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I'm genuinely wondering about this. Why is buddhism such a "trendy" religion? Yoga, "free tibet" and its tremendous celebrity support? As far as I know Paris Hilton has never been concerned about the plight of Coptic or Iraqi Christians, but many celebrities are quite vocal about the plight of Tibetan buddhists?
I don't mean to underscore the very real suffering monks and nuns have suffered at the hands of chinese authorities, but I am puzzled why it has become a cause celebre, compared to the persecution of other religious groups. Buddhism is a very strict religion for those who study it seriously, in terms of sexual morality, avoiding alcohol & drugs, exercising self control and practicing meditation, so it's not necessarily an "easy" religion (so I don't think that is the appeal?).
Is there something special or different about buddhism that attracts the concern and attention of the secular & western world? If so, what?
I'm genuinely wondering about this. Why is buddhism such a "trendy" religion? Yoga, "free tibet" and its tremendous celebrity support? As far as I know Paris Hilton has never been concerned about the plight of Coptic or Iraqi Christians, but many celebrities are quite vocal about the plight of Tibetan buddhists?
I don't mean to underscore the very real suffering monks and nuns have suffered at the hands of chinese authorities, but I am puzzled why it has become a cause celebre, compared to the persecution of other religious groups. Buddhism is a very strict religion for those who study it seriously, in terms of sexual morality, avoiding alcohol & drugs, exercising self control and practicing meditation, so it's not necessarily an "easy" religion (so I don't think that is the appeal?).
Is there something special or different about buddhism that attracts the concern and attention of the secular & western world? If so, what?
I believe it's practioners purport themselves to be more "enlightend."
I'm genuinely wondering about this. Why is buddhism such a "trendy" religion? Yoga, "free tibet" and its tremendous celebrity support? As far as I know Paris Hilton has never been concerned about the plight of Coptic or Iraqi Christians, but many celebrities are quite vocal about the plight of Tibetan buddhists?
I don't mean to underscore the very real suffering monks and nuns have suffered at the hands of chinese authorities, but I am puzzled why it has become a cause celebre, compared to the persecution of other religious groups. Buddhism is a very strict religion for those who study it seriously, in terms of sexual morality, avoiding alcohol & drugs, exercising self control and practicing meditation, so it's not necessarily an "easy" religion (so I don't think that is the appeal?).
Is there something special or different about buddhism that attracts the concern and attention of the secular & western world? If so, what?
Because it's "exotic". Simple enough. Remeber when everyone was Australia-crazy back in the 80's because of "Crocodile Dundee"? Some things just get sucked into the trend of the moment.
Because it's "exotic". Simple enough. Remeber when everyone was Australia-crazy back in the 80's because of "Crocodile Dundee"? Some things just get sucked into the trend of the moment.
I remember back in the day when TM was pretty big. And then there was EST!
Zen Buddhism was trendy in the Fifties with the Beat Generation, then with Hippies in the Sixties (as I just read today in a book called "Buddhism, A Very Short Introduction" by Keown).
It is also commonly a "thinking person's" religion (even though, "thinking," per se is "Monkey Mind").
Last edited by imcurious; 07-13-2011 at 11:28 PM..
Is there something special or different about buddhism that attracts the concern and attention of the secular & western world? If so, what?
It is a religion that does not subscribe to a belief in God. Thus the appeal. It is all about you, not about God. A religion that the World can be happy with.
The World does not want God. Messes things up. So a nontheistic religion fits the bill, so to speak.
I think an issue is it's seen as peaceful and mostly/largely about self-help. Also many people I think don't really understand it, other than meditation and peace, so see Buddhism as whatever they want it to be. Related to that people in the West know the ills of Christian history, they're often comparatively ignorant of the ills in the history of other cultures. So Japanese Buddhists that preached "Hell" for non-believers or the Sri Lankan Buddhist extremist-elements of today who are very pro-violence are not what they know. They know, or think they know, Coptics killing Hypatia or whatever. Movies have been done on that kind of thing.
Although I would think it's trendiness is largely among academics, who want a religion that allows for non-theism, and rich people who want a religion that they feel is about calming their stressed minds. The genuinely "trendy religions", in terms of population numbers, I think are those that offer charity, structure, and self-improvement. Because more people need those. So as I recall the genuinely trendy religions in the world are Pentecostalism, Islam, and such. Although Baha'i and Neo-Paganism are fast growing too without really fitting either notion. Neither is precisely appealing because it's "calming or non-theistic" nor because it's "structured and charitable."
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