Buddhism is not temples and bells and cushions on the floor. It is not statues of the Buddha or of the Bodhisattvas. Buddhism is not mala beads and garments. It is not the things we sew onto our clothes.
Buddhism is not incense or Dharma names, be those names Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, or Sanskrit.
Buddhism is how we live our lives. It is what we think and how we speak and what we do.
Buddhism is the Four Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Three Marks of Existence, the Four Noble Abodes, Cause and Effect, and Dependent Origination.
Buddhism is Compassion and Wisdom.
The Buddha did not create a religion, an ‘ism.’
The Buddha offered tools. He did not offer a game where we dress up in weird clothing and take on strange names and speak in odd way. He did not create a place to hide from the world and engage in fantasy role-playing.
The tools were, and are, offered for the honest discovery, the honest understanding, and the honest living of Truth, Reality.
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