Buddhism Compared To The Hippies Of Counterculture Movement

Hinduism, Confucianism and Buddhism are three of the world’s most distinguished belief systems of the past and for some, still in the present. The guidelines they provided influenced the social, political and religious lives of people within the societies that followed them. Hinduism emerged when the Aryans arrived in ancient India and began to combine their ideas with those of the Dravidians, the native population. One major Hindu idea was the caste system, which influenced the social lives of its followers and provided the state with political stability. Confucianism first saw an emergence of numerous followers during the Warring States period, when many philosophers were developing ideas for how to return order to China in this era of chaos. It provided political stability to the state by promoting an ethical system with several virtues and the idea that education could allow for social mobility. Buddhism originated from classical India when many people started looking for a new belief system, as they began to reject the caste system imposed by Hinduism. Buddhism had a minimal political or social impact on its followers, but instead influenced their religious lives. There is no doubt that these three belief systems significantly impacted the lives of their followers, but the manner in which they did this varied for each. Socially, Hinduism had the greatest impact with their caste system. Politically, Confucianism had the greatest impact by promoting virtues and

In this paper it will discuss the influence of the Buddha and how Buddhism came to America and the impact it had upon its arrival. How the American culture westernized Buddhism in their own way and how it looks today. It will also cover the difference of ethnic Buddhism and convert Buddhism in America. More specifically the objective of this paper is to explain descriptively and analytically and go over the historical time line of

From the 1960s to the 1970s, the Hippie Movement was apart of the counterculture era. This was an age of renewal and change amongst society. People known as Hippies focused on pursuing a life different from the one proposed by mainstream culture. Hippies followed transcendentalism, which influenced their idealism of their understanding of nature and society. They often used drugs such as psychedelics, amphetamines, methamphetamine, and marijuana to experience spiritual and artistic awareness as well as self-fulfillment. They created a new culture of teenagers and young adults who dressed and acted differently from those before them. Hippies focused on experimentation and redefining themselves. Hippies helped influenced music, television, film, literature, and the arts and changed the societal norms.

“What does Eastern Religions mean to Americans?” Starting in the 19th century, Buddhism began to make its way to America through the immigration of the Chinese whom brought their religious traditions with them. Buddhism continued to gain popularity in America when Buddhist texts, as well as Buddhist teachers, were brought here to share and spread their religion. It wasn’t until the late 1950’s/early 1960’s that we see the interest in Buddhism, particularly Zen Buddhism, blossom throughout the country. Through the memoir “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson, an NBA player and coach, we are able to see how Zen Buddhism not only altered his life, as well as his players, but how the religion also adapts to American culture. From reading both “Sacred Hoops” and learning about Buddhism throughout this semester, I would argue that Eastern religions, specifically Zen Buddhism, is not only a way for Americans to escape the reality of American culture but also provides a complete alternative to Christianity and other similar religions that are predominate in America.

In this essay, I intend to compare and contrast two major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, that came out of India thousands of years ago. Though these two religions are old, they are still practiced today by millions of followers within the continent of Asia and the West.

Until about a fifty years ago, most people in the United States did not have much exposure to the Buddhist religion. Our only impression of it might have been statues of a grinning, bald Buddha with a large belly at the entrance of most Chinese restaurants. Those statues seemed a little scary and some thought they should nod or rub the belly as they passed as a gesture of good luck. The religion has come a long way in the last twenty years. Hollywood celebrities such as Richard Gere and Tiger Woods and Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Dalai Lama, may have heightened the appeal and gave some prominence of this religion to the people of the West. The Buddhist religion and its move into America is a fascinating 2000 year journey. To

Over the years, Buddhism has become one of the most popular religions in America. In 2010, the Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) estimated that there were approximately 2 millions Buddhist in the US, which is around 0.7% of the population. As Buddhism’s popularity continues to grow, it is not surprise to see a lot of Buddhist’s tradition integrated itself into the American culture. There is already a tremendous amount of Americans who converted themselves into the religion alone. Therefore, certain issues began to arise as this integration continues, one of them being the role of women in Buddhism. Widely known as the religion of peace and kindness, not many people realized that Buddhism is also a religion of gender equality. There

Next, Buddhism also had an impact on the society it was born into. To start out defining what Buddhism is, this particular religion focuses more on humans including finding ways to overcome human suffering (Smith, 1994). Parts of this religion include the four noble truths, including that life can go awry and that suffering is born from that, that the reason why people suffer from life is because they have selfish desires, that those desires can be overcome, and, finally, that the Eight Fold Path is the way out of suffering (Smith, 1994). To define it, the Eight Fold Path are edicts on how to live a right life and it includes ideas such as having an occupation that does not go against Buddha’s ideas and also the idea of not speaking ill about others (Smith, 1994). To get into how this particular religion shaped society, it is important to first note that Buddhism ended up existing with Hinduism in India at a certain point in time. However, now although there are Buddhists around the world, they are generally not in India (Smith, 1994). This is because Hinduism ended up absorbing some parts Buddhist ethos into their own religious structure, and some of their practices as well. To be more specific, this included changes such as decreasing the importance of the traditional caste structure as well as adding in segments of

Buddha has been considered as a democratic crusader against the inequalities of the caste system and the empty pretensions of the Brahmanical theology. He is regarded as having weakened the foundations of the prevalent religious and social structure by repudiating the revelatory character of the Vedas and by challenging the arrogant claims to dignity, importance and merit to Brahmin priests. The following lines clearly depict the rejection of ascriptive superiority based on the physical fact of birth in a particular gotra and family

1) What factors do you think account for the growing popularity of Buddhism in the West?

Albert Einstein once said, “the religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god, avoid dogmas and theology. Covering both the natural and spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all natural and spiritual and a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that would cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”# Many great minds like Albert Einstein have converted or become Buddhists. Many people from the west are turning their attention towards Buddhism because of the Buddha’s simple way to life and the lack of worship or prayer to a divine being.

To many it may seem as the glorifying symbol that describes the era of the 1960s, but to others not so much. The Hippies showed a different part of reality to us and to the world, a part that we did not know existed but that caused great harm to us. Hippies were members of a reform movement that was absolutely unnecessary to society. This is due to the reason that it caused the destruction of American principles while causing no positive effect on the nation.

Asoka’s policy of toleration of all traditions strongly reflects his understanding of Buddhism as only one way to achieve spiritual development as well as demonstrates the ideals for which he stood and the principles by which he governed. Asoka contributed to the development of Buddhism can be clearly seen in three key particular ways including his ability to maintain Buddhism as a significant religious tradition within his kingdom, through his support and encouragement of missionaries to expand Buddhism beyond his borders and lastly through showing how Buddhism could be the basis for the government and foreign

The hippie subculture began its development as a youth movement in the United States during the early 1960s and then developed around the world. Its origins may be traced to European social movements in the 19th and early 20th century such as Bohemians, and the influence of Eastern religion and spirituality. From around 1967, its fundamental ethos which include harmony with nature, communal living, artistic experimentation particularly in music, and the widespread use of recreational drugs and spread around the world during the counterculture of the 1960s, which has become closely associated with the subculture. 1971 War, Violence, Hate, is what my people and I are suffering through every sunrise and sunset. For I long for happiness, peace,

Buddhism in the twenty-first century is still applicable in such a fast paced and confusing world. Despite all of our advanced science and technology, we understand even less our reason for existing and we know more than ever just how big the universe is and how uncaring. These circumstances drive people to seek out spirituality even today in order to achieve the basic comfort required for them to conduct their daily lives. The recent episodes of tremendous violence have placed an unsavory patina of stifling ignorance over the religions of Christianity and Islam as they continue to carry on like demented spinsters in the decaying finery of their former glory with no intention of acknowledging the catastrophe of their current circumstances. Buddhism, with its sterling values of moderation, peace, and detachment from the impermanent things of this world, now appears dignified and splendid as the ancient beauty of Asia to modern seekers. No longer do we seek judgment and rigid, inexplicable rules from our God, with the hellfire and damnation that once drove us onward. We crave logic and sense from our world and in those circumstances, this faith tells us that lusting after expensive cars and clothes which we do not need will make us miserable. That is easy to understand. That makes