CHINA TO BECOME WORLD'S LARGEST CHRISTIAN NATION BY MID-CENTURY

[Gentle Typhoon]

One white guy at LA Airport has converted to Hinduism and tried to convert me to Hinduism - I found that a tad hilarious.

 

[justanobserver]

One white guy at LA Airport has converted to Hinduism and tried to convert me to Hinduism - I found that a tad hilarious.

Hinduism doesn't have a concept of conversion.However I've heard of fringe groups like ISKON trying to do the same. Any thoughts?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

It's true for all Abrahamic religions ....

That's true. The "Dharmic/Indian religions" (Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism)... can often be practiced alongside other religions.

I know plenty of people here who consider themselves Buddhist, but also practice traditional Chinese folk religion.

 

[Jackdaws]

Hinduism doesn't have a concept of conversion.However I've heard of fringe groups like ISKON trying to do the same. Any thoughts?

Yea - he was one of those Hare Krishnas from ISKCON. They don't try to "convert" you in the traditional sense of the word - they invite you to the temple to discuss philosophy or as in the case of the Maharaj Andy with a blond choti at LAX trying to give you a "free" Bhagwad Gita and then expect $10 as Dakshina for 100 rupee print.

 

[Karachiite]

Wish there were more Buddhists in the world, the world would be a lot more peaceful then.

 

[no_name]

Buddhist don't go out of their ways to convert people. You are just reminded that you are ultimately responsible for your own actions, and it is your intention that counts, not what you put on the outside.

 

[no_name]

Jesus might have travelled to India and Tibet during his formative years sometime between the age of 12 and 30.

It is said that this is where he learnt values such as pacifism, non-violence, tolerance and understanding.

I don't think Tibet at the time had buddhism, or any other comparable religion. They were still into shamanism and folk religions.

 

[Chogy]

Agree... there is a lot to be admired in Buddhism. I don't believe in reincarnation, but the concept of Karma is very appealing, and in a way, is a form of judgement, although not in the Abrahamic sense.

 

[humanfirst]

People of abrahamic religions especially muslims and christians consider theirs is the only true path to god and according to them it is their duty and responsibility to invite fellow humans to what they believe is the only way to god.I dont see anything wrong in that unless they try to do it by force.According to my chinese muslim friend islam is the fastest growing religion in china by conversion(he gave me the website ÖÐÄÂÍø - ×î´óµÄººÓïÄÂ˹ÁÖÉçÇø as the proof,but i didn't understand anything coz it's all written in chinese)Can any chinese members confirm that ?

 

[CardSharp]

I don't think Tibet at the time had buddhism, or any other comparable religion. They were still into shamanism and folk religions.

Tibetan Buddhism is a curious mix of buddhist ideas and a far older tradition of animism. It may come as a surprise but buddhism was actually brought to Tibet by the Mongols under Chinggis Khaan.

 

[CardSharp]

Agree... there is a lot to be admired in Buddhism. I don't believe in reincarnation, but the concept of Karma is very appealing, and in a way, is a form of judgement, although not in the Abrahamic sense.

Karma as the ultimate form of cosmic justice would be nice, but... bad things happen to good people and bad people take good things for themselves. There just isn't any evidence that such a thing exists.

 

[no_name]

It is said that Asoka (Ashoka?) himself favoured Mahayana buddhism and this branch spread to the north and west, while Theravada buddhism is mainly popular in the south and later spread south, east.

Possibly the reason for this favour is because he felt Mahayana is more transmissable to the general public whereas Theravada requires learned scholars dedicated to the topic due to the larege amount of specific details. Mahayana focuses more on cultivating compassion, helping others and faith in teachings of buddha whereas Theravada focus more on wisdom and personal purification, however all dedicated buddhists be they Mahayana or Theravada (also called Hinayana) should be learned in the various buddha sutras.

So Mahayana buddhism transmitted to Tarim basin countries, and later to China, which then spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Tibet.

Then later on Bodhidharma came to china and preached his version of Mahayana which placed emphasis on teaching without words and the importance of personal experience over theory. He also brought focus on meditation and observing the mind, and Chan (called Zen in Japan) school was established.

Chan under him passed on to five consecutive disciple before it branched into five schools and coexisted together for a while.

Later on pure land buddhism becomes popular and this is possibly the most popular in china right now (unfortunately it also tend to mix with local folk religion). Pure land buddhism advocated paying homage to Amitabha buddha through prayers (南無阿彌陀&#20315 coupled with good conduct. Amitabha is a buddha who created a pure land in a far away place in the universe. If a person is sincere in his prayer and believe in Amitabha at the time of his death he will be escorted by an image of Amitabha to pure land, along with whats left of his unskillful karma. Once there he will no longer have to go through more reincarnations but will stay there and purify himself until he reaches buddhahood. According to pure land scriptures, Shakyamuni buddha advocates this method for people who are unlearned and heavy in their unskillful karma but have faith and wants to leave suffering in the samsara.

Buddhism in tibetan evolved into tantric buddhism, a sub-branch of Mahayana buddhism which among other things have this strange teaching of endorsing peopel to endulge in their desires completely in order to see clearly through them and wean them off completely. Not all sects follows this and this is apparently in contrary to what other Mahayana buddhists advocates, which is that the only way to wean off desires is abstinence, as endulging in them is like drinking salt when one is thristy, and will never end.

 

[Hulk]

I respect all religion who does not have goal to convert people from other religion. That is an insult to other religion. The idea should be co-existance.

Being atheist is not a bad idea.
I admire, Jainnism, Buddhism, Sikhism.
I admir Hinduism for telling us that all religion are equal.

 

[Durran3]

Even Einstein said that Buddhism should be the 21st century religion because its purely based on doing good, being a humanist, rational and does not stop science from doing its thing like other religions who try to claim pseudo science nonsense in their holy scriptures. Buddhism is about loving and enjoying life and looking at another human as a human rather than an object of faith.

Einstein's Quote

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism..

Also here is something funny and just for kicks :p

Buddhism wins the Best Religion of religion in the World Award

In advance of their annual Leading Figure award to a religious figure who has done the most to advance the cause of humanism and peace, the Geneva-based International Coalition for the Advancement of Religious and Spirituality (ICARUS) has chosen to bestow a special award this year on the Buddhist Community. "We typically prefer an under-the-radar approach for the organization, as we try to embody the spirit of modesty found in the greatest traditions," said ICARUS director Hans Groehlichen in a phone conference Monday. "But with organized religion increasingly used as a tool to separate and inflame rather than bring together, we felt we had to take the unusual step of creating a "Best Religion in the World" award and making a bit of a stir, to inspire other religious leaders to see what is possible when you practice compassion."

Groehlichen said the award was voted on by an international round table of more than 200 religious leaders from every part of the spiritual spectrum. "It was interesting to note that once we supplied the criteria, many religious leaders voted for Buddhism rather than their own religion," said Groehlichen. "Buddhists actually make up a tiny minority of our membership, so it was fascinating but quite exciting that they won."

Criteria included factors such as promoting personal and community peace, increasing compassion and a sense of connection, and encouraging preservation of the natural environment. Groehlichen continued "The biggest factor for us is that ICARUS was founded by spiritual and religious people to bring the concepts of non-violence to prominence in society. One of the key questions in our voting process was which religion actually practices non-violence."

When presenting the information to the voting members, ICARUS researched each of the 38 religions on the ballot extensively, offering background, philosophy, and the religions role in government and warfare. Jonna Hult, Director of Research for ICARUS said "It wasn't a surprise to me that Buddhism won Best Religion in the World, because we could find literally not one single instance of a war fought in the name of Buddhism, in contrast to every other religion that seems to keep a gun in the closet just in case God makes a mistake. We were hard pressed to even find a Buddhist that had ever been in an army. These people practice what they preach to an extent we simply could not document with any other spiritual tradition."

At least one Catholic priest spoke out on behalf of Buddhism. Father Ted O'Shaughnessy said from Belfast, "As much as I love the Catholic Church, it has always bothered me to no end that we preach love in our scripture yet then claim to know God's will when it comes to killing other humans. For that reason, I did have to cast my vote for the Buddhists." And Muslim Cleric Tal Bin Wassad agreed from Pakistan via his translator. "While I am a devout Muslim, I can see how much anger and bloodshed is channeled into religious expression rather than dealt with on a personal level. The Buddhists have that figured out." Bin Wassad, the ICARUS voting member for Pakistan's Muslim community continued, "In fact, some of my best friends are Buddhist." And Rabbi Shmuel Wasserstein said from Jerusalem, "Of course, I love Judaism, and I think it's the greatest religion in the world. But to be honest, I've been practicing Vipassana meditation every day before minyan (daily Jewish prayer) since 1993. So I get it."

Groehlichen said that the plan was for the award to Buddhism for "Best Religion in the World" to be given to leaders from the various lineages in the Buddhist community. However, there was one snag. "Basically we can't find anyone to give it to," said Groehlichen in a followup call late Tuesday. "All the Buddhists we call keep saying they don't want the award." Groehlichen explained the strange behavior, saying "Basically they are all saying they are a philosophical tradition, not a religion. But that doesn't change the fact that with this award we acknowledge their philosophy of personal responsibility and personal transformation to be the best in the world and the most important for the challenges facing every individual and all living beings in the coming centuries."

When asked why the Burmese Buddhist community refused the award, Buddhist monk Bhante Ghurata Hanta said from Burma, "We are grateful for the acknowledgement, but we give this award to all humanity, for Buddha nature lies within each of us." Groehlichen went on to say "We're going to keep calling around until we find a Buddhist who will accept it. We'll let you know when we do."

 

[conworldus]

If China becomes Christian I would renounce my nationality, ethnicity all together, because I would be ashamed by the lack of intelligence and reason.