Re: Why is Buddhism More Accessible in the US
Namaste!
I second much of what others have said. A lot of it boils down to how the two traditions have been presented in academic scholarship. Remember that many of the early Indologists (especially in the nineteenth century) were Protestant Christians, and others tended toward agnosticism or atheism. Hinduism was depicted by them using many of the same terms that had been used to deride, and tapping into many of the same prejudices that many of them held against, Roman Catholic Christianity. So Hinduism became a religion full of "priestcraft" and "idolatry," and basically a medieval holdover. Buddhism, on the other hand, was depicted as the "Protestant" (or enlightened rationalist) counterpoint of Hinduism's Roman Catholicism: serene, rational, and non-theistic. This false dichotomy continues to be perpetuated in new forms to the present day, so young Americans instinctively associate Hinduism with backwardness (or what Rajiv Malhotra calls "caste, cows, and curry"), while Buddhism is progressive and "cool."
A brief anecdote along these lines: As a professor, I used to teach two separate survey courses: one on Hinduism and one on Buddhism. I consistently found that, due to the prevailing stereotypes that we've been discussing, the interesting, spiritual seeker type students who were eager to engage with the material tended to gravitate to the Buddhism course, while the Hinduism course was more heavily populated by bored kids who were simply fulfilling their college requirement to have a course on a non-western culture. This became so irritating to me that I eventually did away with the two-course model and started teaching a single course called "Dharma Traditions," encompassing both (plus Jainism and Sikhism). My attitude, in short, was, "If you want your sweets (Buddhism) then, darn it, you're going to have to take your medicine (Hinduism)!"
The result, exactly as I predicted, is that students now come away from the course with many of their stereotypes dispelled, realizing that Hinduism is far more profound and philosophical than they had thought, and that Buddhism, while also profound and philosophical, is no less populated with deities and rituals than is Hinduism. I knew the spiritual seekers would be every bit as enthralled by Vedanta and the Gita as they were with Buddhism, and that of course proved to be true. In fact, many prefer Hinduism, in the end, to the degree that belief in a personal God is important to them. For many, I think the question of which path to follow, Hindu or Buddhist, comes down to theism.
"One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life." (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
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