Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kodiak_bull who wrote (22344)	11/12/2004 12:07:53 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

>> When you factor these ideas together, don't forget to factor in socio-economic factors. Of course. I implied as much when I said American Buddhists are often well read and well educated. But there is another factor you are not considering. A person who converts to another religion in his adult life (as oppose to being indoctrinated with it since childhood) is a person who is capable of independent thinking and above all is a spiritual person. Every person who converts is a person who has been searching and thinking and eventually believing. Religions have different aspects. And the circumstances in the society emphasize appeals of certain aspects more than others. This is as true for Christianity as it is for Islam as it is for Buddhism, or even Communism for that matter. Unlike other religions, Buddhism does not have a history of "Conversion by Sword" (something Christianity also did not have in its first 200 years). This makes Buddhism appeal to people who are tired of seeing the world in at war, a major contributing factor to the American Buddhists being of gentle tolerant kind. Furthermore, Buddhism believes there is more than one path to Enlightenment and this allows a certain kind of "dual citizenship". Integration of Buddhism with Shinto in Japan or Confucianism in China or even entirely different routes via Zen shows this clearly. The history of Buddhism is the history of a slow moving but ultimately irreversible and engulfing belief system. I am convinced that Buddhism's flexibility will make it "the last religion standing" if in fact there ever will be such a thing. BTW, Zen started out the religion of the educated intellectual upper middle class and upper classes in China. ST