

I read that in most Western countries a maximum of roughly 1% of the people are Buddhists, sort of.
Only Australia does a lot better, 2%.

1. Is that fine?
2. If not, how can we boost Buddhism in the West?
3. What form of Buddhism has the best potential (or any potential at all) to take root in the West?

There must be someone around who knows about marketing. My guess is that he would say that the “product” Buddhism is much too unclear and therefore people can not relate to it.

So I propose all Buddhist schools gather and come up with a good business plan.
They tinker together a simple extract of Buddhism and create a well-oiled Buddhist Worldwide Organization to promote this product in the West.
Also we need a physical characteristic for Buddhist to identify with.
I propose we all shave our heads.
And maybe we need an easy goal to relate to, such as establishing Buddhist regimes in our countries. :cool:

Any thoughts?

Floating_Abu

So I propose all Buddhist schools gather and come up with a good business plan.

Enlightenment, then actualisation

Namaste.

federica

Unlike Christians, Buddhists do not proselytise. The one way to spread Buddhism would be to start by building a temple in every conglomeration with a head-count/population of over 2000.

so, first:
Get your planning permission....;)

Vincenzi

I don't want to shave my head again... it takes much more time than just letting the hair grow, and using shampoo.

I think there should be a "buddhist for newbies"; because the problem for most westerners is that there is few documentation of buddhism for people that are new to it.

Cam

One thing I always loved about Buddhism, was that it's less of a religious numbers game, and more of a humble philosophy. I personally have no interest in spreading my religious beliefs unless I'm asked.

That said, we don't need to actively do anything with the motive of spreading Buddhism. If we follow the path that has been given to us, it will spread itself, through altruism.

Buddhism isn't for everyone.

p.s. aussie aussie aussie, oi oi oi!
I'm not sure why Australia does better, but I guess that's really good for me being Aussie

federica

Aussies are so laid back, they're horizontal...

Oh, and to us Brits - upside down.
Anyone who can let all that blood go to their head AND be chilled about it, can't be all bad.

Cam

Haha, it all makes so much more sense now!

zenff

Okay, but let’s be practical guys!

Where would Buddhism be now if not Ashokha first established his empire (shedding rivers of blood) and AFTER THAT introduced this wonderful and peace loving Buddhism?

Much the same way, we need to do some (not so Buddhist) work on conquering the market, and AFTER THAT, I will gladly agree that this was not a very Buddhist thing to do.

But Buddhism will be on the map in the West, not with a lousy 2% (sorry Australia) but with a majority of Bald People! Wouldn’t that be great?

Ashoka the Great in the East. Zenff the Great in the West.

:rolleyes:

being

I don't think it's necessary to market Buddhism in any other way than practicing it ourselves (being the change we want to see in others). For me it's quite contradicting to the 'Buddhist values'.

Yes, Buddhism is a wonderful teaching, but imposing it on others is not very 'Buddhist'. The ones who need the teaching (are ready for it?), will find their way to it eventually.

zenff

Yes, maybe I was a little over-enthusiastic.

buddhajunkie

I support Zenff's intention. I think the world would be a better place if we could promote Buddhism.

In the West, hands down I think Theravada Buddhism / Vipassana meditation can catch on... in fact, it IS catching on.
The stat's on Buddhists don't count meditators who never changed their religous status.

One way it could become mainstream is through the military.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1920753,00.html

Another is through prisons.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/08/prison-meditation_n_820323.html

Schools are a tough sell, for a variety of reasons. But obviously penetration there would be huge.

Has a 24 Hour Fitness class ever hosted a meditation class? I wonder how it would do there... If youth-maintaining benefits could be pushed, I think it might take in some of the yoga people.

formermonkJohn

the reason for australia is the huge influx of asian immigrants, padmasambhava was certainly into prosletysing buddhism, ive read plenty of accounts through history of buddhist missionaries spreading the world like china and japan, we dont want to be like some christians or the nichren sects in prosletysing though, middle path?

MindGate

Do you really want Southern Baptists to be converted to Buddhism?

I can see it now. Signs all over the south:

TAKE REFUGE IN THE THREE JEWELS OR SUFFER!

BELIEVE THE DHARMA OR BURN IN HELL REALM

FAGS GO TO HELL REALM! HHDL SAID ANAL SEX IS BAD!

mugzy

The best way to "boost" Buddhism is to set a good example as kind, peaceful, and respectful practitioners. As others have said, there is no need to push our ideas or beliefs on the world. That's what sets Buddhism apart - nobody is out there recruiting new Buddhists, you have to seek it for yourself. If someone is interested, they'll read books, find forums like this, ask questions, go to temples, etc, and decide if Buddhism is right for them. It takes effort to pursue the truth, and you find the path that works for you. There's no pamphlet describing how great your life will be once you "convert" or whatever. It's about being free where you are.

Cloud

@zenff, I don't think we have to do anything. In times past we had great suffering from being without; now we're experiencing great suffering from having so much and still not being happy. IMHO the number of Buddhists, whether declared or undeclared, will rise exponentially in places such as the United States where it's getting harder to deny that materialism does not bring lasting happiness or peace.

Dakini

I read that in most Western countries a maximum of roughly 1% of the people are Buddhists, sort of.
Only Australia does a lot better, 2%.

There must be someone around who knows about marketing. So I propose all Buddhist schools gather and come up with a good business plan.

Well, Tibetan Buddhism seems to be one of the fastest-growing spiritual traditions in the West, I don't think they need any help.
I suggest Buddhists not come up with a biz plan until the problem of unethical and abusive teachers is solved.

Dazzle

Why do we need to boost and market Buddhism ? Better to just get on with practising it.

DaltheJigsaw

I read that in most Western countries a maximum of roughly 1% of the people are Buddhists, sort of.
Only Australia does a lot better, 2%.

1. Is that fine?
2. If not, how can we boost Buddhism in the West?
3. What form of Buddhism has the best potential (or any potential at all) to take root in the West?

There must be someone around who knows about marketing. My guess is that he would say that the “product” Buddhism is much too unclear and therefore people can not relate to it.

So I propose all Buddhist schools gather and come up with a good business plan.
They tinker together a simple extract of Buddhism and create a well-oiled Buddhist Worldwide Organization to promote this product in the West.
Also we need a physical characteristic for Buddhist to identify with.
I propose we all shave our heads.
And maybe we need an easy goal to relate to, such as establishing Buddhist regimes in our countries. :cool:

Any thoughts?

Zen I think.
It is happening slowly, but we don't want to push people too much into it.
It should be a slow process and a process that each individual should choose on their own.
Do others agree?

buddhajunkie

@anti-"boosters"

Wait, we first need to define what we mean by "boost."

If a sangha wants to go to a prison and offer meditation sessions, and if those sessions were "advertised" in a poster which said, "Reduce stress, find inner peace, and cultivate outer peace. Learn to meditate!", is that "boosting"?

Why would any of you guys be against that?


How are people even supposed to know that Buddhism is an option if it isn't "boosted" in some way?

compassionate_warrior

Good point.

zenff

After sleeping over it, and after reading your comments (thank you for them!), my ambitions have been calmed.

Buddhism is not going to be a mass movement in the near future.
If it were, we probably wouldn’t want to be part of it anyway.
Even MindGate has a good point. Popular Buddhism would take the shape of the people who adopt it and it could turn quite nasty.

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Meditation can be promoted though. I agree on that.
It can be of great help to people in various situations. I think it would be a great idea to teach it to young people in schools; not Buddhism, but meditation.

“Do not talk about the goal and benefit of meditation; to be without goal and benefit IS meditation.”

That’s what I tell people when they ask what I’m meditating for. And the paradox is that at the same time there are great benefits to this meditation. Scientists can measure how it contributes to our well-being.

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We also can promote mindfulness; acceptance of life as it is; kindness and compassion.
When they spread in the world, who needs Buddhism?

mugzy

Very good points, thank you for your input :om:

Cloud

@zenff, LOL, "even MindGate has a good point", as if he usually doesn't...

buddhajunkie

Meditation can be promoted though. I agree on that.
It can be of great help to people in various situations. I think it would be a great idea to teach it to young people in schools; not Buddhism, but meditation.

We also can promote mindfulness; acceptance of life as it is; kindness and compassion.
When they spread in the world, who needs Buddhism?

What else is there to Buddhism besides meditation, mindfulness, acceptance, kindness and compassion?