https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/1iguggh/why_buddhism/
created by AtmosphereLoud4882 on 03/02/2025 at 17:24 UTC*
33 upvotes, 49 top-level comments (showing 25)
Lately, I’ve been seriously contemplating Buddhism, which is something I thought I'd never do, given my Orthodox and Catholic Christian background. I started incorporating some Buddhist practices, like meditation and mindfulness, into my daily life, and they've given me inner peace in a way I hadn't felt for a while. So I decided to come here and ask: why Buddhism instead of Christianity, which has been the foundation of my faith, or even Hinduism, which shares some similarities with Buddhism? What is it about Buddhism that speaks to so many people?
Edit: Thank you so much for all the wonderful replies!!! I am sorry to not be able to answer to each one of you individually so I'll thank all of you guys in this edit, you helped me so much!
Comment by GreenEarthGrace at 03/02/2025 at 17:29 UTC
53 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Quite frankly, I think following the precepts makes us happier people. I don't really care what religion somebody identifies as, but I think the precepts make us happier and healthier.
Comment by nawanamaskarasana at 03/02/2025 at 17:30 UTC
36 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It delivers what it promises here and now.
Comment by Type_DXL at 03/02/2025 at 17:36 UTC
31 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's a path that puts salvation into your own hands rather than being left up to some deity to decide.
Comment by prm108 at 03/02/2025 at 17:31 UTC
26 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Very simply because it teaches that you possess all the necessary tools to reduce and eventually end your suffering as well as helping others reduce their suffering. The Buddha just teaches the best and most efficient means of using them.
Comment by Hot4Scooter at 03/02/2025 at 17:43 UTC
15 upvotes, 0 direct replies
From a personal angle: in meeting my Buddhist teachers and other genuinely great Buddhist practitioners, I feel this deep wish *to be like them*.
Hard to say why that is, though. Habit or preference, something like that. But if I'm honest, I think that's really about all we have. Why does Christianity *feel* right to some people, and Buddhism to other people? Or atheism? Or whatever. Of course, practically speaking where and when you are born is a factor, but I don't really there's other reasons that are much "better" that that.
Even "being intellectually convinced" of this or that religious practice is really just another reflection of habit and preference. There are people who are serially intellectually convinced of all kinds of things over the course of their lifetime.
So why be a Buddhist? Because you *want to*. Or to say that in a way Buddhists will like a lot more: because you want liberation and awakening.
You could consider exploring Buddhism a bit. Read some books (today I will recommend *Repeating the Words of the Buddha* by Tulku Urgyen) or maybe even check out whatever authentic Buddhist teachers and communities are available to you in person and online. If you feel any of that pluck a string deep inside of you, feel heartily invited to follow up on that.
And if not, that's fine too!
As some points.
Comment by destructsean at 03/02/2025 at 17:32 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
For me, I never identified with Christianity because I never felt faith. I never believed. It never felt right. And without believing in a creator God, or the divinity of Jesus, there wasn’t a place for me there.
In Buddhism, I find that with each day of practice, I feel and experience the effects and benefits of the path. I’m a better human, my mind is calm, and it just FEELS right.
Comment by ChanceEncounter21 at 03/02/2025 at 18:00 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Because suffering and the desire to end it are universal experiences shared by all beings in existence.
Comment by Staring-Dog at 03/02/2025 at 18:50 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Thanks OP for your post because it's generating very interesting responses. Buddhist practice has brought me peace and resilience like Christianity (Catholicism) never has. I think it's so empowering and thorough. Catholicism had, quite literally, mysteries, and after a while, I was tired of my questions being addressed with "well, only God knows." Buddhism is clear. It's simple. It's accessible. It makes sense. It hurts absolutely no one as it helps us cultivate understanding and love.
Comment by heWasASkaterBoiii at 03/02/2025 at 17:37 UTC
12 upvotes, 1 direct replies
God is smiteful and prone to throw you in hell. The Buddha's dead and can't hurt you but he still had some really good teachings that make life a little more sensible.
Comment by handle2001 at 03/02/2025 at 17:44 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
For me it was quite simple. Christianity says "these are the rules because I say so and I'm god so you have to listen or I'll punish you forever". Buddhism says "hey man, I did a lot of thinking about it and some experimentation and these are my recommendations for how to live with as little suffering as possible. You can try them if you want, but if not that's cool too". The fruits of either path are self evident. One religion has spawned the worst wars and been used to excuse the most horrific acts in our entire history as a species. The other has not.
Comment by htgrower at 03/02/2025 at 17:51 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Because it does what it says on the box, it reduces and eventually completely uproots suffering, as you can see from the peace you’ve found through practice
Comment by kdash6 at 03/02/2025 at 18:16 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My answer: because it works. If it doesn't work for you, that's perfectly fine. Religion shouldn't be forced on anyone. But it works for me, and if it works for you, that's amazing.
Ultimately, Buddhism is concerned with reducing suffering, and helping people become absolutely happy (the kind of happiness that sets root in one's soul, not dependent on external circumstances).
I would even say you could adopt some Buddhist practices and beliefs, and still be Christian. The only thing all Christians believe is "Christ is Lord." That is compatible with meditative practices found in Buddhism. That is compatible with the idea happiness exists within oneself rather than in an external being. If Christianity is important to you and helps you be happy, don't abandon it. Try out some Buddhist practices and see if it works for you. Over time, if you find it does and the teachings begin to appeal to you, that's great, too. If not, that's also fine.
Comment by beetleprofessor at 03/02/2025 at 18:18 UTC*
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You don’t have to make this decision in the way you’re framing it. I still go to a Christian church because there are folks there I like and admire and want to keep knowing, and because it’s genuinely the most diverse community I’ve have access to, including a bunch of queer feminist people of faith who are actively resisting empire and participating in real community. I also go because I find the story of marginalized people struggling under imperialist rule and the character, words and actions of Jesus,m in that setting, to be a consistently deep and relevant topic to engage with.
I go to zen temple for similar reasons: because I love the people there, admire the elders, am deeply moved by the teachings and the stories, and love the overlaps with Taoist thought. There isn’t as much direct talk about patriarchy, capitalism and empire there, but I get that from my Christian community. On the flip side, the thing I don’t get from Christian community, is a clear embodied practice that has huge immediate benefits and even bigger long term ones. The way the precepts are framed is a relief coming from the super complex and often fraught morality conversations in Christianity, and they are thus easier to simply follow, the refuges are deeply moving to me, the practice of Zazen is super impactful on how calm and centered and present I am, and the chanting of sutras and bowing and refuges and oryoki eating and veneration of teachers and ancestors and everything is beautiful and balancing to me.
You don’t have to choose between these communities and practices. You can deeply value and engage in both, or if time is limited, deeply engage with Buddhism, see what you experience, and don’t worry that your abandoning something else in doing so.
Comment by user75432kfdhbt at 03/02/2025 at 17:38 UTC*
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Christians are stuck in what they call sin and have to rely on god to become free of their sin, this only happens after death though. In buddhism a person through this teaching and training can be able to purify their mind from hatred greed and delusion in this very life, so they don't need to wait to die and have god do it. They can live a pure life free of evil deeds.
Buddhism offers the opportunity to become free of suffering in this very life. Or if not, you can get a rebirth in a heaven realm or another rebirth as a human.
Christianity offers heaven. But if you become free of suffering in this life, then you transcend rebirth in any realm - meaning you won't go to hell, won't be reborn as a human and won't go to heaven either.
So in terms of how far this teaching and practice can take you, it's further than what Christianity offers. Christianity can only take you as far as heaven - and not beyond.
Comment by Lightning_inthe_Dark at 03/02/2025 at 18:57 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Because the truth of Buddhism is verifiable in this life.
Comment by thegreyf0xx at 03/02/2025 at 17:32 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
i’m new. only went to guided meditation at the buddhist temple once. but it spoke to me because it’s kind of how i already feel about mental health. i think being mindful is important. my take away about the buddha and the middle path is how i feel we need to be about life….we have to take care of ourselves before we can help others. we can’t be in a state of distress and poor health.
once i read up a bit on it, i realized i already believe certain things in my life. i already had tried meditation. i already practice mindfulness as someone who struggles with their mental health. right now im going thru some things in my life which is why i went to the guided meditation.
i was raised roman catholic. i went on a journey and education about religion. and christianity just doesnt speak to me at all. i dont believe in putting your faith in something else. i believe in putting faith in yourself. i’ve gone on my own journey of creating a life and career that i want. and i guess i was successful. i think it’s just important to be an advocate for yourself and to do what you want. i also firmly believe in intention behind behaviors and actions.
like i said. i think a lot of these things are already fundamentally buddhist which is why i looked into it.
Comment by Top-Confusion-8975 at 03/02/2025 at 19:14 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I am not expert but as a Buddhist I think Buddhism all about real life its yourself Daily life suffer pleasure sadness happiness very realistic thing are taught in Buddhism so everyone have easy way following Buddhism to me, you don't have to worship Buddhism even if your follower of another religion you can still learn about Buddhism
Comment by CeruleanInterloper at 03/02/2025 at 19:21 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The entirety of Christianity is contingent on Jesus being the son of the Jewish god and rising from death (1 Corinthians 15:14). Christianity itself concedes the religion is without merit if their belief turns out to be false.
It is an admission that their religion is ultimately a cult of the dead. One that is not too different from the earlier Hellenic mystery cults, only with harsher, more bigoted penalties for rejecting it.
In a sense, Buddhism is the polar opposite of Christianity. There is no god watching over you, there is a path to escape suffering in this very life, and Buddhism lays out this path.
The philosophy and practices of Buddhism can immensely benefit a follower of any of the world religions.
Comment by Astalon18 at 03/02/2025 at 20:22 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You answered your own question already .. it gives you inner peace.
Also guess which religious founder invented Mindfulness in the way most people are now using it? Yes .. the Buddha.
Neither the Jain text nor the Brahmanic text by the way dispute that the Buddhist were practicing mindfulness as it is currently practiced and were the ones who introduced it.
The Buddhist text in turn never dispute that metta meditation ( good will meditation ) was in fact already practiced by the Jains ( and the Hindus never dispute that either )
In turn, neither the Jains nor the Buddhist dispute that reflective techniques ( ie:- like recollection of virtues etc.. ) were widely practiced by the Brahmins before the Buddhist or Jains.
So in short, if you are talking mindfulness .. well guess which religion invented it.
Just to tell you, one thing at least noble about the Indian religions is that they do not claim what they did not invent. While Buddhist uses mantra, they admit openly the Hindus were practicing it before hand using beads. While most Vaishnavite religions practices mindfulness meditation, they openly admit it is first taught by the Buddha.
For myself, the Buddhist doctrine when practice makes my life more at peace and more stable.
Comment by NangpaAustralisMajor at 03/02/2025 at 20:45 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
For me personally:
1. Buddhism teaches a wholly positive vision of human nature and human capacity. Our natures are fundamentally that of enlightenment, no different than a Buddha. We just cover that with adventitious crap.
The Christian group (cult) I was involved with before becoming a Buddhist taught that we were so utterly contaminated by sin that virtue was impossible. Loving people was just sin. Service was just sin. All we could do is beg for an undeserved forgiveness.
2. Buddhism is wholly positive in its model of the world. All sentient beings are fundamentally enlightened and will become so. All beings actually have a natural affinity for goodness and towards enlightenment.
The Christian group I was involved with was Calvinist and believe it was already determined by God who was saved and damned. From the creation of every being. They also taught that society was fundamentally depraved.
3. Buddhism focuses strongly on the practices of love, compassion, and bodhicitta. There is no mahayana practice without them, and they are the guts of vajrayana practice.
The Christian group I was involved with taught that love and compassion are impossible and their manifestations, like anything else, were just sin. I have subsequently seen it preached that love, compassion, and empathy are actually tools of Satan.
4. Buddhism is practical with skillful means. There are a lot of methods to work with one's heart and mind. Ways of dealing with one's provocations, habits, obstacles. Skepticism and inquiry were encouraged.
The Christian group I was involved with discouraged inquiry and skepticism was a sign of a lack of faith and thus damnation. All it offered was penitent prayer.
5. Buddhism is very pliant and open to modern science, psychology, medicine. There are limits as we see with modern materialist secular Buddhists.
Living in the Bible Belt for decades, I am used to these things being anathema to spiritual practice.
6. Buddhism is very harmonious to the idea of a modern democratic pluralistic society. Park right, pay your taxes, have civic pride and contribute.
Living in the Bible Belt for decades, I am used to the dream of a Christian theocracy. Such a dream is integral to end of times prophecies and the return of Christ.
Of course there are other sects of Christianity that would have suited me better. That wasn't my arc through life. It wasn't my karma.
And there are sects of Buddhism that would have suited me poorly. That also wasnt my arc through life. It wasn't my karma.
So I bounced off some hard core Calvinist dispensational evangelical culty stuff into "religious" vajrayana.
Comment by Mayayana at 03/02/2025 at 20:52 UTC*
2 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Thomas Merton used to say that he was especially interested in Tibet because, "there seem to be more enlightened people coming out of there than anywhere else."
I think my own background is typical. I grew up American in the 60s. My parents were scientific materialist and futurism fetishists. Flying to the moon and the Jetsons. We went to church when I was young, apparently because everyone did. What I experienced there was a women's hat contest that was more boring than anything else in my life. I dreaded it.
As a teenager I encountered Zen books, Jung, Alvin Toffler, Marcuse and various other people looking more deeply at life. I read Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces and that was a revelation. Finally, someone presented a credible explanation for why religion existed. It was a system of wisdom beyond normal life. The very idea of enlightenment was new to me, as it still is for many people. But it made sense. From there I started trying to figure out enlightenment and find books from people who seemed to have an inside track.
Through all this, I saw no sign of wisdom in the world around me. Priests, ministers, teachers... None seemed to be introspective or reflective. No one talked about trying to know God or figure out Lao Tzu. Eventually I was living out of a backpack, doing an extreme fruitarian cleansing diet, seeking ever more intensely, even working as a semi-pro astrologer. There was a general sense of transcendent wisdom that myself and others were exploring. Myself and my friends were constantly pushing boundaries with drugs, sex, books, art, Hinduism... anything that might promise some breakthrough beyond pedestrian neurosis.
Along the way I came across a Tibetan teacher, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In him I saw someone who was presenting a very real and practical path to enlightenment. I didn't need the fruit diet, astral realms, Theosophy, flotation tanks, herbal concoctions... I could practice meditation and study Buddhism in my life, just as it was. I didn't need to wear a robe or go to India. And I found the Buddhist teachings to be stunningly brilliant; sophisticated well beyond the 100-year-old theorizing of Western academics in psychology. Almost as soon as I started meditating, I felt an unequivocal sense that I had finally found a real path.
So for me I'd say it's partly because Buddhism teaches a system of mind training that can break through the "godless" materialism of the modern world, partly because there are actually numerous enlightened Buddhist masters teaching in the West, and it's partly my own personal karma. For whatever reason, Tibetan Buddhism clicked for me.
There is some mysticism in Christianty today. There's Father Thomas Keating who was teaching something like sampanakrama until he died a few years ago, for example. But Christianity seems to be lacking live mysticism for the most part. It also has an obscure, poetic style that I've never found easy to understand. To my mind, Christianity in the West has reached a state of near total dessication, with only the academics and the moralists left to pick over the remains. If there are bodhisattvas and siddhas running Catholic churches, I haven't come across them.
I think it's also worth noting that Buddhism is actually not all that popular. Buddhist meditation has leaked into the mainstream, but it's packaged in pop psychology worldview. What the Buddha taught was a path to enlightenment. It's almost unimaginably radical. And that's all he taught. As you said yourself, you're dabbling and find that meditation cheers you up. There are very few people meditating. Of those that are, the vast majority are using apps or dabbling. Most of the people currently doing something they regard as meditation don't even have a concept of the path to buddhahood, or the Christian corollary of knowing God.
Comment by CassandrasxComplex at 03/02/2025 at 23:23 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm a former Catholic nun, having belonged to a cloistered contemplative community, but after a few years realized that I had too many unanswered questions to be able to stay with them. I entered when I was 19 years old. When I turned 57 I was diagnosed with cancer, had successful surgery, but developed panic syndrome and anxiety. At the same time that I was recovering at home on FMLA, the Tohoku earthquake off of Japan occurred and it was witnessing the steady, calm behavior of those survivors and their background in Buddhism that made me look to it for help. Eventually I began to investigate Tibetan Buddhism because, if a highly adept yogi/yogini can control their own body temperature despite the freezing cold, I figured it could also give me the wisdom and training to rid myself of panicking. I haven't yet studied the Six Yogas of Naropa, but I don't need to now, as my depression and anxiety lifted last year and I was able to go off medication. Some philosophies are older and deeper than others and have figured out how the mind works. These are heavy subjects that a "blind faith" religion can't possibly handle.
Comment by Frequent-Holiday-469 at 03/02/2025 at 18:26 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Their mindset matches my mindset more so than Christianity.
Comment by LouieMumford at 03/02/2025 at 18:34 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It’s the only religion that has a coherent answer to western philosophical nihilism. Christianity and the other Abrahamic faiths (which I was raised in) or “Hinduism” (which is too broad to classify as a single unified faith) simply do not.
Comment by The_Koan_Brothers at 03/02/2025 at 19:49 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It‘s been tried and tested for 2500 years, to name an obvious reason.
It’s more of a practice than a religion. It’s not about believing, it‘s about experiencing and ultimately knowing
At least that is the case in my tradition, Zen.