Religion in Chinese life

pmaitra

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Indians like to take credit for being the original buddhists. But the truth is buddhism is not born in India, it is born in present Nepal. Also, buddhism is all but vanished in the present-day india, less than one percent of indians today are buddhists, there are in fact 3 times more christians in india than there are buddhists. So obviously india and buddhism, like ancient egypt and present day muslim egyptians, don't have much to do with each other.
Buddha wasn't born in Nepal. Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in Lumbini, which today is just inside Nepal on the Indo-Nepalese border. Only after when this prince attained enlightenment following meditation, was the Buddha born. The Buddha, or The Enlightened One, was born in India. I have been to that place and even seen the Pipal tree. It is in Bodh Gaya, and trust me, it is very much in India and not in Nepal.
 
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pmaitra

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I am a Buddhist and I am not offended at all. The person didn't mean to be offensive in his speech. Do you know that the Buddha is also worshipped by mainstream Hindus? In fact, the dude is quite right. For example, take a look at Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos; the country technically follows Buddhism but all its ancestral art, architecture shares common grounds with mainstream Hinduism. Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej is Buddhist but every new royal high priest is a Hindu that crowns the next royal in the Vaishnav sect traditions. The reason why Buddhism formed a branch of Dharma was because there were too many wars and mindless killings in those days by kings who were greedy for land and which resulted in too many wars and mob violence. The Buddha taught people how to live an immaterial life and to be one with Nature; to give up material desires for peace and balance and attain Godhood oneself... a principle that is core to mainstream Hindu philosophy.

Unlike the limited politico-religious package that has dogmatic Abrahamic religions in Middle East being rigid, intolerant and expansionist, the core of eastern faiths is very different. You shall find it difficult to understand now but you will eventually. The rituals that your Communist leaders taunt are man-made and don't entail any of its mention in any holy scriptures except mainstream Vedas that has ancient sciences behind it. The key to understanding this deep mystery is to attain knowledge which you can even without becoming on of us. That's the difference between our branch of Dharma and dogmatic Abrahmic faiths.
Buddhi is a Sanskrit word that implies knowledge, intelligence and wisdom. Buddha means a person who had attained enlightenment through accumulation of knowledge, intelligence and wisdom, which can only happen after gaining the ultimate knowledge about the Universe, the ultimate truth, often referred to as the Brahman in the Upanishads.

In any event, Gautama Buddha is considered to be the 9th principal manifestation (Avatar) of God, whom we often refer to as Lord Vishnu, but has many many other names and minor manifestations.

The following image depicts Buddha among the 10 principal avatars of Lord Vishnu:


Caption: Dashavatar: (from left) Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna , Buddha, Kalki. Traditional print.

Yet, another image:


Caption: Temple door depicting the ten avatars, Sree Balaji Temple, Goa. (from leftmost upper corner, clock wise) Matsya, Narasimha, Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Kalki, Vamana, Vithoba as Buddha, Varaha and Kurma.

Evolution and the !0 Avatars:


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashavatara
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vithoba
 
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amoy

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unlike Indians Chinese are very pragmatic and material even in spiritual life.

Tang Dynasty (9th-10th centuries) was the most open and tolerant towards religion. In my province there're relics of almost all religions back then incl Islam and even Zoroastrian (the only one in China). Mosque dated back to Tang, and tombs said to be of disciples of Mohammed. Some of us look a bit Arabic as descendants of merchants/missionaries, via marine Silk Road.

Abrahamic religions as monotheism have been one step forward prohibiting idolatry.

Christianity has been a progressive force in China's modernization and civilization
 
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navida

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I am a Buddhist and I am not offended at all. The person didn't mean to be offensive in his speech. Do you know that the Buddha is also worshipped by mainstream Hindus? In fact, the dude is quite right. For example, take a look at Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Laos; the country technically follows Buddhism but all its ancestral art, architecture shares common grounds with mainstream Hinduism. Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej is Buddhist but every new royal high priest is a Hindu that crowns the next royal in the Vaishnav sect traditions. The reason why Buddhism formed a branch of Dharma was because there were too many wars and mindless killings in those days by kings who were greedy for land and which resulted in too many wars and mob violence. The Buddha taught people how to live an immaterial life and to be one with Nature; to give up material desires for peace and balance and attain Godhood oneself... a principle that is core to mainstream Hindu philosophy.

Unlike the limited politico-religious package that has dogmatic Abrahamic religions in Middle East being rigid, intolerant and expansionist, the core of eastern faiths is very different. You shall find it difficult to understand now but you will eventually. The rituals that your Communist leaders taunt are man-made and don't entail any of its mention in any holy scriptures except mainstream Vedas that has ancient sciences behind it. The key to understanding this deep mystery is to attain knowledge which you can even without becoming on of us. That's the difference between our branch of Dharma and dogmatic Abrahmic faiths.
I was pleasntly surprised to learn that the Thai Hindu priests recite Sanskrit slokas and Tamil Thiruppavai on days of significance for Vaishnavites. Indian religions have always adapted according to the land and tradition. Buddhism in China has taken elements from Confucianism and Taoism. Hinduism in Bali has a lot of animist traditions native to that island.
 

Rashna

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Religions in China should be without foreign influence: Xi

BEIJING: Chinese president Xi Jinping has warned that religions must be independent from outside influence and asked domestic religious groups to pledge loyalty to the state, amid warming up of China's ties with the Vatican after decades of hostility.

Authorities must value the influence of persons in the religious sphere and guide them to better serve for the nation's development, harmony and unification, Xi said at a meeting of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), to realise the Chinese Dream.

"We must manage religious affairs in accordance with the law and adhere to the principle of independence to run religious groups on our own accord. The development of religions in China should be independent of foreign influence," state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying, in apparent reference to Christianity, which is spreading in China without much links with Vatican.

"Active efforts should be made to incorporate religions in socialist society," Xi, also the General Secretary of the CPC, said, adding that religions in China must be Chinese.

Though China is governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, Buddhism and Taoism have struck roots in the country for centuries.

Xi promised to fully implement the Party's policy of religious freedom and manage religious affairs in line with the law.

For the first time in recent history, Pope and the Chinese government greeted each other last year during which Pope was allowed for the first time to fly through Chinese airspace while going to South Korea.

"Upon entering Chinese air space, I extend best wishes to your Excellency and your fellow citizens and I invoke the divine blessing of peace and well-being upon the nation," Pope had said in a radio message to Xi as he flew over the country.

Chinese Foreign Ministry had said that China hopes to conduct constructive dialogue with the Vatican and promote the improvement of bilateral relations strained over differences on administering Churches.

Allowing the papal fly-by shows the Chinese government's courtesy, and is a sign of possible detente, Wang Meixiu, a research fellow with the Institute of World Religion Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences told state-run Global Times.

Wang noted that the main obstacle between the two countries is that the Vatican does not recognise the authority of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

According to recent studies, China has over 52 million Christians, a majority of them Protestants many of them practices their religion in Home Churches due to lack of access to the main Cathedrals whose number was stated to be around 56,000.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...foreign-influence-Xi/articleshow/47372591.cms
 

Rashna

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Christianity is spreading in China, wonder what this means for the chinese religionless society........
 

Rowdy

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It starts infecting China .... this will be fueled by the blind consumerism ..... let us see how much it destroys china......
 

Rashna

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Consumerism in what way? Wedding gowns and white weddings? lol......
It starts infecting China .... this will be fueled by the blind consumerism ..... let us see how much it destroys china......
 

Rowdy

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Consumerism in what way? Wedding gowns and white weddings? lol......
No no ... too much money too fast way ..... I have met a few chinese and they are very happy with ccp except they have doubt that they are losing their 4000yr old culture.
 

amoy

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Sensible statement, though some chinese members here themselves would object :lol: @amoy
On the contrary not objecting to this :biggrin2:
1) Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, Give to God what is God's.
2) All for China's normalizing ties with Vatican

Christianity has played a very positive role in Chinese contemporary history.

Prominent Christians such as - Dr Sun Yat-Sen Father of Republic of China



Chiang Kai-Shek and Soong May-Ling

 

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