How do contemporary Buddhist practices reflect the foundations of the religion?

Answer 1

The first Buddha lived circa 4000 years ago, and was possibly Lao-Tse, the great Chinese philosopher. The current Dalai Lama, the leader of the Buddhist Lama sect, does not allow women to look at him, although the Buddha himself has many female personas, who presumably can't look at him? Also, the Lama were kicked out of China by the Shaolin, who fought running battles with the Lama for several centuries, however since Gandhis (though Hindi) successes in India, Buddhists portray themselves as anti-violence. Buddhism is an enforced religion in Thailand, where everyone serves as a monk, just as conscription works in Israel.
It seems to me, that contemporary Buddhism has become as distant from its roots as Christianity and Judaism.

Answer 2

Since there are millions of Buddhists and the Buddhist beliefs have been around more than 2000 years, this questions is more than a little vague. What foundations and which contemporary practices are you referring to?