Buddhism Studies in the Far East

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Table of Contents

Misconceptions about Buddhism
Misconceptions about other religions
Recommendations to root out misconceptions about other religions
Conclusion
References

Buddhism is both a religion and a philosophy. As written by Keown (2009), Buddhism is a religion because it has connection with belief in a supreme being, and in this case, a Dharma. The latter is believed to control the world that Buddhists live in. On the other hand, Buddhism is a philosophy because it is viewed by those who believe in it as a way of life. Therefore, it guides Buddhists on how to behave and view others. To some extent, it acts like a code of ethics especially for those who believe in it (Keown, 2009). Most importantly, there are various misconceptions that are associated with this religion.

This emanates from the fact that the religion is only popular in one part of the world. In particular, Buddhism as a religion is dominant in Asia and is less common in other continents. According to Keown (2009), most of the misconceptions are in countries like the United States of America and come as a result of scarcity of people professing the faith. This paper analyzes major misconceptions I have heard about this religion and which were rectified by my visit to one of the worship places in California.

Misconceptions about Buddhism

Due to poor knowledge about the religion, I have had to live with many misconceptions regarding this religion. Where I come from, the dominant religion is Christianity followed by Islamic religion. Woo (2008) writes that it is possible to have many misconceptions about a belief, a religion and a practice if you are not part of the mainstream practice, faith and religion. Most misconceptions associated with this religion come from their actions or deeds. For example, there are misconceptions that touch on Karma which generally means action or the deeds (Kozak, 2011). One of misconceptions that have been circulating is that the term Karma which is commonly used in Buddhism religion refers to retaliations emanating from outside forces (Woo, 2008). The following are misconceptions I have heard about Buddhism:

Buddhists have a belief in reincarnation

There are a number of types of Buddhists. Popular of these is the Tibetan Buddhism and include Dalai Lama. This group has a strong belief that once the soul and the spirit depart from a human being, it is given another form of living thing. This misconception is drawn from the fact that Tibetan Buddhists are very popular and most people outside this religion tend to believe in what they do.

Buddhism advocates for suffering

I had a belief that people who profess this faith regard themselves as true or sincere during suffering. Suffering is painful to everybody and no particular person is likely to look forward towards such kind of experience. Being outside a certain belief and mostly in religion is reason enough to paint a bad picture of other beliefs. Being an outsider, I became part of the group that can only believe once enlightened by a person from the castigated group.

Buddhism is paganism

From time immemorial, I had a bad attitude towards Asian nations. Since Buddhism is synonymous with Asian nations, I included the religion in my hate. One of the ways I used to castigate the religion is by putting it among pagan groups. The term refers to individuals and groups of individuals not believing in a Christian God. What I did not know is that the way Christians have God, Buddhists have Dharma meaning truth and reality.

Buddhism is for Asian nations alone

Various beliefs are associated with particular areas. For example, each and every other country has a particular religion associated with it. My understanding was that Buddhism only belongs to people who come from Asian countries such as China and Japan. For example, in America, the belief is that it is only for Japanese-American individuals.

Change of heart through encounter

After visiting a worship center having made necessary arrangements with relevant authorities, I developed a totally different picture about what I believed. The turn out was different from what has been portrayed in the world. The California worship center for the Buddhists is an herb of activities and the area comprises of all people of the world.

After interacting with one of the leaders in the church and after being taken through a number of beliefs, I came to learn that not all Buddhists believe in reincarnation. In actual sense, it is only the Tibetan Buddhists who have developed this idea. I was informed that the worship center does not have any of Buddhists believing in such issues. Tibetan Buddhism is not a representative of Buddhism and only represents a part of the religion. It is the same with major religions in the world where some have different inclinations towards believing in God.

It was revealed to me that Buddhists do not welcome suffering at all. However, there were only slight truths about this but the premise is that no particular person of any religion can look forward to pain experiences. Suffering is only taken as points of growing or learning and not as part of the religion.

Buddhists are not pagans. The word pagan refers to people who do not believe in mainstream faith. My misconception was that since Buddhists do not subscribe to Christian values, they are pagans. I came to learn that they have their own supreme being Dharma which means truth or reality. They cannot be pagan because they have their own supreme being who is totally different from that of Christians.

It was a wrong perception that Buddhism is a preserve of Asian countries alone. In California where most of Japanese-Americans are, there are some other people who attend the worship. Other than myself, there were other five (5) people who had become regulars.

Misconceptions about other religions

Misconceptions do not only occur between Buddhism and other religions. It is an issue that continues to affect major religions and can result to dwindling of beliefs. Breitenbach (2008) notes that these misconceptions about beliefs in religions are carried even in international media. People tend to believe that their religions are perfect and other religions do not believe in the ‘truth’. This is confirmed by my own misconception of Buddhism that they are pagan. From what I learned after attending one of their worships in California, I developed a totally different notion about this religion. It perhaps makes it a recommendation that interactions are very important when it comes to understanding one another.

Each and every other religion has fundamentals. These fundamentals are not meant to give them a different picture different from the other. They are meant to give strength to their spirituality. For example Christians have the bible which acts as the guiding holy book. Muslims have Quran and other religions have other texts which guide the faithful. Breitenbach (2008) is categorical that each and every other religion has its fair of misconceptions. These misconceptions are not only directed at other religions, but some individuals inside a religion do have their doubts and misconceptions.

Basing on the above, I tend to believe in some of misconceptions leveled against other religions and some issues inside my religion. Being a Christian means that I have little knowledge about other religions. Other than Buddhism, I have had other misconceptions about other major religions in the world. But this is due to the fact that I have had little interactions with people professing other faiths other than Christianity. After attending a worship session with Buddhists, I may start to construct positive attributes about other religions in the world and take a direction of understanding other religions.

Recommendations to root out misconceptions about other religions

No particular religion is perfect. Therefore, it is wrong to think negative about a particular religion. It is time that people change about their negative perceptions about other religions and work towards cohesion among people. All religions work towards having glory at the end of times. Therefore, there is no strong reason as to why individuals of one religion should view themselves as better than others. The following are two recommendations that can help root out these misconceptions about other religions.

Initiate interactions

It was clear from my interaction with Buddhists that what I understood about the religion was totally wrong. The change of heart was out of explanations that were given to me by relevant people in the religion. If I had not initiated such kind of interactions, I would have lived with these misconceptions for long. These misconceptions are not about Buddhism only. There are people who have negative attributes about other religions. For example, some Christians view Islamic religions as composed of terrorists. However, with interactions, it is possible to learn a different thing about what is perceived.

Learning through literature

My interaction with Buddhists was driven by a strong need to learn. This learning could also come from major literature about different religions. Learning through literature has been argued as the best thing that has happened in the world in all aspects of development. For example, the advent of technology was because there were enough learning materials to develop major technological concepts. It is on this premise that I recommend people to use available learning materials to get different views about major religions. Learning should not only be about other religions, but also about religions they are deep in.

Conclusion

To recap it all, it is imperative to note that there are several world religions in the contemporary society. Buddhism is one of the well known and dominant religions especially in Asian continent. While some critics have argued that Buddhism is a philosophy, there are those who firmly believe that it is a major religion with set guidelines just like others. My personal experience with Buddhism especially after I attended one of their religious services was indeed an eye opener. For the first time, I had to debunk certain myths and misconceptions I have heard about Buddhism. Needless to say, it is prudent to exercise religious tolerance irrespective of the faith one professes.

References

Breitenbach, S. (2008). Missionary linguistics in East Asia: The origins of religious language in the shaping of Christianity? Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Web.

Keown, D. (2009). Buddhism. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Web.

Kozak, A. (2011). The everything Buddhism book: A complete introduction to the history, traditions and beliefs of Buddhism, past and present. Avon: F+W Media, Inc. Web.

Woo, E.P.H. (2008). Buddhism: The big picture explained. Bloomington: iUniverse. Web.

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