The Relevancy of Buddhist Thought in Modern Spirituality, Essay Example

Introduction

Buddhism is often described as a religion, while it is also a lifestyle that can help people of modern times understand the world better. Buddhism, indeed, is practiced by several celebrities and the meditation practices, philosophy associated with the religion is becoming extremely popular in the eye of a 21^st Century person.

Wallace (35) points out the trend of “a high degree of eclecticism in Western Buddhist ideas and practices with those who combine Buddhist ideas with their personal beliefs and preferences”. This indeed indicates that Buddhism might be a religion, but it is also a way of thinking, knowing the world, and therefore, it is a system that is open for everybody. The restrictions of the religion are much weaker than other Western value systems’, therefore, it is a universal method to experience spirituality, as well as a belief system. This brings us to the proposed thesis statement of the current research:

Thesis statement: While in original, Asian Buddhism the role of women is less important than Men’s, the westernization of Buddhist thoughts have gone through, today women have the equal level of importance, and there are no differences in genders in their journeys towards Nirvana.

It needs to be noted that women were not fully excluded from religion: indeed, Buddha was approached his stepmother to establish an order of nuns (Lopez 85). The authors would like to review the role of Buddhism’s westernization, the creation of modern Zen Buddhist centers, the role of traditional values and principles in the light of gender roles, perceptions in modern Buddhism (Belak 34). The dramatic shift towards the liberalization of the religion did not only impact the philosophy of the religion, but also its views on the equality of genders. (Gross) As Ikeda (online)  puts it: “the images of “masculinity” and “femininity” we have in our consciousness are deeply influenced by cultural traditions that have developed over long periods of time”. The investigation of the background, motivations and features of this shift will form the main topic of the essay.

Works Cited

Belak, B.  Gathering Strength. Women From Burma on Their Rights. Chapter 3. Social Roles & Gender Stereotypes. 2002. Print.

Gross, R.  Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, And Reconstruction Of Buddhism. 1992. Print.

Ikeda, D. Gender Equality in Buddhism. SGI. N.D. Web. Accessed: 27 Jan. 2014.

Lopez, D.  Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press, 1995. Print.

Wallace, A.  A spectrum of Buddhist practice in the West. In: Prebish, C., Baumann, M. (eds.) Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia. pp. 51-65 2002. Print.