[Buddha-l] Buddhism, the second largest religion in the world

[Vicente Gonzalez]

Richard Hayes wrote:

RH> Which dates? The only dates I saw were the birthdates of people like Bhante
RH> Gunatatana, Ven. Karunadharma and Thich Nhat Hanh, all of which agreed with
RH> dates I've seen published for those same people elsewhere.

sorry for misspelling. Not dates but data.

RH> What troubled me was that I took the test to see whether I agree with the
RH> teachings of Buddhism and somehow managed to flunk it. There were nine
RH> questions, and one has to answer five of them affirmatively toqualify as a
RH> bona fides Buddhist. I answered three only affirmatively, and either was
RH> undecided or answered negatively on the other six. What a substandard test!

yes, these test are not very scientific.
* question 9: "Sometimes it is best to let things happen, rather than
trying to force certain things to happen."

no human being can disagree. To avoid a vast number of phenomena; from
the bad spaghetti until hemorrhoids. 

RH> By the way, I think the estimates of the number of Buddhists in the world is
RH> wildly exaggerated on that web site. Not only that, but their reasoning is
RH> about the worst I have ever seen. About the only thing I can conclude from
RH> this website is that Vipassana practice must lead to severe brain damage.

maybe, but the question arises when one thinks in Taiwanese Buddhist
are 93% population. Today Buddhism grows quickly in China.
I ignore the real numbers. Just I wonder if really the Chinese people
of mainland they must have a different picture for a close future (or
maybe already now) than those of the island.


best regards,