Why is Buddhism More Accessible in the US

[Jaskaran Singh]

They not only excommunicated and humiliated him, but attempted to murder him by throwing him from the top of a high building, an attempt which the great Vedic scholar nevertheless survived.

Apparently, the legend of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa being thrown off a building in Nālandā seems to also have been used/depicted in a scene in the 1983 movie about Ādi Śaṅkarācārya:
www.youtube.com/embed/e9Iw8uu8HHs

[Jeffery D. Long]

Apparently, the legend of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa being thrown off a building in Nālandā seems to also have been used/depicted in a scene in the 1983 movie about Ādi Śaṅkarācārya:
www.youtube.com/embed/e9Iw8uu8HHs

Yes. I love that movie!

[Araloka]

Hinduism simply isn't popular as Buddhism for a few reasons:

1) Hindus themselves usually discourage people to take up Hinduism and encourage them to remain in another faith
2) Perceptions of Indian culture (caste system, child marriage, sati - etc, and it doesn't help that folks like Srila Prabhupada explicitly espoused such things)
3) Attitudes you get from Hindus when you get over these things and actually go to temple (India is better than everywhere else kind of stuff...")
4) Use of idols*



*I know there is contention about this term, "God really lives in the murtis they are not idols" but the fact is, every civilization including the ones that came up with the word 'idol' thought exactly the same things and did the same things with them as Hindus do: Feed them, bathe them, clothe them, believe God resides in them, take them out on carts (rath yatra).. there is absolutely no difference.

[Believer]

Namaste Araloka,

Thanks for your perspective. It sure helped me to think about the need for an attitude adjustment for us as a group.

"God really lives in the murtis they are not idols" but the fact is, every civilization including the ones that came up with the word 'idol' thought exactly the same things and did the same things with them as Hindus do: Feed them, bathe them, clothe them, believe God resides in them, take them out on carts (rath yatra).. there is absolutely no difference.

It appears that other civilizations outgrew the concept of God living in the murtis, but Hindu gods do really live in the murtis and we never got tired of believing that.

Pranam.

[isavasya]

Namaste

I have spent a lot of time on a religious board with lots of western people. I see that it is not core Buddhist philosophy that attracts westerners but rather the 'atheistic' aspects of Buddhism. Lots of people in West dreadfully hate 'God' and those philosophies that deny God are seen as attractive and natural ally by liberals.

I have seen Christian missionaries and media have damaged hinduism's reputation to some extent by associating Hindsuim by discriminatory caste system. However, one thing I have noticed is that Upanishads are quite a good hit with westerners. To be honest, now I really don't care about proving Hinduism in the most bright light to anyone and also our own religion asks us not to show much missionary zeal. Still I believe that as a follower of Sanatan Dharma, we need to defend our religion from prejudices.

[Sahasranama]

Namaste

I have spent a lot of time on a religious board with lots of western people. I see that it is not core Buddhist philosophy that attracts westerners but rather the 'atheistic' aspects of Buddhism. Lots of people in West dreadfully hate 'God' and those philosophies that deny God are seen as attractive and natural ally by liberals.

There are only few westerners who are really attracted to Buddhism itself as a doctrine, most people are interested in Buddhism for the mind calming and psychological effect practices like meditation have. Buddhism is romanticised and associated with peaceful scenery like lotus flowers, meditating statues, Zen stones, bamboo, lakes and incense. People also falsely believe that Buddhism is free of any dogma.

[Sahasranama]

Recently I went to the bookstore to peruse the title on Hinduism, and I noticed something. There were 4 full shelves of book on Buddhism, and barely half of a shelf with books on Hinduism. This seems the case with any bookstore I go to. Why would this be? I have to believe that there would be vastly more Hindu books out there than Buddhism.

There are indeed a lot of books on Hinduism, but you should not go to book stores or public libraries to find them, unless the place is specialised in importing books from India. In the Hinduism section you will most likely find nothing better than material written by imbeciles.

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

The original post asked the question, "Why is Buddhism More Accessible in the US?" in terms of books specifically when browsing a book store for example, verse books on Hinduism.

I think I can answer that question. But this answer is specific to California.

Firstly, I do not think this is entirely true, just generally true.

There is a reason you will see more Buddhist books than Hindu (but I will get more to the specifics on that in a minute), and the reason for that is the Chinese arrived in rather good numbers into California in the 1800's AD. Soon after that, the Japanese came, then Koreans, then in the next Century in the 1970's came the Vietnamese.

With each wave, they brought their branch of Buddhism into California. While some hated it, there were some who were amazed and fascinated.

I grew up in San Francisco when a child. I know the streets of Chinatown very well, the alleys with the Tong houses, what was once also called "Jos (incense) houses" (later called Buddhist temples). I have a rather historical and valuable Chinese-English Buddhist book of very early date which was given to my father. Buddhism in California via the Chinese has a much longer presence in California than Hinduism. The Chinese version is very much Mahayana version, with deities, temples, Gods and such, and really does not reflect Indian Buddhism at all.

When the Japanese came, which also has a large population in California, and in particular SF and San Jose (Silicon Valley), Japanese Buddhist temples and literature also came. The Japanese havena stronger interest in Indian Buddhism than the Chinese. There is Zen also.

The Koreans brought a much more "meditational" and rather "Hinayana" like Buddhism, very strick, to California in the 1950's.

In the 1970's, the Vietnamese came in large numbers into the South Bay. Cambodians and some Laoations came soon after, with the Cambodians mixing with the Chinese in Oakland CA. This Buddhism is very temple oriented, more literature came as well.

However Cambodian Buddhism was very Hindu in nature.

Thais started coming in large numbers in the 1980's. They set up a lot of vegetarian restaurants, but kept their Buddhism to themselves, unlike the Chinese and Japanese who were openly seeking the attention of "white" Californians. But these same "whites" were going to Thai restaurants, seeing the pictures of the Thai King Rama, and statues of Thai Buddha. They would ask questions.

Simply put, Buddhism has had now over 150 years presence in Calufornia. By the time the Tibetans started to arrive in the 1970s their monks and teachers were highly welcomed. The Dalai Lama was practically considered "a local hero" in some ways.

But Hinduism also started to have an impact in San Francisco. Largely because of Prabhupad. Indians from India started coming in numbers in the 1970's. But the Chinese and Japanese had almost a 100 year "head start".

As far as books in book stores, yes there are more Buddhist books than Hindu. But that is relative. Let me explain.

In the 1970s and 80s there were three book stores in the SD Bay Area which had huge collections of Hindu books and scriptures. Most of these books came from India, Hindu publishers, you could get books then at low prices which today are worth a lot of money and sell for high prices.

But in those days, book stores were more local, not big chain book dealers.

The big chain book dealers started wiping out these smaller, sometimes family owned, book stores in the 1980's. This rapidly accelerated in the 1990's. Another phenomenon in the 1990's was the demand for books on computer software, programming, using PCs, using MS Office and so on. These books were not cheap.

Also, there came "audio books" on tape cassettes and cd. This brought in a new "religious" twist called "self help". These audio books were not expensive like computer books.

The Buddhists jumped on this.

Some "new age" like Hindus later went that direction by the late 1990s, but those Buddhists and those with Buddhist genre were "way ahead of the game".

So the other day I went in a big chain book store. Yes, more "Buddhist" books than Hindu, probably 3 to 1.

But these were more self help type stuff and Zen and the like than Buddhist.

I predict everything is going to change again. Change is one thing that is a given. As farnas Buddhist books verse Hindu, it all depends on which of the two are welcoming or not welcoming. The Indian population is growing in America now everyday, approximating the Chinese in the 1800s and early 1900s. "Western" Hindus are also growing, more and more with each day. There will be a Hindu President of the United States within the next 50 to 75 years probably.

Buddhism was here first. That is why. My own Mother, she pretty much was (is) a Buddhist (Indian Buddhism) even though she is of Swedish ethnicity. Yes Buddhism is a "big deal" here. But just wait. Time will tell.

Om Namah Sivaya

[realdemigod]

Reason it's very simple way of life you don't have to get into religious ways but still can benefit of Buddhism while Hinduism is quite complex and needs a master or a learned one to understand how to incorporate it in your life and Hinduism is more about rituals anyway

[fem_phoenix1109]

Thank you everyone for your insight and taking the time to answer my question.

There is a new age bookstore here in Columbus that I have found which has a wonderful selection of incense. Recently I was perusing their other items and noticed that they may be an exception - Hinduism seemed more prominent in their literature, as well as other items, they had many tapestries, statues, decorations and other items, all with a Hindu theme.