Buddhist Values for Today?
Buddhism has great appeal today for some Americans. To understand why, one needs to understand the positive aspects of Buddhism; rethink the stumbling blocks that some find in Buddhism; appreciate the most basic teachings of Buddhism; discover what is not true about Buddhism; and then realize why Buddhism can provide a useful, practical guide through life.
Reasons for Popularity
There a several reasons why Buddhism is increasingly popular in America. Seeking individual “enlightenment” is widely understood to be the goal of Buddhists. Enlightenment means understanding the world the way it really is and using that understanding to live a more fulfilling life. Everyone would like this. Buddhism offers a fairly simple path readily followed to achieve this. Buddhism also offers realistic ways to deal with life’s problems.
Also, Buddhists believe that everything is interdependent because the causes of whatever happens are interconnected. That is a broad and realistic understanding of cause and effect. Moreover, Buddhism holds that each individual is morally responsible for his or her own actions. That makes good sense. An individual’s good actions tend to produce good outcomes. Bad actions tend to produce bad outcomes. In short, karma.
Meditation is a valuable part of Buddhist practice. In a high-stim world of stress, ambiguities, and uncertainties, to find calm and tranquility through meditation brings deep communion with one’s inner self. Meditation allows one to come to rest periodically and go forth renewed. It can allow an individual to focus on one thing and, in time, also to analyze that one thing to produce better understanding and even greater wisdom.
Buddhism also appeals because it provides standards for moral living in a world where the institutions that once were widely accepted as moral authorities are no longer widely seen that way. Increasingly, individuals seem to be, down deep, somewhat anxious as well as more self-centered and self-protective. Indeed, the Twentieth Century became known as the Age of Anxiety.
By contrast, religious values and standards dominated American culture in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries. Even in the 1920s it was not too surprising to have hundreds of members for an adult Sunday school class.
Fundamentalists and evangelicals would not agree that religion has lost its moral authority, but their moral values do not dominate the culture as did religion in times past. Buddhism, strictly speaking, is not a religion, since it has no God, but it has not lost its moral authority.
Buddhist Values for Today?
Possible Stumbling Blocks
Unfortunately, Buddhism also can present stumbling blocks for folks who have some knowledge of modern science, current theories about the universe, evolution, and psychology. Four in particular come to mind.
CONTINUE