A question about Buddhism?

Question

I find the faith of Buddhism fascinating and wish to know a great deal more...I apologize for my ignorance of it thus far..but curious about one aspect. As far as witnessing...is it the same in Buddhism...I mean the winning over of converts? Do they try to, I guess "save" people, like the Christian faiths? I just don't remember when I think back on my life seeing that sort of thing, but I may have just not been in the right areas at the right times.

Answer 1

Simply speaking, this is to avoid harming others and to help them as much as possible. Another way of expressing this is, Abandon negative action; create perfect virtue; subdue your own mind. This is the teaching of the Buddha. By abandoning negative actions (killing, etc.) and destructive motivations (anger, attachment, close-mindedness, etc.), we stop harming ourselves and others. By creating perfect virtue, we develop beneficial attitudes, like impartial love and compassion, and do actions motivated by these thoughts. By subduing our mind, we cut away all false projections, thus making ourselves calm and peaceful by understanding reality.

The essence of Buddha’s teachings is also contained in the three principles of the path: definite emergence, the dedicated heart and wisdom realizing emptiness. Initially, we seek definitely to emerge from the confusion of our problems and their causes. Then, we see that other people also have problems, and with love and compassion, we dedicate our heart to becoming a Buddha so that we are capable of helping others extensively. In order to do this, we develop the wisdom understanding the real nature of ourselves and other phenomena
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buddhism depends more on understanding than faith. its not about converting others.
everyone of us are basically kind, compassionate, wise and loving- irregardless whether you are buddhists , muslims, hindus, chritsians, catholics, jewish, etc...

As most higher religions promote values like honesty, kindness, generosity, courage and integrity, Buddhism sees them not as dangerous competitors but as allies in man's quest for liberation.

no real buddhist will TRY to 'recruit' you into their organization...like i previously mentioned...it depends on your understanding than faith.

some dubious organizations may aggressively recruit you, or tempt you with promises of 'heavenly bliss' or 'luck' (wealth, fortune, change of fate)...
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there is no 'sins' in buddhism, like the 'sins' in christianity's bible.

“Serenity of spirit and love for all sentient creation are enjoined by the Buddha. He does not speak of sin, but only of ignorance and foolishness which could be cured by enlightenment and sympathy.”

in buddhism, it's about skillful & unskillful means. also, sin should not be equated to suffering.

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http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/pathmaps.htm <<< basic buddhism

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BuddhistSocietyWA <<< ajahn brahm's teachings (http://www.bswa.org/), Theravada

http://www.abuddhistlibrary.com/Buddhism/J%20-%20Navigation%20Pages%20and%20A%20List%20of%20Books/Navigation%20Pages/Lists%20of%20Files/Thich%20Nhat%20Hahn.htm <<< Thich Nhat Hahn, (http://www.plumvillage.org/ ---still under construction)....zen/ ch'an
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/thichnhathanh/ <<< Thich Nhat Hanh, on radio

http://www.lamayeshe.com/lamayeshe/index.shtml <<< lama yeshe's teachings, tibetan

http://www.amtbweb.org/index.html <<< Master Chin Kung, pureland

http://www.buddhanet.net/ <<< wealth of information

Answer 2

The short answer to your question is ...no. It is against the Dharma to force anything on another Being and this includes forcing any type of anxiety or fear onto another. This means that Buddhists would be appalled if someone tried to convert another to Buddhism and away from their chosen Faith.

If this is your experience then those trying it were not Buddhist. To Buddhists, all Faiths are entirely valid to their devotees and followers.

To try to convince another that their Faith was invalid is to cause suffering in the guise of anxiety in the mind of another, the purpose of Buddhist Practise is to recognise suffering and to end it, not cause it.

A small note, there is no question of Faith is any Buddhist Practise, any question of Faith is a wrong view of Buddhism, it is a Practise, a philosophy, a theosophy but never a Faith.
A small criticism only for an excellent question.

Peace from a Buddhist....Theravada tradition...

Answer 3

No, Buddhist do not try to win converts. Buddhism isn't a truimphalistic religion like Christianity or Islam. Those who are interested come to Buddhism, and the Buddha never tried to win converts. Converts came because of the teaching (the Dhamma) and what they perceived about those who practiced (the Discipline). Before Buddhism was called Buddhism, it was call the dhamma-vinaya.

Answer 4

The Buddha is a teacher,who was 'enlightened' which means he rid himself of defilements [greed,hatred and defilements] and sees the world as it is,and spend the rest of his life educating the people with affinity,that is the reason why Buddhist do not 'convert' everyone they meet,you have to know your time,the conditions is enough good merits and affinity to be able to hear the name of Buddha.The more numbers of followers in a particular religion does not means it is good because the more there are the more complications there will be,teachings are mostly being distorted by these people,so the Buddha advise his studens to question the teaching,even his own,not to believe blindly,in our highly advance age,science without religion is crippled,religion without science is blind,[Albert Einstein]go into Buddhist research and you will find that the modern science is only a small fraction of what Buddha discovered 2,500 years ago,in order to understand more about Buddhism approach with an open mind,for it is an Education not a Religion.May Buddha be with you.

Answer 5

No, Buddhists generally do not try to convert people to their religion. SGI, Soka Gakkai International, seems an exception in that they do appear to try to actively convert people, but technically I do not believe that they are Buddhist either. I will explain this a bit more later in this answer. I do know that SGI is a lay organization that "chants" a phrase "Nam myoho renge kyo" (translated roughly "to devote oneself to the Lotus Sutra"), which according to the SGI members that I have personally talked to is intended to increase your worldly goods (home, new car, money, etc..). I have been to an SGI meeting and chanting, and talked to the members that were present. New members are actively encouraged to buy pricey home altars and calligraphy that can only be purchased through the SGI organization to assist with the home chanting ritual. Several members gave an almost Christian-like testimony of what things they aquired after chanting their phrase. If you don't get what you chant for then you were not sincere and/or persistent enough with the chanting. The foundational teachings of the Buddha that unite all Buddhist sects are from the first sermon after enlightenment that reveal the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path. The four noble truths state that 1. Life is suffering. 2. Suffering is caused by our Desire. 3. There is a path with leads us out of Suffering. 4. That path is the Noble Eightfold Path. (Right Views, Right Intentions, Right Speech, Right Actions, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration) As you can see, this is diametrically opposite to the teachings of the Buddha. Other Buddhist sects generally do not seek to convert people to Buddhism because Buddhism is seen as an inward journey with the goal of enlightenment that can only be achieved by the individual. Many Buddhist sects openly discourage non Buddhists from converting because they believe in the principal of "a thousand doors to Nirvana", meaning that there are many ways to attain enlightenment, and Buddhism is only one of them. If I have misstated any facts about the SGI it was done out of misinformation from the members that I have met and I would be honored to be corrected by members of the organization.

Answer 6

A. They do not try to "save" people. In Buddhist context. Each person has to use their own wisdom to find the correct path. There are just too many paths to the truth.

B. A person should only be converted should he or she read the scriptures, analyse it, finding any possible discrepancies, understand the cause and effect then accept the fact you got to learn more and not believe blindly whatever the scripture says.

Answer 7

Buddha basically said this is what I have learned, if it works for you, do it. If it doesn't. then don't do it. He offered his wisdom, but basically said you could take it or leave it. With that sort of an attitude, it seems really counter intuitive to try to "Save" people. Besides it's your responsibility to "save" your self. But in Buddhism, the effort isn't so much in being saved, but rather to become enlightened. There is nothing to be saved from, because there is no "hell" but the one you create within your own mind, and bad karma. Hell and heaven are merely two sides of one coin, your mind.

Answer 8

A guy in India sat under the Boddhi tree and thought of a good way to live life. Simple as that. It's a path.
Dogma springs from religions need to perpetuate itself in order to keep butts in the seats.
Try it or don't. Buddhists don't convert.

Answer 9

Hi.
Buddhism is very simple.
Buddhists, unlike Christians, do not set any limits on this war of religion.

They are peaceful creatures like dinosaurs.
They just wish that everyone lives in harmony and tries to do good deeds by following the teachings of the Buddha.

Answer 10

Two of the best web sites about Buddhism,

http://www.metta.lk/

http://www.bswa.org/
to know a great deal more.

Buddhists never try to convert others, it is a philosophy which is to follow.

Good luck!!!

Answer 11

I've also found it very fascinating, and I have come across many Buddhist monks and originally was under the impression that Buddhism involves a lot of meditation, which I enjoyed. I realized this impression was not entirely correct, as I came across a Buddhist group that focused on chanting rather than meditation. Due solely to my interest in Buddhism, I checked out meetings of SGI, Soka Gakkai International, which I learned represented a particular sect of Buddhism called Nichiren Buddhism, but I found that everyone was very keen on getting one to actually join it to really properly take part in meetings (even if only once in awhile), so I even did that. The main focus was on the chanting of a phrase called Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, which represents the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra, and its significance and meaning. This form of Buddhism claims to go back to the original teachings laid down by Buddha himself, and presumably "correct" the "wrong" teachings of the other Buddhist sects. I did learn some things outside of just the meaning of Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, though, such as the Ten Worlds and Nine Consciousnesses, Oneness of Life and Environment, and how this group of Buddhists viewed peace and happiness. Everyone was really nice and hospitable, but some time after having joined I did feel like I was slowly being converted (I only went to meetings to learn about Buddhism, thats it!) and brainwashed to believe that my life would be utter hell if I did not chant Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo with utter faith and conviction. I don't want to come across as criticizing the religious organization, especially because everyone in it has been very nice to me, but let me just say that I found people with all types of religious tolerance in it, which I think goes for any religious organization to some extent. The literary works that the organization focuses its philosophy around tended to state that other Buddhist sects follow Buddha's teachings incorrectly and that those that follow them will apparently "go to hell" unless they convert to the organization's particular practice and teachings. So yes, I have seen this convert-type of behavior in Buddhism, but only within the context of SGI and its members. Many of the members I have met truly believe that they are "saving" people from a life supposedly devoid of happiness and peace.

But the SGI have some great stuff to check out, regardless. I've included some links, along with another link addressing all sects of Buddhism.

For some reading, there's a book called 'Fundamentals of Buddhism' by Peter Santina, which I've read most of, and I think it gives a nice intro for newcomers to Buddhism, though not a full picture. Have you read Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse? Thats also a nice read, in my opinion, and a fairly easy one. I've also learned that the Lotus Sutra contains the essence of Buddha's teachings.

I'm really glad to see open-mindedness and this seeking of knowledge on your part. I think its great that you are religiously tolerant and are asking these questions. I wish more people were like that in this world.