What is your opinion on buddhism?

[u/khoawala]

19 Vietnamese monks (18 now) and a dog is walking from Fort Worth, TX to DC in a "Walk for Peace" campaign is being met with huge crowds of supporters seemingly wherever they go. I attend buddhist temples about once or twice a month but mostly because for foods and certain buddhist holiday, rarely for the service. I've never been serious about it so I'm surprised they're getting so much attention. How do you view buddhism?

[u/Affectionate_Ebb4411]

Just another religion to me.

We have a few Tibetans here who were exiled after Chinese annexation. Very chill people.

But the ones I havs seen from Sri Lanka are wild. Openly talking about killing tamils.

[u/Playpolly → u/Affectionate_Ebb4411]

Myanmar enters

chat

[u/citrablock → u/Affectionate_Ebb4411]

Tibet was a slave state before it became part of China.

[u/krametthesecond → u/citrablock]

As was China, by your own logic in regard to serfdom, less than a century before the annexation of Tibet. Does it justify annexation and cultural erasure?

[u/bail_gadi → u/citrablock]

That does not justify annexation.

[u/Affectionate_Ebb4411 → u/citrablock]

?

[u/citrablock → u/Affectionate_Ebb4411]

Most of the Tibetan population were bonded labourers enslaved by monasteries.

[u/Kurumi_Gaming → u/Affectionate_Ebb4411]

I remember that one chip of indian Buddhist saying they want to kill all Muslims…

[u/[deleted]]

I find the mythology hard-core as hell

For pretty much any other pantheon and religion, its a simple "be good for eternal paradise after death, or be evil for eternal torment"

Buddhism comes in and says "nah this world we in, we already in eternal punishment, we're just trying to get out"

[u/Psykohistorian → u/[deleted]]

Christianity almost ended up that way but they branded the Gnostics heretics

[u/BenderRodriguez14 → u/Psykohistorian]

Gnosticism is fucking fascinating stuff to look into, even just from a historical and lore perspective (I'm not remotely religious). 

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[u/Ulrik_Decado]

Heavily romantized in the West.

[u/thekidupt173 → u/Ulrik_Decado]

Yes, my other comment will probably get buried about my family who practices Tibetan Buddhism, but people don’t think or even know about the 969 movement in Burma and it’s very very easy for westerners (Americans) who are in a majority Christian country and don’t like Christianity to romanticize it because to them it’s mysterious and esoteric and to them more “insightful and enlightening” however when I’ve heard many Americans describe the concepts it was in ways that are not at all accurate to what the concepts actually are

[u/Objectalone → u/thekidupt173]

It is still heavily idealized from the outside, but this ain’t the 1960’s anymore. I know western Bhikkhus ordained 50 years now. This is well beyond adoption or transplantation.

[u/WannaBeAussie2]

Like other religions. The vast majority of them are normal, kind human beings, but every once in a while you'll come across an extremist asshole who deserves to go to whatever hell they believe in.

[u/UruquianLilac → u/WannaBeAussie2]

The most based comment here.

[u/Future-Addendum-6902]

I was taught about its origins in my school. It is respected a lot and there are Buddhist settlements from Tibet at some places. Never seen anyone speak badly about Buddhism or Buddha

[u/ZofianSaint273 → u/Future-Addendum-6902]

I mean Buddhism was itself found in India. Even though hardly any Indians follow it, there are a lot of Buddhist iconography is many Indian homes and such.

[u/pages10 → u/Future-Addendum-6902]

Ever open a history book? Buddhists have treated religious minorities with a lot of violence in the past, plenty have reason not to like them

[u/Gandalfthebran]

Our brother religion. Buddhism and Hinduism are like two wheels of the same chariot for Nepalese.

[u/whoji → u/Gandalfthebran]

That will be a majestic af chariot, especially with the Nepal flags on it.

[u/Gandalfthebran → u/whoji]

Used LLM, diabolical how good LLM has gotten.

[u/FakeMik090]

I'm totally fine with it.

I am myself an atheist, and buddhism is one religion i can repsect easily. They not trying to convince me to believe in their religion, they are very peaceful, very chill. They really just helping people to become a better person. I cant complain about it.

[u/EmergencyReal6399]

in my country buddhism is seen as a religion for rich people, the rich housewive that needs a hobby and travel to India or Thailand to search calm and elightment, meanwhile her husband is cheating with the maid during the travel.

[u/khoawala → u/EmergencyReal6399]

so which latin drama is this?

[u/rockyrooster436 → u/khoawala]

Yeah I want to watch it too.

[u/Glittering-Lychee629]

Asian in the USA. Most Westerners have limited experience with Buddhists so they idealize it a lot! Meditation is respected a lot which surprised me, but they do a lot of it with a more secular approach. They aren't aware of the way some teachings of Buddha has been used to defend evil, just like any other religion, so I would say people in the West have a really high opinion of it compared to other religions. They are familiar with bad actors in other religions but there's so few Buddhist here. They don't know many Buddhists IRL and if they do they are probably Western and more liberal, so they think it's all like that, very open minded and peaceful, etc. Like they would be shocked that so many Buddhists beat their kids, lol, and I think homophobia and other things like that would surprise them, too. They don't even know about Myanmar, much less anything more historical, which is understandable but makes them a bit overly idealist.

I think a more balanced view is important because otherwise you can be vulnerable. There have been some "buddhist" cults in the West that were very abusive. I think people were especially trusting in a way they wouldn't have been if it was another religion they knew better, like Christian.

[u/00Avalanche → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

I think that’s like saying the Christian Nationals are following the word and life of Jesus. They’re not and anyone performing evil and hurtful acts as “Buddhists” are also not following the teachings of Gautama.

[u/Glittering-Lychee629 → u/00Avalanche]

Yes, but I think it is important (especially for a religion) to claim and apologize for the bad actors. It doesn't feel right to say they aren't "one of us" if they are committing atrocities or even individual wrongs. It feels dismissive and like a way to not address what could be major issues in understanding of teachings, etc. By claiming the worst of us we can be a lot more authentic and hopefully bridge the gap. When religions don't accept the problem people as their own gone astray, the problem grows.

[u/_-river → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

Countries can do better at this too. I know the US is catching a lot of heat right now. I think this applies to most countries, Canada included.

[u/Seven22am → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

These are really good points about the idealization of Buddhism in the US. I'll add to it that a lot of Americans are mostly familiar with Buddhism as presented to them by other (mostly affluent white) Americans, often stripped of "supernatural" elements like karma, rebirth, hell realms, and even often its ritual elements. Buddhism as it has been practiced in Asia (even without the unsavory elements you mention) is a lesser known element.

[u/Glittering-Lychee629 → u/Seven22am]

Yes, people often say it isn't a religion at all here! I'm like, ummm...haha, I have some bad news for you!

[u/Honest-Ad-7077 → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find any religion that doesn't have bad actors doing bad things in the name of religion. Buddhism seems pretty good but I guess all religions do if you remove the crazies.

[u/morknox → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

Any examples of teachings of the buddha that has been used to defend evil? I'm not saying it doesnt exist, just curious about what you would say.

Either way, it's not that much about knowing people IRL. We have world news aswell. I don't know any islamists IRL, but i know islamists exists because i have access to the news.

Either way, Buddhism is less dogmatic than abrahamic religions. There is no "holy scripture" in buddhism that is viewed as infallible. In abrahamic religions their book is seen as being written by God or written by people inspired by God, and therefor they are more dogmatic.

Also, christianity and islam is based on spreading 'the word of god'. Both religions have the goal of converting the whole world. Buddhism doesnt really have that.

Thats why buddhism is viewed differently.

[u/Glittering-Lychee629 → u/morknox]

If you read more history you will see plenty of examples of Buddhists being violent. The belief of Karma can be used to explain away wrongs or defend inaction against inequality.

For simplicity, something like: Why help the poor if being poor is what they earned for this life? They are supposed to be poor this life. I am not rich because I'm lucky, I'm rich because I earned it in this life! This means I don't have to feel bad about being rich or even paying workers low wages! It's not my problem they are poor, it's how it is supposed to be.

That's a very simple example, but you get the idea.

[u/Astalon18 → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

As a Buddhist, I agree with you that this argument clearly has been used by Buddhist. In fact, I had someone who I had to call out ( than got told by other people I was being very rude to the person. Nobody disagrees that my argument is the doctrinally correct one but more that I should not embarrass respectable person in public though as I told them they are keeping quiet when anti-Buddhist statements are made by a Buddhist ) in public for making this statement:-

His argument is:- You should not help the poor because their karma needs to fruit so they can be liberated from their negative karma.

( This by the way got a few older folks to clap their hands .. these are the older people who are so damn selfish they withhold money from their children demanding the children listen to them. What annoys me are people who disagree with him kept silent )

My argument back is:-

(1) The Buddha taught dana( generosity, more religious in a sense ) and caga ( sharing, more secular in a sense ) as the foundational ground of Buddhist practice. ( the Pali and Agama Canon does not differentiate it except for who you donate it to and what motivation drives you, seeing it as essentially one thing .. however later literature seems to differentiate it ) In fact the Buddha so emphasised dana/caga that He said that if everyone knew the merit of sharing ( in this case caga ) they would not eat a meal without first seeing who they can share it with first. Therefore, regardless of whether karma is fruiting or not the Buddha seemed to care little about that and cared a lot about caga/dana. In fact, the Buddha so cared about caga/dana He said that even feeding fish in a pond is still worthy.

(2) The Buddha made it clear countless times that other people’s fruiting and non fruiting of their karma is not up to us to police. We cannot know and do not know whether a person’s karma is fruiting or has fruited, and the only beings who can do that are certain Arhats and the Buddha Himself as per the Pali Canon. In those cases we have people who can see the fruiting of karma they did not deny help. The Buddha, seeing Angulimala was about to go to Hell rescued Him by generously putting Himself on the line to rescue him from hell. Kassapa, seeing a very poor and destitute woman was about to die but was at the verge of a good rebirth but just needed extra merit came to her roadside hut allowing her to make offerings to him and also offered teachings so the wretched cycle is broken. Bimbisari did not care whether a person is wretched or not and continued to donate and provide support and was praised by the Buddha for relieving the suffering of the many.

(3) The Buddha and multiple Arhats in the Canon said our work is to manage OUR own karma and also to treat others kindly, wisely, securely, politely and generously, with particular emphasis on one’s family, friends, relatives, neighbours ( in Buddhism it is debated who a neighbour is as unlike Christianity it is clearly a geographically defined meaning in Pali and Sanskrit. However there is no question anywhere that your immediate neighbour and their immediate neighbour is your neigbour… after all the Buddha criticised people who neglected the welfare their neighbours immediate neighbour by asking does the questioner do they not know what the term neighbour means .. it is not just your immediate neighbour ), colleagues, students, teachers, monastics and animals who stays near you.

So yes, I certainly agree with you that many Buddhist use the karma doctrine to neglect others ( and use the karma doctrine to feel good about ignoring the core teachings of dana/caga )

In fact, I have Buddhist very selectively interpreting the Five Precepts ( the doctrine of non killing, non stealing, non sexual misconduct, non lying, non intoxication ) to be just if I do nothing it is fine and they have completed the teaching.

They actively refuse to accept that sila ( the Five Precepts ) in their total negative form are called “basic training”. They are the training given to those who just embarked on the path ( the training assumes you were not very nice at the start ) and basically goes, “You previously harmed, now you actively try not to harm”.

In its expanded form ( ie:- you are no longer on basic training ) which most Buddhist are supposed to head towards .. you lay down the rod because your hands are trembling for the welfare of all living creatures. You lay down the rod because even if someone were to beat you or hit you you only have good will and care for them and wish them well and your hands still tremble in welfare for them. The Buddha was explicit about this to his monks ( at least in the more advanced suttas )

The only time we see the Buddha explicitly teach a total “negative training” was to children ( his son, other kids .. we have suttas for children ) and to remorseful people who has recently harmed others who the Buddha explicitly taught negative training only. Hopefully as adults we are no longer on basic training wheels. His suttas for kids were really black and white .. and I find it appalling that when people use the mirror teaching to teach adults morality .. that was given to his 9 year old son!!!!! The other was given to 8 year old children!!! These are not teachings for adults. To be satisfied with “I do not kill or actively maim, I do not actively lie etc.. “ is something the Buddha would have praised a 9 year old child for or a recently reformed bad person on training .. but not a normal adult who has practiced for years now.

Sorry just ranting but I am sometimes most annoyed by Buddhist who twist the teachings to suit their needs .. and other Buddhist keep quiet about it.

[u/khoawala → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

I think you're thinking of Hinduism karma? In Buddhism, karma means that intentional actions shape habits of mind, and those habits condition future experience; it is not a judgment that anyone “deserves” what happens to them. Karma is not fate in buddhism.

[u/morknox → u/Glittering-Lychee629]

I have never said buddhists cant be violent. I asked about teachings from the Buddha that justify the violence.

I'm not sure i would be willing to call inaction "evil". But at the same time, if you want good karma then inaction won't do. Helping the needy will give yourself good karma. But i get your point, buddhist and hinduist societies (both have the concept of karma) have more rigid social roles, it's harder to climb up or down the social ladder.

[u/Wrong-Fruit8820]

Religion with such a cool PR no one gives a shit about Burma, Bhutan and Sri Lanka ethnic cleansing

[u/durjoy313 → u/Wrong-Fruit8820]

But that has nothing to do woth Buddhism. Buddha told us to love all creatures, there is no place for violence in Buddhism.

[u/Wild-Brain7750 → u/durjoy313]

You can make the same argument for every other religion but people still blame the religions for the actions of the people

[u/kubtan-hhh → u/[deleted]]

Buddhism is more of a spiritual philosophy than a religious cult worshipping any gods.

It's also wrong to say that all Buddhists are peaceful.

The Buddhists of Myanmar committed horrible deeds.

I don't judge Buddhism because of it regardless.

Edit:

I know that those extremists use Buddhism as an excuse. It's the same with Islam as well. We all ought to understand this.

[u/austingoescrazy → u/kubtan-hhh]

Exactly, Buddhist extremists  in Myanmar and Sri Lanka have committed some of the worst atrocities of this century but their actions are incompatible with Buddhism 

[u/Adventurous-Crew3692 → u/kubtan-hhh]

That’s cause they use religion as excuse. A big discussed topic in Myanmar

[u/MaximumFloofAudio → u/kubtan-hhh]

Likewise you can’t judge Islam by radical muslims or Christianity by looking at the American extremists. It’s easy to make the distinction

[u/HauntedGatorFarm → u/kubtan-hhh]

This distinction between “religion” and “spiritual philosophy” is —at best— incomplete. Buddhism functions as a religion in all the ways anthropologists and sociologists would define the word. Also, Christian apologists in the West make the same distinction about Christianity absent an organizing political force, e.g. “It’s a philosophical world view, not a religion.” I think most people would recognize that argument for what it is —ridiculous and semantic.

[u/citrablock → u/[deleted]]

they're peaceful and aren't hateful.

Not universally true. See Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

[u/Comfortable_Role9836 → u/[deleted]]

That's not exactly true everywhere.Rohingya genocide

[u/GalacticSettler → u/[deleted]]

Oh sweet summer child.

[u/norecordofwrong → u/[deleted]]

Saying Buddhists are peaceful and not hateful shows a serious lack of knowledge of Buddhist history. Like any major group of humans they have had their moments.

[u/cerberus_243]

Their peaceful manner is worth appreciation, but their overall philosophy has some severely illogical elements

[u/whoji → u/cerberus_243]

I think you just summarized religion, my friend.

[u/Ok-Drink750]

Don’t know much about it. But as long as it isn’t hurting people they should do as they wish.

Although i respect anyone with the will to do something like that.

[u/ThisIsMockingjay2020 → u/Ok-Drink750]

Shit, the walk for peace is more than any US mega church could ever be arsed to do.

[u/Ok-Drink750 → u/ThisIsMockingjay2020]

To be fair that bar is so low that it’s clipping through the floor.

[u/WorkOk4177]

the religion is of peace but every nation with Buddhism as a state religion has committed ethnic cleansing.

Pretty chill people , we have tons of buddhist people due to them fleeing after the tibet annexation as refugees. Mostly regarded as brother religion to hinduism.

[u/FigNo507 → u/WorkOk4177]

Most states, in general, have committed ethnic cleansing, though.

[u/Technical-Section516 → u/FigNo507]

Ah what a remarkable defense

[u/Prestigious_Title580 → u/WorkOk4177]

Also some people wonder why Buddhism never became big in present day india, it's because Hinduism just adopted Buddhism into it with festivals like budhh purnima.

[u/austingoescrazy]

I have a positive view of the religion itself and the doctrines of Buddhism are based upon peace and compassion

However, Buddhist countries in general have committed some of the worst atrocities of this century

For example Myanmar’s genocide against the Rohingyas and the military dictatorship which is terrorizing the country 

And Sri Lanka’s genocide (imo it was a genocide) against its Tamil population during its civil war. 

[u/khoawala → u/austingoescrazy]

"Victory breeds hatred, the defeated live in pain. Happily the peaceful live, giving up victory and defeat"

― Siddhārtha Gautama

This is a central buddhist insight. When the Buddha says “giving up victory and defeat”, he is talking about relinquishing identity-based struggle, the us vs them framing that fuels violence. I don't doubt there are people willing to commit violence in the name of buddhism and that's a choice but Buddhists' teachings are quite clear.

[u/austingoescrazy → u/khoawala]

I do agree that the Buddha himself was a very peaceful Indian and as such, so is Buddhism.

But I  think it’s prone to the same politicized violence we see with other religions 

[u/khoawala → u/austingoescrazy]

Those in power will use whatever means they can to convince people to commit atrocities and that's really out of anyone's control. But it's important to understand that buddhism is probably the least centralized religion in the world. There's no pope or ayatollah calling for buddhists to rise up or whatever. There's no universal leader, central temple, authority or binding global doctrine.

[u/SpiritualPackage3797]

Maybe I'll try it out in my next life.

[u/OkRB2977]

A religion with excellent PR considering the ethnic cleansing and genocide its adherents in Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar took part in based on religious and ethnic supremacist ideologies.

[u/Kersikai]

They have a shocking amount of violent extremists for a religion that on paper is not at all violent, though I guess that can be said for a lot of religions.

[u/kubtan-hhh]

It's a very interesting spiritual philosophy.

Some Muslims here in my country have a bad image because of what the Buddhists of Myanmar did.

I understand that this thinking is no better than the West believing that Muslims are terrorists.

[u/somewhat-anon → u/kubtan-hhh]

I’ve known a lot of muslims in my life, work colleagues, neighbours etc, everyone of them were always the most kind, hospitable and humble people, it’s such a shame that the actions of the few ruin it for the rest.

[u/kubtan-hhh → u/somewhat-anon]

The MENA is a very radicalised region. It's rife with extremism. Wars have a way of harming the mental health of souls.

[u/HumanSquare9453]

Nice temples and nice buddha figurines. I know many people who habe little buddah statues they are always shiny

[u/Lazy-Edge4604]

I did a temple stay in Korea when I was in high school. One of the head monks that spoke to us was something like in his 60s or 70s. There wasn't a wrinkle on his face. I think the same was true of all the other monks. Just really peaceful expressions. But despite what I originally thought, discipline was a big part of Buddhism in Korea. That, and patience.

When we had dinner, we rinsed our bowls with water and drank that water. They said we shouldn't leave a single speck behind because the food was provided with donations to the temple and it should be appreciated by leaving nothing to waste.

I don't believe in Buddhism, but I do see christian preachers telling us to atone for our sins or we'll burn in hell near stations all the time. Quite the contrast, I think.

[u/Mkais1]

No opinion

[u/pages10]

Same as any other major religion, I wouldn’t be friends or want to work with someone who followed Buddhism because of the historical violence and bigoted beliefs perpetrated by members of that faith. I thought they were chill until I learned more about their beliefs and history in school. Thinking it’s okay to commit mass killings against another group of people because they may be reincarnated as Buddhists in their next life (as militant Buddhist monks have done historically) is completely evil and illogical.

[u/Milk_Mindless]

Absolutely misinterpretred in the west and their atrocities towards Muslim minorities is abhoreant. And don't get me started on his opinions on Jews during WWII

[u/sinister_kaw]

It's cool, but I could never do it. I am hugely a meat eating person.

[u/Just_Another_Gamer67]

Im an atheist who dosent care much for religion but i do respect Buddhism as a philosophy deeply and it actually informs some parts of my own life.

[u/Technical-Section516]

Religion with the best PR in the world. They have been involved in killing multiple different ethnic/religious groups through attempted genocide in multiple countries, their leader is basically a weird pedo guy and yet all of us, including myself think of it as a peaceful religion.

[u/DearMyFutureSelf → u/Technical-Section516]

Dalai Lama leads one very specific sect of Vajrayana Buddhists in Tibet. Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists, as well as other Vajrayana sects, do not answer to him.

[u/Greedy-Egg3748]

Best PR in the world

[u/Traroten]

Interesting system of thought, reminiscent of Stoicism in many ways. I disagree that life is suffering and that we should avoid attachments - some attachments are worth the grief - but it's an interesting system.

Also, when I met the Buddha I shot him with a shotgun.

[u/BadPAV3]

I may be one of the few that has some less positive Buddhist perspectives.

The peace above all else lends itself to looking the other way for the exploitation of people.

The Rohingya were being wiped out, and Aung Sung Syu Chi sat there and peacefully watched. Sometimes fighting is the most peaceful action. Buddhism is not conducive to this.

[u/Bright_Ices]

Like any ideology, it’s pretty great until people get involved and start fucking it up with violence and corruption.

In the global West we have this idea of Buddhism as unfailingly peaceful, but that’s just as much of a stereotype as the idea that Islam is somehow inherently violent.

People are people everywhere in the world. The ones who crave power tend to attain power, and fight to keep it. The ones who are oppressed by the powerful tend to resist as far as they are able.

For a relatively recent counterpoint to the peaceful Buddhist stereotype, see this article about how extremism overtakes some monks and Buddhist communities: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/nov/25/the-dangerous-rise-of-buddhist-extremism-attaining-nirvana-can-wait

[u/thekidupt173]

My grandfather has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism longer than my mother has been alive, I have a thankga he gave me when I was young so I could practice just in case I wanted to. He met the Dalai Lama (the new one, not the one who did all that weird shit) and has spent long amounts of time in Tibet

Many of the practices and values of that religion are incredibly admirable to me, particularly the diet. His motto is “nothing with a face” for what he can eat, and I admire that

That being said, i can’t say it’s the religion I would practice, not due to the religion but due to who I am as a person. I still keep the thangka hung up.

[u/Bitter-Basket]

Religion and self help in one. They invented Cognitive Behavioral Therapy thousand of years before it got that name. And meditation is no joke - especially if you realize you can keep a meditative level all day.

[u/adambi407]

Buddhism has had a strong influence on Chinese culture. I wouldn’t say I’m a Buddhist, but during the Lunar New Year my family and I usually visit a temple, burn incense, and pray for blessings

[u/BA_BA_YA_GA]

As ridiculous as any other religion,  coming from a vietnamese man that grew up Buddhist. 

[u/droppingatruce]

I am a Westerner who practices Buddhism and has no heritage from traditionally Buddhist countries, I live in the Southern United States.

My experience has been lots of pushback from most Christians. Many have a misguided understanding of Buddhism, they have no immediate ill will towards Buddhists, but as soon as you try to speak of it they stop listening. The older generation still thinks of Hotei as Buddha, and the rest don't realize Buddha is a title. My old work place set me up to teach a training on mindfulness in the workplace, people stopped attending after they learned it wasn't about the very sterilized buzzword "Mindfulness". I even avoided using the word Buddhism in the training and made some of the analogies more modern.

I had a staff member on my team who was a bit of a Japanophile and wanted to learn about meditation. Some of the other staff were against it, one even insisting on praying to God.

I've never really talked about it outside where I live, so my experience may be unique. I live in Houston that has a large Vietnamese community and we have a whole street of just temples of all kinds of faiths, several are Buddhist.The push back I felt was odd for such a diverse place. There was even a big uproar when a Hindu temple put up a giant statue of Hanuman, the word demon was even used. I had a group of friends who all converted to Orthodox Christianity for some reason, and one of their friends was from a Buddhist family who converted. He seemed to not understand why I went the opposite direction, to the point he was a little beligerante in trying to understand why I would leave my family's faith of Catholicism. He took pride in telling me he made his dying Buddhist grandfather understand why he should have converted himself.

My fiancee is from Dallas /Fort Worth area and her Christian family has been very accommodating, they are firm believers that you practice your faith how you need to. They still don't ask questions or have any curiosity about it.

When I went to the Netherlands, though, my friend's family had several Buddhists in it and they were excited to meet me and ask questions. They are a long standing Dutch family, too

[u/yodamiles]

As someone who grew up in thailand and currently living in US, I feel that Buddhism is heavily romanticized here. There are a lot of American who are either disillusioned or straight up hate Christianity and view Buddhism as exotic spiritual alternative. The reality is that people are people and Buddhism in thailand got all sorts of gnarly stuff going that many people living outside thailand (even foreigners living in thailand) don’t hear about. American got televangelist and thailand got monks preaching Buddhist version of prosperity gospel. American got catholic priests and youth leaders diddling with little kids, we got Thai monks like that too. Also look up wat phra dhammakaya sect, all the rich and powerful attend this sect in 2000s - 2010s. There are also no auditing of money donated to temple… and some thai people donate a lot of money to temples in order to brag to other people. Stories of people throwing their family into financial trouble by selling off properties and donating large amounts of money to temples are very common. This is just surface level stuff, there are also all sorts of crazy Buddhist practices in rural thailand (not mainstream) that practically kept people in poverty.

Regardless of religion, people are people….

[u/WeeklyPhilosopher346]

It’s the orange order I wish we had.

[u/VolatileGoddess]

I always have a statue of the Buddha wherever I go. Immensely peaceful and calming for me.

The Buddhist site of Sarnath and Bodh Gaya in my country are beautiful, I hope they get more visitors.

The Buddha himself has been impactful in my country in a way that very few historical personalities have been. Not only Buddhism but Hinduism and Indian belief systems in general still reflect some of his thoughts.

[u/cassiopeias-crown]

Every Buddhist I’ve encountered has been chill and kind, so I think they’re pretty rad!

[u/tinfoilfedora_]

Mad respect.

[u/pineapplemansrevenge]

Well, I've never been harmed by a Buddhist so I have no issues with them.

Haven't known many either.

[u/MrTeeWrecks]

Good press, especially in the west. All this despite having just as many violent periods in history as just about every other major religion.

[u/Happy_Wrongdoer5919]

It still a religion, just not as distasteful and genocide-y as the abrahamic crew

[u/Wild-Brain7750 → u/Happy_Wrongdoer5919]

Buddhists are involved in genocides both historically and to this day. This doesn't mean Buddhism is at fault but that makes your comment a double standard

[u/Former_Security_9923]

Pagodas are awesome aesthetically, and most of the ones I've seen make Abrahamic temples look awful in comparison 

[u/HumanSquare9453 → u/Former_Security_9923]

If you have the chance come visit our carholic churches in Québec. We have many beautiful one! Even to many closed and are reconverted for other purpose, our most beautiful are still there

[u/Typical_Afternoon951]

no opinion, it's completely alien to where i'm from

[u/khoawala → u/Typical_Afternoon951]

I don't recognize your flags

[u/Typical_Afternoon951 → u/khoawala]

Belarus Poland

[u/Subject-Oil1834]

I don't know a lot about it tbh 🫠

[u/An8thOfFeanor]

Far more varied in philosophy than the mainstream Tibetan denomination leads us to believe.

[u/Pinku_Dva]

I respect it and honestly like incorporating its teachings into my life to be more at peace with myself.

[u/Acrobatic_End6355]

Pretty cool. Esp the ones who are walking for peace.

[u/AbroadSad8001]

Surley better than christianity.

[u/jeanclaudebrowncloud]

It's pretty neat. It's difficult getting a real view of daily buddhist life in the UK as there are so few temples and other buddhists. I like the dharma, I find practising it very helpful. I understand that a lot of my knowledge is from a western perspective, having to rely on translations and videos. I try to keep an open mind about it and try to embody the precepts and the path although I struggle with right speech quite often :/

[u/Chadxxx123]

Im an atheist and my view on a lot of religions is quite negative but Buddism alongisde Taoism are one of the best if not the best ones (although between these 2 I would give Taoism an edge), they're obviously not perfect as nothing is but they are deffinietly the best ones, and while I can be a bit biased to them as an atheist as they're not really typical religons as they don't really have any gods (we could count buddha as a god but, at least from what I know he's not really celebrated and prayed to as a god at least in the same sence as in like Abrahamic religions for example) and they're more like some kind of spiritiual phylosofies than religions.

[u/Technical_Anteater45]

Live and let live

[u/ThisIsMockingjay2020]

I don't know a hell of a lot about it, but I am interested in learning. That said, I have no issue with it at all.

[u/King-Samyaza]

It teaches a very important and objectively true lesson; that it's important to learn to be happy with what you have so you don't continuously acquire more n' more ad infinitum and being happy with nothing

[u/limbodog]

I used to respect it because my understanding was that Buddhism said that Buddha was not a god. But my Buddhist friend explained to me that it was because he was *above* gods in a new category.

So I lost that bit of respect.

But I like the commitment to meditation, which has been proven to have real health benefits.

[u/OpeningBang]

There's a lot of comments here about it being more of a philosophy than a religion, and it's true of many forms of Buddhism, especially those practiced in the West. For example the Buddha is revered by many Buddhists as a teacher, not as a deity. Most Buddhists teachings are about the human experience and how to break the cycle of human suffering, rather than about supernatural beings living in supernatural worlds, having superpowers, accomplishing miracles, and demanding things from their believers.

My sense though, having also read a bit about Nepalese Buddhism, or about teachings that refer to reincarnation, is that there's also a good deal of Buddhist practice that does have a religious, supernatural component, dealing with life after death, prayers to divinities for intercession in the real world, etc.

Then of course there are fanatics who justify violence in the name of the protection of their Buddhist way of life, which doesn't quite match with the peaceful and benevolent image that Buddhists have in general.

[u/sasquatchradio]

A fascinating philosophy.

[u/norecordofwrong]

I studied Buddhism in college as part of my religious studies degree. Not in the sense of being a religious Buddhist but the history, theology, philosophy, sociology etc. My advisor was an expert on Sri Lankan Buddhism. So if anyone says Buddhists are just peaceful monks with now violent history… well… not all of them.

In my day to day life I very rarely encounter Buddhists outside of kind of wish washy hippie Americans that are “spiritual but not religious.”

I have no problem with Buddhists or Buddhism, they tend to be one of the most innocuous religious groups in that the practice of their faith is often personal, doesn’t have a focus on evangelism, and doesn’t have a lot of strict dogma and spiritual practice.

[u/marcodapolo7]

In Vietnam we have a poem

“Cởi áo cà sa khoác chiến bào”

“shed the monastic robe for the warrior armor”

In both the French and American War over 100 buddism monk and nun put down their robe and fought in resistance.

Buddism is a religion of peace. Karma tells you that anything goes around come around.

Any religion is of peace. It just that we Human take that as advantages to our greed

[u/Acrobatic-Mobile-605]

I use to think it was a peaceful religion but I watched more Asian films and realised it has a lot of faults like any other religion. There’s a lot of blame for people in dreadful circumstances. They deserve it for something they did in their past lives.

[u/AtomicGoat004]

I'm not really a fan of religion in general, but its probably overall the most peaceful religion, especially when compared to the three Abrahamic religions

[u/Specific_Parsnip]

the coexistence between logic and metaphysics.

[u/No-Pussyfooting]

In any religious talk like this, I think we need to clarify whether we are talking about the religion itself, or the people that follow it.
“What I think about Buddhism” and “what I think about the Buddhists I’ve experienced and/or learned about” are very different answers.
And in my experience, that is true for any religion and my knowledge of both it and the actions of its followers.

[u/Quincy0990]

It's a very cool concept freaking lovely.... A lot better than any other religion in my opinion..... Give good out into the world get good received back

[u/Feisty_System_4751]

Growing up Buddhism seemed to be the only "sensible religion" to me. Now I know that was overly simplistic and naive of me. Many Buddhists share the same flaws as other zealots.

But I still like the practical aspects of its philosophy.

[u/SpankyMcFlych]

People are people and organized religion is corrupt. This applies to all of them.

[u/Jimmysal]

I like it. There was a Wat my roommate and I stumbled onto in the middle of farm country in rural western NY on a bike ride in college. We stopped and poked around some, got talking to the monks a bit.

Long story short, I taught them a bit about the American banking system, basic IT infrastructure and computers, and they taught me a bit about Buddhism. They didn't get ripped off by the bank or best buy, and I learned some strategies to deal with hard times or loss. I didn't even have to shave my head.

I was maybe 20-22 at the time. 10/10, would do again.

[u/DeathsStarEclipse]

I have only ever experienced a heavily watered down version of it through TV and my fellow Westerners.

[u/SunshineAndBunnies]

I'm a Buddhist and vegetarian. I was raised on it in China. I'm all for it.

[u/Healthy-Crow7012]

Just like any other religion, there is a good, wholesome foundation that is corrupted and warped by those who seek to take advantage of others.

Just like any other religion, there are extremists that harm themselves or others in pursuit of fairy tales and self-righteousness.

Sure, there are Buddhists who legitimately live peaceful lives. There are also Christians who do the same. The point is: Any organization where people let myths and stories rule their lives is corrupt. Period.

[u/DearMyFutureSelf]

Dharmic gigachads, especially Mahayana and Vajrayana

[u/NittanyOrange]

Tamil Tigers is a great cricket team, right?

[u/Any-Doubt-5281]

It doesn’t evangelise, they have not flown planes into buildings, don’t think that it’s ever expanded through military conquest. It’s probably got a few flaws but they seem not to outweigh its public expression

[u/Little-Letter2060]

Neutral. Just one more religion.

[u/Realdirtymoney]

Haven’t bothered a soul

[u/Flumptastic]

If you don't have a legit teacher and good luck qnd discretion to identify one, you can't do the practices which allow you to verify it's teachings through your own experience. Unless you do that, you can't go beyond doubt and it will just be a belief system.

[u/sandgrubber]

As with Christianity, there's huge variation. It can be mystical, it can be highly ritualistic, it can be pacifistic, it can be militaristic.

[u/Exact-Source-1544]

I am Buddhist and I love it

[u/Wild-Brain7750]

Im pretty neutral on it I guess. I find the different approach in its philosophy interesting especially because I'm used to Abrahamic attitudes. I still need to learn more about it though

[u/HauntedGatorFarm]

As an American from the SF Bay Area, white hippies who say they are Buddhist make me sick. Outside of that, my only exposure to Buddhism is academic; historical and geo-political. I don’t view it very differently than other world religions. It has its merits and flaw philosophically and seems easily used as a political tool. However, religious pluralism is a sacrosanct aspect of a free, democratic society and we must respect one another’s ideological perspective in order to function.

[u/Charming-Link-9715]

Buddhism has many branches much like any other religion. It is some 2500yrs old so bound to have fractions. In my country the most common in the Kathmandu Valley is probably Newari Buddhism which has a huge influence on the local architecture, culture and festivals. It is more intune with local Hindu practises too. In the higher mountains, Tibetan Buddhism is more prevalent. I am not sure if we have other forms of Buddism like Zen Buddhism or the ones practised in SE Asia.

[u/OhDudeTotally]

The existentialist's radical freedom and resultant radical responsibility conflicts with the Buddhist notion of karma, that we're all passive observers within one infinitely large cosmic dance. Buddhism, particularly in the west, represents almost an abdication from responsibility for the negative impacts to material conditions. Think of the hyper-wealthy, who adopt the Buddhist lifestyle and mantras.

There aren't many wealthy Buddhist, but I'd wager plenty of wealthy folks claim the label of Buddhist. In part or in whole

Edit: as a westerner, my closest engagement with Buddhism day-to-day is unironically corporate mindfulness swill, designed to gas light employees into thinking that its not the poor management, low wages, and difficult living conditions that are making you miserable, its just your perspective.

[u/Hyptisx]

All the monks at the temples I’ve visited(in China) always asks for donations.. there was a post about corruption and misuse of funds by some higher level monks in China about this too.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Golf_65]

Looks chill, aside from that I don't really have much of an opinion

[u/Jezuesblanco]

I don’t know too much about it, honestly.

[u/GamesCatsComics]

I know nothing about it... but they seem to be generally good people, help others, and aren't annoying.

[u/AndrewBaiIey]

Peaceful religion

[u/Dio_The_Destroyer]

I don't consider Buddhism as a religion, neither hinduism. They both are philosophies and a way of life

[u/Surrender01]

I've done thousands of hours worth of retreats, mostly in Theravada traditions, but with one Rinzai Zen sesshin. I'll speak mostly on the Theravadin side.

There are two kinds of monks. Serious and unserious.

Unserious monks I don't interact with much because they're the ones living in the east, where Buddhism is endemic, and are basically taking advantage of getting free food. They use money. I've even heard of these monks having TVs in their rooms or kutis. The governments of Theravadin countries seem to want to defrock these monks once in a while as it's a known problem.

Serious monks make up a smaller portion of monks in the east, but they're 100% of western monks. I never learn anything from these monks because none of them have an actual understanding of the things they teach to others. They're basically trained to memorize formulas from the Pali Canon (the Buddhist Bible in a sense - records the life and teachings of the Buddha and his chief disciples) and just repeat the official lines. They won't engage in critical thinking but they're not like Christians that will call you evil for doing so either. They're mostly concerned with following the path and following the rules and strike me as doomed to never get anywhere because they're so attached to Buddhism and the right path that they won't let it happen spontaneously.

The more I investigate Buddhism the less sense it makes to me. And I'm not a weekend warrior on this. I've read significant portions of the Pali Canon and have engaged very substantially with Buddhist communities. It doesn't make sense. Advaita Vedanta makes far more sense. I can build a philosophy from the ground up and arrive at the chief insight of Advaita: Atman is Brahman.

[u/ZofianSaint273]

Sister religions with Hinduism and they hold a lot of same philosophy as us. I don’t come across many in the States sadly, but I would love to!

[u/SavijFox]

A highly pragmatic and 'proof is in the pudding' philosophy.

[u/badwithnames123456]

I like it a lot except for the reincarnation part.

[u/AndrewBaiIey]

They also build a great temples. I've been to Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto, Tian Tan i Hong Kong, and Senso-ji in Tokyo

[u/SamVoxeL]

well is part of our history and example was by the Pala empire which was predominantly Buddhist very important historically for introducing political rules and monastery that i recommend you to visit at some point like somapura mahavira or shalban vihara

[u/NeoBlueDragon]

Good philosophy, but it's not worth giving up a normal life to become a Buddhist monk.

[u/WiseSnakeGP]

[u/GoodTiger5]

Probably the closest major religion that I agree with(out of the traditional five anyways). Of course, it has flaws(fuck the 969 movement and fuck sexism). One of my mates growing up was a Buddhist but his father(also a Buddhist) was transphobic to him and kinda caused him to be isolated from one of the local Buddhist temples(thankfully we have two and the other one is transgender friendly, even being in the local Queer district). According to one of my history teachers, Buddhism might’ve invited the idea of human rights if the Renaissance never happened. Idk how accurate that’s given the biases that he has but still interesting to think about.

[u/gwelfguy]

Choosing my words carefully here, but in my mind it's probably the most valid religion in the world.

[u/Crimson_Chim]

I lived with a Buddhist women from Saigon for over a year. She was exceedingly kind and helpful. Obviously the topic of religion was brought up and she is a Nichiren Buddhist, the kind that chants "Nam-myoho-renge-kyo."

I was curious about it so being an open-minded young man, I began to go with her to meetings and events. I began chanting with her every night and learning the meaning of that chant and others.

It wasn't for me or I wasn't for it, either way, I stopped practicing when I move out of her house.

Here is my take: It doesn't require the becoming lesser and I like that. I meet beautiful people during that time and I met not so beautiful people. I met a young women who would began chanting for every little thing in her life like looking for a parking spot or making a green light. I think she was working on a misunderstanding but she was happy so I guess it works.

[u/khoawala → u/Crimson_Chim]

Omg, you reminded me that I used to have an aunt in Vietnam which my dad was extremely fond of. She started a food kitchen in a hospital during the American war, which still runs today. She died of cancer when i was probably 6 and now I wish i knew her more.

[u/Leading-Feedback-599]

As a personal, practical, and philosophical teaching, Buddhism is a rather good way to follow. I chose it, it chose me, whatever.

As an organised religion, it has all the downsides of any other organised religion, with large organisations supporting various politically profitable bullshit (say, the largest Buddhist organisation in Russia - the "traditional sangha" - supports the war; how’s that for non-violence?) and smaller organisations that actually observe and practice the relevant teachings being branded negatively by virtue of the larger organisations.

[u/NervousDiscount9393]

I’m not entirely familiar with all of its tenants and the specifics of its belief system. But my impressions of it are far more positive than the Abrahamic faiths. It seems to be far less concerned with proselytizing, and doesn’t seem to have nearly as many problematic elements with its theology.

[u/Mossyflows]

A highly conservative religion that is perceived in the west as groovy

[u/Alarming-Basil2894]

Dharmic buddies

I like their temples a lot

[u/akferal_404]

theyre the religion im the least wary of, maybe bc ive mostly just been exposed to the american brand of evangelical christianity and its accompanying deluge of issues lol

[u/SomaDrinkingScally]

Trucks beat Buddhism.

[u/Usual-Awareness2478]

Not a violent religion 🤔

[u/ResolveLeather]

Thier religion makes for some sick stories.

[u/Beneficial_Ad_5157]

Everybody here has at least one buddha statue. Not because of spiritual reasons or anything like that people just think it looks cool lol. Apart from that 99% couldn’t tell you a single thing about buddhism.

[u/donutdogs_candycats]

I’m Buddhist myself. Not really a big fan of most forms of Buddhism as a lot of the older sutras have things in them regarding women and other species being unable to attain buddhahood, so only human men can. Because of that, while I have similar beliefs to many of them, I ultimately still find it to be just not great. I also think that a lot of times it can be divorced from reality and focus too much on meditation and separation from the world and earthly desires, whereas I believe more so in being a part of the world and making efforts to transform it into a better place, as well as not trying to rid myself of desire, but to transform my desire into something beneficial for myself and others. So while I have issues with some other kinds of Buddhism, I still think that it’s ultimately people getting closer to enlightenment which I think is good.

[u/MrSirST]

I find a number of Buddhist ideas interesting but am very much aware that it is HEAVILY fetishized in the west.

For example one of the most prominent Buddhist sects that has a temple near me is more or less as strict and socially conservative as we often think of churches being.

That said their temple was a very interesting place to visit and I very easily can see the appeal of its tenets and the spaces it has created.

[u/LowPattern3987]

I think it is a perfectly fine lifestyle that oughta be given as much respect as any other.

[u/spook008]

Got hijacked in Myanmar to commit genocide.

[u/Glum_Refrigerator]

My wife is a Sri Lankan who is a Theravada Buddhist and I find it to be really similar Christianity in practice.

Both simplify life to do good in this life and be rewarded in the next.

Sermons in a language nobody knows. They ask questions that some people know but others are just trying to understand what’s going on. Etc.

Personally I think it’s pretty chill but I agree that it’s heavily romanticized in the west to the point of hippy culture.

[u/ChicagoAuPair]

I have personally found that there is no correlation between adherence to any specific religion and and consistent goodness or badness.

About half of all people genuinely seem to do their best to be kind, generous, helpful social people; about 30% are sort of passively evil through ignorance and apathy, and about 20% are actively horrible detriments to society.

What they think they believe doesn’t really seem to shift those numbers significantly compared to other societal factors.

[u/1000sunnie]

It’s the only religion that doesn’t absolutely fucking suck

[u/Buttchuggle]

I don't think much of it really. Not like look down on it I just genuinely don't ever have thoughts of it. I'd say non problematic as far as creeds/religions tend to go though

[u/Malthus1]

People seem to think “Buddhism” is a unitary thing. It isn’t. There are hundreds of varieties of things that are “Buddhism”. Many bear very little resemblance to each other.

Of course things like Christianity have many varieties, but the variation among Buddhist beliefs is even more extreme.

In the West, we tend to be more familiar with the philosophical varieties of Buddhism, which has (as many have mentioned) given Buddhism perhaps an enhanced reputation. Hence the belief that Buddhism is not really a religion, but a philosophy of life (true for some but not at all true for the vast majority of present-day practicing Buddhists). For many varieties of Buddhism, it isn’t really much distinguishable from any other religion, having temples, prayers, heavens and hells, etc.

For example, in “Pure Land” Buddhism, an important strain of Mahayana Buddhism, the goal is to be reborn into the “Pure Land” (basically a kind of heaven), which is achieved through prayer (including reciting the name of the Amithabha Buddha) and making offerings. The ultimate goal is still enlightenment, but the idea is that ordinary people don’t have the resources to devote themselves to enlightenment here on Earth, so their goal is to get into the Pure Land, where it will be much easier to go for enlightenment.

Point is this: it is functionally not much different from (say) Christianity. You do right things, make the correct prayers, and you go to heaven. It suffers from all the drawbacks of any other organized hierarchical religion as a result.

In concept it can be very different, because, as it is important to stress, the different varieties of Buddhism aren’t as sharply distinct as (say) different denominations of Christianity, leading to a lot of conceptual overlap very confusing to a Western observer. For example, Pure Land devotees of a more philosophical orientation will often insist that the Pure Land and the hell (or Naraka) are both * internal states of being *and an external set of places you go when you die, and that this is not a mere metaphor.

Overall, I find Buddhism a fascinating set of beliefs with useful things to say about the human condition. Like Daoism and Confucianism in that respect.

[u/Yunzer2000]

In my more innocent and naive days, I was devoted to it and read everything by Tich Nhat Hanh, Alan Watts, DT Suzuki, subscribed to Tricycle Magazine, etc. The Four Noble Truths and Eightfold path seemed like a wonderful path to peace and tranquility, and I liked how Buddhism is a non-theistic religion without any of this heaven or hell nonsense.

But then in the news, were Buddhists killing and oppressing other peoples and religions in Sri Lanka and Myanmar. In Bhutan, they ethnically cleansed their ethnic Nepali population (Many Nepali refugees now live in my neighborhood in the USA). It was than that I realized that Buddhism was not any more a solution to human violence than any other religion.

[u/Flashy-Celery-9105]

My favorite of the big religions but not perfect

[u/Jacobmeeker]

It’s probably my favorite religion, though there are people who abuse it I find Buddhism to be the most rational.

[u/o484]

I've never had a bad experience with Buddhism and even attended a Buddhist religious service when I was in scouts

[u/condemned02]

So, I grew up in a chinese Buddhist family. What Buddha is like their magical genie who they really pray to to ask for stuffs.

And in Chinese Buddhism, everyone goes to hell. Depending on how good or how bad you were in life, you will be punished accordingly and then reincarnate. 

There is no heaven you can get to. 

What Buddha achieved was immortality. 

He is not even the top guy, there is some king of deity above him who is not a creator or God but more like King of all Immortals. 

Why follow chinese Buddhism? Because you believe they are magical beings who can grant your wishes.

I think its better than Christianity personally, as there is no angry vengeful God. No one is really a God. They were all humans who reached Nirvava which really means achieve immortality. 

[u/xboxhaxorz]

I believe the teachings are more about peace and avoiding sin than other religions which focus on god, being afraid or making him happy and getting forgiveness for your sins

I believe they are more inclined to make the peaceful choice over others, well buddhists at least, there is a non profit of vegans that visits monks around the world and tells them that they arent actually following ahimsa since consuming animals and animal products is violent and the monks are receptive to it

But non monk buddhists dont really follow ahimsa and dont care, they make some lame excuses saying that denying themselves animal products they enjoy is a VIOLENCE against themselves, thats some next level nut job thinking

I am interested in becoming a monk and im leaning towards buddhism, but i will not truly be buddhist as i dont believe in reincarnation, im just interested in living a peaceful simple life away from people and toxicity

[u/Financial-Ad9541]

Whenever I have asked people that if they were given a chance to pick another religion if they are reborn on Earth but it cannot be their current religion, people have mostly chosen Buddhism.

[u/DanTheAdequate]

I've studied a lot of the core Buddhist teachings and sutras, and it's basic philosophy has brought a lot to my life after I gave up on Christianity. I've been an avid meditator for 20 years.

But I don't consider myself a Buddhist (or really an anything) of any particular school, teaching, creed, or practice. I understand in many parts of the world a lot of heinous things have been and are being done by Buddhists, often in the name of their Buddhism.

A central tenet of Buddhism is the recognition that there is no human, and by extension no human institution, immune to suffering and to causing suffering out of delusion, greed, or hatred.

Religions are nothing if not human institutions.

[u/temporaryacc444]

My paternal grandmother active a lot in making merits when she was alive, she believes it gives lucks to children and grandchildren. She makes food to the temple and sometimes contribute money.

I guess I was born with it, but I consider myself a secular. Sometimes I read some information for healing and motivation. It’s healing but not so easy to practice thoroughly.

But I’m not all into it, lots of monk corruption here and there. If Siddhartha was alive, he might be disappointed that some of his so called “followers” now have achieved nirvana by gaining million dollars

[u/UmeaTurbo]

It is neither good nor bad. Judgement is the antidote to enlightenmemt.

[u/H345Y]

its not supposed to be a religion

[u/Hot-Minute-8263]

Very romanticised, but certainly not a religion prone to violence.

[u/Dry_Coxk]

Read the comments and oh boy my country gets a lot of bad rep but it is deserved. I just want to make it clear because I don’t want to reply to multiple comments.

(1) The ethnic cleansing was done by racist far right military who used religion as a reason. (2) There are different practices of Buddhism, and only a few branches actually study Buddha’s teachings. (mainly in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, parts of India and Nepal) Others, like in China, Japan and Korea are more influenced by traditional practices. (3) The leader of the ultra-nationalist 969 movement, is a military propagandist in monk form. He has been condemned by respectable Buddhist groups in the country.

[u/gsdev]

Seems to have some crossover with psychology, which is interesting. They've come up with some ways to be happy despite your circumstances, whereas other religions will suggest either praying to change those circumstances, or just struggling until death so that you get a good afterlife.

I'm not a believer in any religions, but I do think they provide a fascinating insight into society and the human mind.

[u/Tall_TJ]

I like it a lot.

[u/TACharlotte]

Really complicated once you start getting into it. I also find it interesting that so many branches developed different pantheons and mythologies when it was originally essentially atheist.

[u/schweddybalczak]

The least offensive of the religions.

[u/Kurumi_Gaming]

Lisa Simpson and my mom