Buddhism is not a native religion to any country. It is a religion that  adapts itself to the original religion of a people. When a nation has  many Buddhists, Buddhism  becomes superimposed on the foundational  beliefs of that country, but the foundation remains the same. Once we  understand this, we will understand why Western Buddhists have so many  ideas that did not originate from Buddhism, yet they insist they are  getting them from Buddhism.

For instance, the foundation of India and Sri Lanka is Hinduism, so any  form of Buddhism that exists there coexists with Hindu gods and  practices. The Hindus actually now accept Buddha as one of their many  gods, even though during Buddha’s lifetime he was considered a heretic.  Buddha started out as a Hindu, but then turned away from the Hindu  religion. He did not believe in their caste system, their idols, or  their method of salvation. This is why he “divided religion” as  Buddhists say.

The foundation of Thailand is animism, so Thai monks there are well  versed in black magic, exorcism and superstition. Who ties sacred  threads around the wrists and ankles of people while chanting mantras?  Buddhist monks! Who also gives out lucky numbers and winning lottery  tickets? Buddhist monks! Who makes amulets and mysterious objects for  personal protection? You guessed it. Thais therefore tend to be open to  the supernatural because this is the foundation of their culture.

The foundation of China is actually the worship of “Shangdi”, the God of  Heaven, who is never represented by idols or images, and whose Temple of  Heaven is visited by millions of tourists today. His worship predates  Taoism and Buddhism. The name Shangdi is akin to El Shaddai, the Hebrew  name for the God of the Bible. He is worshipped in exactly the same way –  through blood sacrifice, which foreshadows Christ’s blood shed for us  on the cross. Later Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism were superimposed  on this worship of the monotheistic Supreme Being. The Chinese use many  characters which point to their ancient ancestors’ knowledge of the  Biblical accounts of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the temptation  and fall of the first man, Noah’s Flood and the survival of eight people  on a boat, the atonement of sin through lamb sacrifice, etc. This godly  foundation may account for why, no matter how much Buddhism has  permeated China, the Chinese all over the world readily become  Christian. All of us are truly honoring our ancestors when we worship  the God who created everything in the beginning!

The foundation of Japan is the worship of “Aminominakanushi” whose  inscriptions are on many indigenous and tall altars in Japan. He is a  Tri-une god, one of three, who created the universe and now sits in the  center of Heaven[1]. The Kojiki, Japan’s oldest historical record, has  an account of creation that is almost verbatim like the Bible’s. The  worship of Aminominakanushi was eventually replaced by Shinto – a form  of animism and nature worship. The sun goddess Amaterasu became the most  important kami or god. When Buddhism arrived on Japan’s shores in 552AD  from Korea, Buddhists adapted to the idea of kamis. They considered  Buddha as one manifestation of the kamis. Japan’s most famous monk  Nichiren started preaching his version of Buddhism in 1253 AD. No matter  how many new thoughts came along, Japan has always had a fascination in  creation myths and end-of-the-world stories. These preoccupations are  certainly not Buddhist in their origin. The foundation in  Aminominakanushi may be one reason there was a Christian revival in  Japan in the 1500s and why, according to a Gallup poll in 2006, 40% of  Japanese adults and 51% of Japanese teenagers reported that they have  prayed to Techi-no-Tsukutta - the Creator God.

Now we come to the West. All can agree that the West’s foundation lies  not in Buddhism. So when Buddhism came to the West, it had to build on  another foundation. What is that?

(Please continue in the next Blog….)

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[1] See Daniel Kikawa, God’s Fingerprint in Japan, 2005 film