aOriginally posted by MetamorphosisIt would be interesting to compare numbers of converts of eastern
Yes, one of the main strengths of Eastern spiritual teachings is that the focus is mostly on simply undertaking certain practices (like meditation), with the aim of realizing one's natural wisdom and clarity.
No Eastern teaching exhalts its founder or chief deity as the "sole God", or the "only true God", etc. The Buddha is regarded as an Awa ...[text shortened]... es them from the whole conqueror's mindset, whether that be on political or philosophic levels.
philosophies vs judaism/christian/islam, comparing those with
prosletyzing missionary mandates vs those without. So it is possible
for a religion to grow without missionary mandates, a much more
advanced way to grow.
Originally posted by sonhouseAn interesting case in point is Tibetan Buddhism. When China overran Tibet in 1950 and annexed it in '59, many of the top Tibetan Buddhist lamas (teachers) fled the country to Nepal or India, and later on to Europe and North America. They eventually did develop an outreach program, mostly via the publications of their teachings and the establishment of Dharma centers around the world, but they never proselytized nor actively sought recruits. They simply waited for people to read their literature and visit their centers, and many in fact did, though never in overwhelming numbers.
It would be interesting to compare numbers of converts of eastern
philosophies vs judaism/christian/islam, comparing those with
prosletyzing missionary mandates vs those without. So it is possible
for a religion to grow without missionary mandates, a much more
advanced way to grow.
Even more to the point, the well known Vietenmese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh has explicitly told people to "stay with the religion you were born into", but any who approaches him he will happily teach the tenets of Zen Buddhism, and has done so for many decades. He himself was expelled from communist Vietnam long ago for refusing to renounce Buddhism. Ironically, his expulsion, as with China's annexation of Tibet, ended up being some of the reasons behind Buddhism's growing popularity in the West over the past few decades. That, and the Dalai Lama's consistent refusal to engage in any sort of militant resistance against the Chinese.