Why did people become buddhists?
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I was born in an Hindu Family in Rural Area and worked hard to get Higher Education in the form of Engineering in Computer Science.
I was the same Deity Follower and had faith in Almighty God till 2011 as millions of Indian have. It was the happiest moment in my Life, Family & Relatives when I got a Job as Software professional and joined a Multi-National Company in 2011.
I have been a Regular Scholar in Learning Social Structure, Cultural & Religious Backgrounds of the Countries specially where I born (INDIA) through Books, Blogs, Articles, Biographies of the Legends in Social Engineering and off-course the incidents & situations in my Daily Life. I came across many Incidents of Life which enforce me to think about the Reality & Root cause behind them. I found myself matching with the same Reality which I read in the Literature Works & Biography of Legends like Gautam Buddha, Dr. B R Ambedkar, Periyar Ramaswamy, Jyotiba Phule, Great King Ashoka and many more. I disaffiliated Hindu Dharma in 2017 and accepted Buddhism after studying various Religions. I am depicting the Reasons why I chose Buddhism:
I was the same Deity Follower and had faith in Almighty God till 2011 as millions of Indian have. It was the happiest moment in my Life, Family & Relatives when I got a Job as Software professional and joined a Multi-National Company in 2011.
I have been a Regular Scholar in Learning Social Structure, Cultural & Religious Backgrounds of the Countries specially where I born (INDIA) through Books, Blogs, Articles, Biographies of the Legends in Social Engineering and off-course the incidents & situations in my Daily Life. I came across many Incidents of Life which enforce me to think about the Reality & Root cause behind them. I found myself matching with the same Reality which I read in the Literature Works & Biography of Legends like Gautam Buddha, Dr. B R Ambedkar, Periyar Ramaswamy, Jyotiba Phule, Great King Ashoka and many more. I disaffiliated Hindu Dharma in 2017 and accepted Buddhism after studying various Religions. I am depicting the Reasons why I chose Buddhism:
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Leaving aside those who are simply born into one of the Buddhist traditions, many others choose to follow the path discovered by the Buddha some 2500 years ago. What brings them to this decision is certainly a fair question to ask in this modern time of ours, especially in light of the fact that “Buddhism” has made wide inroads in the West. (I have put “Buddhism” in quotation marks because it has the ring of an organized religion. I prefer the Dharma. This term refers to the teachings of the Buddha regardless of whether they are part of any of the multitude of different “Buddhisms” with their various colorful, cultural traditions.)
An outstanding example of someone consciously adopting the Dharma is that of Dr. Ambedkar, the revered Indian social reformer. Born into Hinduism, Dr. Ambedkar was troubled by what he saw as the enormous social ills of the India of his time (early to mid-20th century). He opposed discrimination against women and child marriages. He sought for a way to stamp out a pernicious caste system that condemned millions of Untouchables to lives of predestined misery. In 1956, Ambedkar converted to Buddhism by formally adopting the Five Precepts and Three Refuges. He then led half a million Untouchables in a first mass conversion. (Other mass conversions took place after his death.)
Clearly, Dr. Ambedkar recognized the liberating power of the Buddha’s teachings. They simply made sense in a society steeped in superstitions and benighted traditions. His story reminds me of a statement by a Western teacher who was asked why he had chosen Buddhism. He answered, “because of the sheer sanity of it.”
As a personal note, it was the emphasis on caring for all of nature and all beings, and on striving for freedom from greed, anger, and delusion that led me to study the Buddha’s path—and to follow it to the best of my human ability. I see these goals as the only way to save the Earth and all of her inhabitants.
An outstanding example of someone consciously adopting the Dharma is that of Dr. Ambedkar, the revered Indian social reformer. Born into Hinduism, Dr. Ambedkar was troubled by what he saw as the enormous social ills of the India of his time (early to mid-20th century). He opposed discrimination against women and child marriages. He sought for a way to stamp out a pernicious caste system that condemned millions of Untouchables to lives of predestined misery. In 1956, Ambedkar converted to Buddhism by formally adopting the Five Precepts and Three Refuges. He then led half a million Untouchables in a first mass conversion. (Other mass conversions took place after his death.)
Clearly, Dr. Ambedkar recognized the liberating power of the Buddha’s teachings. They simply made sense in a society steeped in superstitions and benighted traditions. His story reminds me of a statement by a Western teacher who was asked why he had chosen Buddhism. He answered, “because of the sheer sanity of it.”
As a personal note, it was the emphasis on caring for all of nature and all beings, and on striving for freedom from greed, anger, and delusion that led me to study the Buddha’s path—and to follow it to the best of my human ability. I see these goals as the only way to save the Earth and all of her inhabitants.
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