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

[Richard Hayes]

On Wednesday 28 February 2007 18:53, Vicente Gonzalez wrote:

> 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.

This reminds me of a question my father once asked: "How many people do you 
suppose a person my age has met in his lifetime?" Sounds like a reasonable 
enough question, but then when you stop to figure out what counts as having 
met someone, it gets complicated. Does exchanging a greeting with someone in 
an elevator count? Does exchanging an e-mail with someone count? Does seeing 
the same person every morning at the bus stop and exchanging an occasional 
smile count? Must one be formally introduced to someone to have them count as 
someone one has met? If so, do you remember who formally introduced you to 
your mother? 

Now in a similar way, the question of who counts as a Buddhist is perhaps even 
more complicated. (Over on the Unitarian-Universalist Buddhist Fellowship 
list, people agonize at some length about who gets to say truthfully "I am a 
Buddhist.") In the final analysis, I think any attempt to put a figure, even 
a very approximate one, on the world's Buddhist population is an exercise in 
futility. Almost always such attempts to do so represent some sort of 
political agenda. 

For example, the point of the Vipassana Foundation web site seems to be to 
claim that Buddhism has at least as many followers as Christianity and Islam. 
Therefore, Buddhism is not (contrary to what many people say) a religion with 
a bright past but a dim future; au contraire, it is the way of the future. 
That claim may make some people feel good, but is it true? Is it even a 
meaningful claim?

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico