Buddhism in Far East : A Religious Perspective
It’s surprising to see how widespread and entrenched Buddhism is in the Far East and how little of it we see in India — where practically it was born. Would India have been better off with Buddhism as it’s main religion than the plethora of such diversified beliefs ?! On the face of it, the simple tenets of Buddhism are easy to understand and largely in tune with human nature. In contrast with other major religions of the world, Buddhism as a religion, sure seems a lot easier than having to keep track of 33 million Gods, a lot more peaceful than that of the faceless God, does not run foul with scientific facts compared to the one whose resurrected God walked on water and, has no compulsory accessories compared to the religion propagated by bearded Great Men.
The peaceful, morally liberal and easygoing nature of Buddhism is clearly reflected in the way of life of the people in the Far East where it is followed to a great extent. There is hardly any violence in the society, little crime and Police presence on the streets is noticeable only by its absence. And these are not very advanced or developed countries of the Western world with heavy budgets allocated for maintaining Law and Order — Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand…all middle income countries chugging along peacefully on their way to prosperity with minimal internal conflicts. Rarely do we hear of rampant crime ( especially against women ) or terrorism in this part of the world.
Whether Buddhism induced this peace into them or they embraced Buddhism because it resonated with their already existing way of life — is the classic chicken and egg dilemma :)
On second thoughts, why do we require a certified textual Religion at all ?! How can immutable texts written thousands of years back for a completely different age and era be at all relevant in today’s Industrial and Information age ?! How about one single line in the name of Religion — KEEP YOURSELF HAPPY WITHOUT HARMING OTHERS. Is anything more required really to live harmoniously and contentedly — at peace with Oneself and Society ?! And what ‘ism’ shall we call this simple one line tenet that can so easily replace all other Religious, Political and Economic ‘isms’…how about Humanism ?!!
