Expert: Joe McSorley - 3/1/2004

Question
Hi,
I'm a student studying eastern religion at a high school level
and I would appreciate some answers to a few questions.

1. How (if at all) has buddhism adapted from ancient times
to make it more usable in our modern world?

2. How would you describe the differences between Taoism
(or Daoism) and Zen Buddhism or Confucianism?

3. From a Buddhist's point of view, how hard or easy is it to
separate politics from religion?

4. How important is the worship of idols?

5. What texts do you consider the most important?

6.  What do you think is the best quality of Buddhism?

7. How long and in what manner have you practiced or
learned Buddhism?

I will be really thankful for your help; I hate to sound pushy,
but a reply whithin 30 hours would be great for my grade.

Thanks so so much,
Charles Fredricks

Answer
1. How (if at all) has buddhism adapted from ancient times
to make it more usable in our modern world?
There are many types of Buddhism so it's hard to give a definitive answer here.  In general I would have to say that Buddhism has no problem with modern times or science.
Since it does not have dogma, creed or faith it is not bound by some ancient mores.   Buddhism teaches that all things are impermanent and everything changes.


2. How would you describe the differences between Taoism
(or Daoism) and Zen Buddhism or Confucianism?
  
In one sense Buddhism and Taoism are completely separate and arose independently of each other in India and China, respectively.  Though they are historically and culturally different they both come to the same point at their depth.  In the truest sense of the word neither of these are religions, they are an attempt to answer existentially fundamental questions about the human condition.  There is no god, dogma, creed or faith to any of these philosophies.  Buddhism is call the religion of self-awakening, meaning that in is incumbent upon the individual to come to their own awakening through their own efforts.  There is no savior or god to help one here.  
 There are many sects of Buddhism that vary greatly from one another.  Many of the more popular sects are more like what we think of as religion.  They worship the historical Buddha as godlike and pray to him for help but this is not at all what the historical Buddha taught.  Zen and Mahayana do not do this at all and some argue that Zen is the closest to the original teachings.   There are many very structure schools of Buddhism but it is really the individual's effort and not the ritual or chanting that brings one to awakening.
   At their core Zen and Taoism could be said to be identical but in their practice are vastly different.  Lao Tzu envisioned his writings to guide the rulers to become ‘emperor sages' that they would rule in harmony with nature and man.  Chuang Tzu is much deeper than Lao and in his writings tries to explain the relativity of things, man in particular, and the interpenetration of things.  There are no real formal schools of Taoism and it's articulations today go from to harmonious to bizarre.  There is a thread that some Taoists follow to be ‘all natural' and anything synthetic or man made is wrong.  Some of these folks feel that passing gas, belching and all other ‘natural' forms of being human should never be controlled but expressed fully.  It's an odd interpretation to me.  One teacher actually said to me “We Taoists piss in the yard”.   The problem with the anti-societal thinking is that society is natural.  Insects, elephants, wolves and chimps have social structures and behavior they adhere to so it is consistent with nature for man to do the same.  Taoism, as taught today, is also caught up in magic and alchemy.  There are little of the real teachings of either Lao or Chuang in it.  It is very difficult to ‘follow' Taoism for this reason.
 Here is an overview of Buddhism's foundation:
Technically speaking Buddhism is not a religion; it is not theistic and does not have an external means of salvation.  In Buddhism one's awakening and redemption is all through self-effort alone.  Historically speaking Buddhism came about because of the life of the Prince Siddhartha, who when coming upon suffering, sickness and death, wanted to find an answer to the cause of suffering for humans.  He tried to lose himself in the pleasures of the world but found no solace.  He then became an ascetic and this too yielded no answers.  After many years of searching and frustration he finally sat under a tree and declared that he would not move until he understood the solution.  According to legend, several days later as he glanced up at the morning star his mind became clear and he was enlightened.  From this he postulated the Four Noble truths of Buddhism:
Life (human) is dukkha . (Suffering, with no apparent cause), There is a cause for the suffering. ( avidya or ignorance.), the cause can be abated, and there is a path ( Margo yoga).  What the crux of this is that our minds do not see reality clearly, we do not know who we are, both to ourselves and in relation to the universe.  The cause for this is ignorance of ourselves as egos that blinds us to seeing beyond ourselves.  This can be remedied.  And there are many ways to do this, such as yoga, contemplation, self-examination, etc.  When one realizes the true nature of reality, often called ‘seeing things as they are', one has an identical experience to the historical Buddha so there is no hierarchy.  The word ‘buddha' means ‘awakened one' so anyone can become a buddha.  As Buddhism evolved through the centuries there have been many different sects arising.  Therevada is not unlike western religions as they revere the historical buddha as godlike and pray to him.  They have many rituals and prayers, gods, saints and icons.  Mahayana and Zen Buddhism do not ascribe to these practices and strive for a direct awakening.
    Again, in Taoism, the object is to overcome the self and become harmonious with Nature.  This overcoming of the ego could be said to be the same as overcoming the self in Buddhism and ‘seeing things as they are'.  From this standpoint Tao, the way, and Buddhism may be said to be identical.



3. From a Buddhist's point of view, how hard or easy is it to
separate politics from religion?
 It's according to how you define politics and religion.  It should not be a problem if the politics are moral.  Again, there is no dogma or creed to worry about conflicting with.

4. How important is the worship of idols?
Unimportant and silly.

5. What texts do you consider the most important?
Original teachings of the Buddha, the Tao Te Ching and The Inner Chapters

6. What do you think is the best quality of Buddhism?
 Compassion for all beings.

7. How long and in what manner have you practiced or
learned Buddhism?
 Studied academically for 14 years.
 I practice it by writing this letter.

Take care,
 Joe