Buddhism

The historical evidence does not make it easy to trace the beginnings of Buddhism except that it sprung out of, and shares many basic beliefs, with Hinduism. "During the reign of emperor Ashoka (3rd century BCE) Buddhism became a major Indian religion and was subsequently established across the whole subcontinent and beyond"₂ and is now counted as one of the great world religions₃. It has grown so diverse that it is very hard to define its core nature - in 1913 one scholar pointed out that "in Japan alone it has differentiated itself into thirteen main sects and forty-four sub-sects". Buddhism is a well-liked and respected religion in the West; many attend Buddhist retreats, meditation centres and classes, and western Buddhist communities nearly all run such events for the general public. But in the West many who put "Buddhist" on census forms have merely attended some of these and who have an interest, but are not committed Buddhists, which artificially inflates the numbers.

1. Main Pages on Buddhism
2. Numbers of Buddhists Around the World, by Country
3. Misc
4. Page Index Search

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1. Main Pages on Buddhism

• The Evil One in Buddhism: Māra, the Buddhist Satan (2014)
• Criticisms of Buddhism: Its History, Doctrine and Common Practices (2011)
• Buddhism is an Atheist Religion (2003)

Minor pages:

• The Ethic of Reciprocity appears in many religions. Buddha said 'Let a man overcome anger by kindness, evil by good' - it is the same rule later adopted by Christians as their Golden Rule, by Pagans as the Wiccan Rede and by many others. "Ethics Of Reciprocity like the Golden Rule and the Wiccan Rede Do Not Work" by Vexen Crabtree (2001).
• The Buddhist Emperor Wang Mang was 'probably the first recorded ruler to abolish the slave trade' on "Traditional Religions and Abolition of the Slave Trade" by Vexen Crabtree (2003)
  

  2. Numbers of Buddhists Around the World, by Country

  	TOP 20	2011 Pew Forum1	2005 Worldmapper4	Social & Moral Development Index (Lower is better)
  1	Cambodia	96.9%	85.3%	137
  2	Thailand	93.2%	83%	121
  3	Myanmar (Burma)	80.1%	73.7%	147
  4	Bhutan	74.7%	65.9%	90
  5	Sri Lanka	69.3%	68.4%	122
  6	Laos	66%	43.1%	145
  7	Mongolia	55.1%	22.5%	80
  8	Japan	36.2%	55%	22
  9	Singapore	33.9%	14.1%	38
  10	Korea, S.	22.9%	15.1%	31
  11	Taiwan	21.3%	20.8%
  12	China	18.2%	8.47%	128
  13	Malaysia	17.7%	6.77%	101
  14	Macau	17.3%
  15	Vietnam	16.4%	48.2%	112
  16	Hong Kong	13.2%	10%	12
  17	Northern Mariana Islands	10.6%
  18	Nepal	10.3%	9.49%	142
  19	Brunei	8.6%	9.66%	57
  20	Qatar	3.1%	1.9%	95
  	World		5.91%
  Data Source

  The population of 7 countries are mostly Buddhist (2011)₁. Comparing those 7 country(ies) to the rest of the world:
• Buddhist countries' average life expectancy at birth (69.0yrs) is close to the global average (70.0yrs).₅
• Buddhist countries' average fertility rate is 2.22, compared with the global average of 2.81. Values above 2.1 cause population growth, putting further strain on the Earth's resources. See: The Overpopulation of the Earth and the Demographics Crises: The Impact on Pensions and Immigration.₆
• Buddhist countries' are much poorer than the global average Gross National Income (per capita) of $12 703, with an average GNI of $4 104.₇
• Buddhist countries' scoring on the UN's Gender Inequality Index (0.42) is worse than the global average (0.38).₈. See Religion Versus Womankind.
• When it comes to tolerance of homosexuality and LGBT rights, Buddhists' countries are even worse than the global average, scoring -19.3 on the Social and Moral Development Index LGBT component compared with the global average of -7.3.

3. MiscWilliam James says that Buddhism, like Christianity, is more "complete" than many other religions because it has attempted complex explanations of why suffering exists. See "The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James (1902) [Book Review] and The Problem of Evil: Why Would a Good God Create Suffering?.

4. Page Index Search

The following pages mention this religion. The 10 most relevant are listed:

Criticisms of Buddhism: Its History, Doctrine and Common Practices, 231 times, in the following sections:
    2. Nothing New
    6.1. Buddhism's Part in War and Strife
    6.2. The Inequality of Women
    4. Western Buddhism is Schizophrenic and Shallow
    6.5. The Social Vampirism of Monasteries
    4.4. Real Buddhism is Social, not Individualistic
    5.2. World Rejection
    4.3. The Census Exaggerates Buddhist Numbers
    6.3. Sex Scandals and Cover-ups: the Same as Other Religions
    4.2. The Imbalanced Interest in Selected Practises, Devoid of Rationality
    4.1. The Imbalanced Interest in Selected Rational Texts Only
    1. The Literary Foundation of Buddhism: Divisions and Denominations
    5.1. The First Cause Dilemma: A Fundamental Contradiction
    7. Conclusions
    3. The Buddha Was Not a Historical Person
    6.4. Human Suffering: Paying the Price for the Sins of a Previous Life
    5.3. Buddhist Psychology is Too Idealistic

The Nine Satanic Sins, 15 times:
    6. Historical Progression
    7. Conclusions

Cultural Religion Versus Scholarly Religion, 12 times, in these sections:
    1.2. Examples from Ancient Babylon to the Christian Present
    3. Soka Gakkai: All Believers Excommunicated by the Shoshu Priesthood

Satan and The Devil in World Religions, 12 times, in these sections:
    * Top of page
    2.2. Buddhism (Māra)

Religion Versus Womankind, 12 times, in these sections:
    5. Buddhism and Women
    1. The Dominance of Men in Traditional Religions

Review of 'Varieties of Religious Experience' by William James, 9 times, in these sections:
    * Top of page

Religion and Intelligence, 9 times, in these sections:
    2.4. The Exceptions of Minority Religions

Review of 'The Phenomenon of Religion' by Moojan Momen, 6 times, in the following sections:
    * Top of page

Atheism and Secularism, 6 times, in these sections:
    4.1. Lower-case or Upper-case Atheism?
    * Top of page

Buddhism is an Atheist Religion, 6 times, in these sections:
    * Top of page