I was doing some research online and found out that in India less than .08% of the population practices Buddhism (according to their 2011 census), the birthplace of Buddhism has such a low percentage of people who still practice it. Once I found that information I had to look at percentage of Catholics in Israel, according to some sources 1.5% of the population. Mathematics is interesting and percentages can be misleading .08% of the population in India is about 8 million people, while 1.5% of the population in Israel is only about 200,000 people. I started to do the same for Islam, but stopped after learning that in Saudi Arabia (birth of Islam ) it is against the law to practice any other religion (non-Muslims are allowed in the country, but are not allowed to practice their religions), and that all citizens are required by law to be Muslims. Non Muslisms are not allowed in Mecca and in most areas of Medina.

I started to search for those statistics about India to compare it to China, Korea (Both North and South), and Japan, where Buddhism has played a great role in their history. In China's about 18.2% of the population (in 2010) practices Buddhism, it is about 245 million people. In South Korea (could not find information on North Korea) about 22% of the population (in 2010) practices Buddhism, it is about 11 million people. Japan has a larger percentage with 36.2% of their population (in 2010) practicing Buddhism, almost 46 million people.

In 2010 China had about 46% of all the world's Buddhist population, followed by Thailand with about 12%, Japan in third place with abouth 9 %, South Korea was in 8th place with about 2% of all the world's Buddhist population.

The reading was really informative. I found it very interesting how Buddhism changed as it spread to various countries in East Asia. It is fascinating to see how Buddhism incorporated local teachings and customs of the various locations. One assignment I think would be fun for my students is to compare various religions and how they adapted and changed as they spread to various regions. These articles demonstrate that process with Buddhism in East Asia. Similar adaptations took place in Christianity, and Islam as they spread to various places. In all of these religions the core concepts were maintained while accepting new customs and traditions of the new believers.

I enjoyed both the readings and the Saturday morning lecture. One area that I found particularly interesting was the evolution of Buddhism as it encountered different cultures. I was also interested to hear how the geography of Buddhism shifted over time. The lecture, in particular, was a succinct example of how religious trends also represent myriad other social factors. The evolution of Buddhism and Buddhist practices in South and East Asia could be a great lens to use with students as they study the regions' histories. This would help see how beliefs and cultures evolve by tracing a very specific topic. 

The history of Buddhism in China is so interesting because it is so interconnected with so many other things in history. I believe the history of china in general is complicated because, like the history of any country, there are so many factors to consider. However, they do not line up in this neat time line. You have the dynasties and separation and union of the country, this is ongoing throughout most of the history of china (the fact that we even know this is amazing, I wish we knew more about the native Americans). Then you have the religious schools of thoughts that interconnect with these dynasties but it is almost as if you’re going back and forth, like how Daoism played a part in shaping how Buddhism was introduced to China. Not to mention the connections with neighboring countries and the roles that plays. For example, the spread of Buddhism because of the silk road. While initially this sounds a bit overwhelming, it also leaves so much room for integration.

Hi Dan, I also noticed that. Buddhism shifted over time because of the changes in the cultures and times. This is definitely reflected in the fact that women were the first monastic authorities of Buddhism in Japan and as perspectives toward women change so do the practices and rituals to the point that women are eventually pushed out and are no longer allowed to participate in these duties because of the view of women's bodies.  They were not permitted to be part of the rituals or step into sacred sites such as temples. 

Hi Amy.  I have also been thinking about comparisons between other religions and Buddhism for a lesson.  After group research with help of a graphic oranizer, students would lead a class discussion about the comparisons of Buddhism to Christianity.  They would ask each other questions, keeping in mind some of the following big questions:

How do you achieve nirvana in Buddhism? How would you compare this to Christianity?  What belief does it compare to?

Mindulness is a widely popular practice in today's world.  How does it compare to the early mindfulness and meditation practices?

I reallly enjoyed how Professor Meeks gave a little biographical information about Gautama Siddhartha (ca. 484-404 BCE)-   explaining how be became the enlightened being that was so important in that religion.  She gave a little information about his uprbringing and how he paved the way for the Four Noble truths :

• Life is suffering

• The arising of suffering is thirst

• The ceasing of suffering can be achieved through nirvana

• The path leading to nirvana is the Noble Eightfold Path.

• Buddhism in and of itself would have to be summarized in a lesson for my students to understand.  We have a restorative Justice activity every day and we would be able to implement some aspects of Buddhism in our lessons everyday, particularly using the classroom mindfulness framework.    After we discover wht Buddhism is, and we learn a some background information- ideologies, biographical information about the Buddha we can then take about what are some of the practices we can learn from this theory/rhetoric that can impact our lives in a positive way.  

• I think Mindfulness is a great tool to be extracted from the teachings of Buddhism and into the classroom.  I have a great ideal for a lesson and cnat wait to teach it!  

• "Be a the Buddha for a day"!