There are many reasons why Buddhism is praised by philosophers and people at large. Broadly speaking, they can be summarized as follows:
First, its principles are extraordinarily complex, yet at the same time profoundly integrated and harmonious.
If we are truly talking about reasoning and logic, no religion can surpass Buddhism—not even science. Then why does Buddhism today appear to yield to science? Because the rise and decline of Buddhism depend on the merit (puṇya) of those who study it. When the overall merit of the world declines—when killing karma and greed karma accumulate—people’s spiritual capacity declines as well. Once one’s capacity declines, learning Buddhism becomes impossible.
Many people ask, “So many intelligent people—why don’t they study Buddhism?” Studying Buddhism does not rely on intelligence. In fact, many highly intelligent people do not study Buddhism at all. Why? Because of merit. Studying Buddhism depends entirely on merit. In any case, Buddhist teachings are vast and profoundly deep, and it is precisely for this reason that so many people admire and praise them.
Second, it is non-contentious. Buddhism does not advocate struggle or confrontation; it advocates peace.
From ancient times to the present, there has absolutely never been a war initiated by Buddhism. Buddhism’s attitude toward war is, in fact, extremely passive: when others attack, Buddhists retreat, flee, and do not resist. Why, then, was Buddhism in India eliminated in history? Precisely because Buddhists did not resist at all. When Muslim armies came to kill them, they simply stood there and allowed themselves to be killed, without striking back. As a result, Nālandā Monastery was quickly destroyed by Islamic invaders. Buddhists offered no resistance whatsoever, because their doctrine does not permit resistance.
You can find many stories illustrating this point. For example, while Śākyamuni Buddha was still alive, his own clan was annihilated by the army of King Virūḍhaka. The Buddha was still living—yet his clan was wiped out! Many members of his clan had already attained the first fruition, becoming Arhats (Skt. arhat), and possessed great supernormal powers. If they had chosen to fight, King Virūḍhaka would have been utterly powerless against them. But they did not fight; they simply allowed themselves to be killed. This principle of non-contention in Buddhism has earned the admiration of many wise and compassionate people.
Ultimately, the reasons Buddhism is praised by the world can be distilled into two qualities: wisdom and compassion. Because of wisdom, its teachings are profoundly integrated and complete; because of compassion, it is non-contentious.
Third, Buddhism absolutely does not engage in forced proselytization.
Some religions will beat you if you do not follow them, even killing all non-believers. Buddhism is not like that. Buddhism allows other traditions to exist. It relies only on reasoning and practice, on speaking about genuine results, and does not depend on worldly means such as swords or guns. This, too, is one of the reasons Buddhism is admired and praised by people around the world.
Fourth, because of its capacity to enrich the human mind and its therapeutic, healing quality.
For the human spiritual world to truly flourish, many causes and conditions must come together. When these conditions are lacking, a person becomes dry, withered, and feels that life is empty and meaningless. Buddhism contains many elements that can richly nourish the inner world of the human spirit. At the same time, it has a medicinal quality—that is, a comforting and healing function. Many of the struggles we encounter in worldly life—fighting, competing, striving, arrogance, fear—can be healed once we encounter the Dharma. The Buddha dharma possesses tremendous power, and thus gains the recognition of many people. Of course, its philosophical depth, dialectical rigor, and logical coherence are also great strengths, making it something the world can admire and even envy.
Therefore, in the world at large, there are many people who praise Buddhism. I am not speaking here from a position of Buddhist devotion, nor from the standpoint of Madhyamaka or Yogācāra philosophy. Rather, I am analyzing the phenomenon objectively. Many great figures in human history have praised Buddhism, and this can be found in numerous books. Although there have also been major philosophers and great figures who attacked Buddhism, they are relatively few by comparison.
From many books, it is not difficult to see that if materialism were truly brought into debate with Buddhism, materialism would be utterly powerless. Whether in practice or in theory, it simply cannot compete—like Mike Tyson (American former professional boxer) fighting a baby. Materialism is like the baby; Buddhist theory is like Tyson. Can they really fight? Of course not. One can only pick it up and say, “Oh, how pitiful you are.” But then why does the collective force of those who do not study Buddhism resemble Tyson, while those who study Buddhism resemble babies? Because this is a degenerate age. As the final age arrives, fewer and fewer people possess the merit required to study Buddhism.
Things are still relatively okay for now, but there is already a sense of “a final flicker before extinction.” Do you know what “a final flicker” means? It refers to the last struggle of someone who is about to die—the brief flare of light just before a lamp goes out. Many butter lamps will suddenly flare brightly right before they are extinguished. We are now in exactly such a phase: the light flashes once, and then it quickly disappears. The Buddha already spoke of this more than two thousand years ago—this is called the degenerate age. So it is perfectly normal that many people today do not study Buddhism.
In such a degenerate age, those who study Buddhism are truly rare—and truly remarkable. To uphold a single precept now is equivalent to upholding all the precepts in the Buddha’s age of the True Dharma. To keep the precepts for one day now is equivalent to others keeping them for an entire lifetime. The merit is that great. Why is this so? Because in our time, very few people are able to study Buddhism; even fewer are able to truly absorb it; and fewer still can encounter the genuine Dharma and apply it in practice toward real liberation.
After understanding all this, what thoughts do you have? I personally don’t have much in the way of emotional reactions. At the very least, as Mahāyāna Buddhists, we should do everything we can to spread these great truths—letting as many people know as possible. If you think about restoring conditions to what they were in the Buddha’s time, that is rather naïve. You fail to recognize that today the powerof those who study Buddhism is like that of a baby, while thepower of those who do not study Buddhism is like Tyson’s—the actual situation is completely reversed from what it should theoretically be.
As for those who despise or slander Buddhism, when we have the ability, we can debate with them and try to influence them; when we lack that ability, we should first focus on cultivating ourselves. For example, during movements that persecute Buddhism, how would you help such people? If such anti-Buddhist movements were to reappear, would you still go and “help” those who despise and slander Buddhism? They would certainly “help” you in return—and in a very physical way that reaches straight to the soul. What would you do then? In such circumstances, simply focus on your own practice.
At a certain period in history, many great masters were arrested and thrown into prison. Isn’t there a joke about this? There is a book preserved in Tibet in which a great master wrote that, at a certain time, many the emanations of Gurru Padmasambhava all gathered in one place called Luhuo. What were they doing there? Were they holding a gaṇacakra ? That is literally how it was written. Only later did people finally understand: all those emanations of Guru Rinpoche had actually been arrested and imprisoned there at the same time. This is a joke told by Khenpo Tsültrim Lodrö.
Therefore, in the degenerate age, those of us who study Buddhism simply cannot contend with worldly forces. Of course, from a superficial, temporary perspective, they may appear powerful. But if you compare inner well-being, or the depth of joy and happiness in life, they fall far short. They groundlessly assume that death is simply the end—that once you die, there is nothing at all. But from the Buddhist perspective, what follows death can be extremely tragic.
So, when it comes to those who despise or slander Buddhism, if we are able to influence them, then we should try our best. Also whether you can influence them or not has a great deal to do with your own learning and realization. If your learning is shallow and you lack compassion, and you talk about Buddhist compassion—who is going to believe you? If Buddhism’s vast and profound wisdom is something you yourself do not possess at all, and you fall into superstition at every turn, who is going to believe you?
Take someone like me, with a bit too agile mind. If someone whose head is “full of bumps” comes to lecture me about Buddhism, do you think I wouldn’t slap him? Talking nonsense to me—are you kidding? “Give me your offerings money,” he says, “you go worship the Buddha.” I’d say, “Give me the offerings money instead; I’ll buy you some medicine—you’re sick.” Whatever he says, he can’t out-argue me (this is just an example, fellow practitioners).
For instance, find an elderly lady right now: she stands on the Buddhist side, I stand on the side of an outsider, and I debate her. Try it—I’ll have her speechless in no time. Why? Because she lacks that breadth of knowledge, while I’ve read all kinds of miscellaneous books. So if you want to persuade someone with a relatively developed intellect like mine, what do you need? You need something solid, rich, systematic, and internally coherent. After communication, people who value reason will reflect. If you encounter someone who doesn’t care about reason at all, then there’s simply nothing you can do.
Even in his own time, the Buddha did not liberate everyone. Back then, in Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir), only about one third of the people even knew who the Buddha was. Some non-Buddhists heard that there was an Awakened One, took a look, and then said, “There’s a very tall old monk over there, complete with nine ugly features.” That’s how some outsiders described him at the time. But how do we see the Buddha? As possessing the Thirty-Two Major Marks (Skt. dvātriṃśad-mahāpuruṣa-lakṣaṇa) and the Eighty Minor Marks (Skt. aśīti-anuvyañjana). In that era, if someone lacked such merit, they simply could not study Buddhism; they could not even debate Buddhism. And if they tried to compete in miraculous powers, the moment they did, they would lose.
In our country’s history, there were two major debates between Daoism and Buddhism. Daoism could not prevail through reasoning, so later it turned to competing in miraculous powers. How did they compete? They put their respective scriptures into a fire: whatever burned to ashes was false, and whatever remained intact was true.
The result was that Buddhist scriptures would not ignite at all, while Daoist texts, once tossed in—“boom!”—went up in flames. It was very simple and very direct. The emperor then declared, “What cannot be burned is orthodox.” Clear and straightforward. There was another major debate as well, and Daoism again suffered a decisive defeat. But even after winning through debate and displays of miraculous powers, Buddhism still could not become the state religion, because in Chinese tradition, Buddhism was regarded as something foreign.
So in such circumstances, what should we do? I think that if we are unable to influence others, then we should cultivate ourselves well. Because life after life, we are intimately connected with these people—we can never truly separate from them. If it doesn’t work in this lifetime, we settle it in the next; there will always be some lifetime in which it gets resolved.
Why is that? Because we are correct and they are mistaken. The Buddha dharma we study is absolutely correct, and through studying it we will remain unwavering. As for them, they have no idea what they are doing—one moment falling into hell, the next reborn as animals—enduring endless suffering. Eventually, in some lifetime, they will surrender. Therefore, in situations like this, we need to take a long-term view: if it doesn’t work in this life, there is still the next life.
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
