How Buddhism Integrated to the Chinese Society Essay

How Buddhism Integrated to the Chinese Society - Essay Example Buddhism succeeded to integrate to the Chinese society through its branched meditative practices, ethical practices, and theories of psychological, philosophical, and cosmological trends. In addition, Buddhism appealed to the Chinese people through its prospect of the release of frustration, the full development of human potential, with a personal relationship with an intangible and ultimate spiritual reality ("Buddhist Principles, Customs and Manners"). Hence, analytically speaking, the Chinese people accepted Buddhism with its teachings, which come from Siddhartha Gautama (the "awake"), and considered the historical Buddha. The life of the Buddha is rich in legends describing miracles and divine apparitions. But only 300 years after his death it began to be known by text, along with his teachings, with the Emperor Ashoka that the promotion throughout its area and sends missions abroad (Background to Buddhism: A history of Buddhism"). One of the paths through which Buddhism reaches the Chinese people is related to the essence of the Buddha, who is not regarded as a god or even as a divine messenger. It is the symbol of a principle, a thing which cannot be achieved but we must try to sketch by definitions ("Buddhist Principles, Customs and Manners"). ... However, modern Buddhism does not believe in reincarnation in a strict sense, but uses this concept in the form of parable ("Buddhism: What Buddhism is"). This parable says that a person is sentenced to die and return to Earth on the number of times it will take until it has reached the spiritual level necessary to escape from earthly life. Each time he dies he will be reincarnated in a different shape. These suites of reincarnations symbolize what Chinese people are experiencing in their lives ("Buddhist Principles, Customs and Manners"). Thus, according to the Buddhist theory of incarnation, if we drive someone brutal to satisfy our needs, we are reborn into an animal. In a spiritual work, we can kill these horrible things that we are born again and become once more, in a better form (â€Å"Background to Buddhism: A history of Buddhism"). Hence, these spiritual beliefs that are related to the theory of incarnation helped Buddhism to be integrated to the Chinese society. Moreover, for the Chinese people, what seemed appealing in Buddhism is the concept of "Dharma". It is the idea that the universe has meaning and humans have a role to play. There is only one dharma, by definition the same for everyone. Each religion is a light on the nature of Dharma, it teaches men how they should behave. A religion like Buddhism, for the Chinese, bases its teaching on the absolute. This religion teaches that the soul of the dead will live forever ("Buddhism: What Buddhism is"). It gives a specific instruction. It therefore resembles in many points of view other Chinese principles and religions derived from the Bible. What is unique about Buddhism, from the Chinese point of view is that it teaches that nothing is absolute