Here are 30 Interesting Buddhism facts.
1-5 Buddhism Facts
1. Usury, the practice of giving loans that unfairly enrich the lender (e.g., interest), is condemned in most religious texts, including those of Buddhism. – Source
2. Bakhtiyar Khilji, the Muslim general destroyed the ancient university and library of Nalanda in 1193 in hopes of uprooting Buddhism. The destruction of the library is considered responsible for the demise of ancient Indian scientific thought in Maths, Astronomy, Alchemy, and Anatomy. – Source
3. The Dalai Lama said that if science proves an aspect of Buddhism wrong, Buddhism will change. – Source
4. Steve Jobs followed the religion or belief of Zen Buddhism which focuses on meditation to calm and quiet the mind to ‘hear’ your intuition. This reflected later in the simplicity of Apple’s products in ‘quieting’ the design of their products. – Source
5. Buddhism predicts its own demise. We are currently in the second thousand years of the Dharma-Ending stage and there are 9000 years left before all Buddhist teachings have been lost or forgotten. – Source
6-10 Buddhism Facts
6. Only 0.7% of people in India are Buddhists. Apart from the Himalayas and niche locations, Buddhism was virtually extinct in India by the end of the 19th century. – Source
7. The Swastika is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Buddhism dates back at least 11,000 years. – Source
8. About 1000 miles east of the EU, within southern Russia, exists the Republic of Kalmykia, the only region in Europe where Buddhism is the most common religion, most people are Kalmyks descendants of Mongol hordes, and Kalmyk, related to Mongolian, is an official language alongside Russian. – Source
9. Ram Bahadur Bomjon, a Buddhist Monk, meditated for 10 months straight without food or water. To challenge this incredible claim, National Geographic filmed the boy for 5 straight days and nights. He never moved. Supporters of Buddhism consider him the “reincarnation of the Buddha.” – Source
10. Uma Thurman’s father is a world-renowned Buddhism expert. After losing an eye in an accident, he converted to become the first American Buddhist monk. He studied with a young Dalai Lama, has a Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Harvard, and holds the first endowed chair in Buddhism studies in the US. – Source
11-15 Buddhism Facts
11. Buddhism was adopted in the Indo-Greek kingdom up to 200 years before it was spread to East Asia. – Source
12. The question “What is the sound of one hand clapping…” and others like it are known as “koans” and they are fundamental to the history and lore of Zen Buddhism. – Source
13. The Tendai school of Buddhism has an optional seven-year spiritual training program of which only 46 monks have completed since 1885. The penalty for failure is Suicide. – Source
14. Devotion to Ganesha, a Hindu deity, is widely diffused and expands not only throughout India but also to Japan, Tibet and Southeast Asia in some forms of Buddhism; so much that there are more than thirty distinguishable forms of Ganesha in the Japanese iconographic tradition. – Source
15. The Indian emperor Ashoka the Great of the Maurya Dynasty started a war on a neighboring Indian state, and about 200,000 people were killed in the war. After reflecting he converted to Buddhism. – Source
16-20 Buddhism Facts
16. Avicii’s name comes from the Sanskrit word Avici, the lowest Level of the Naraka or hell realm in Buddhism. It is a place for individuals who commit acts so evil they must suffer for up to 10^18 years before reincarnation. – Source
17. Buddhism offers antidotes to laziness. – Source
18. In Tibetan Buddhism funeral procedure, the dead body is dismembered and fed to vultures. – Source
19. Zeena Schreck is a former High Priestess and spokeswoman for the Church of Satan and daughter of its founder Anton LeVey renounced her beliefs in 1990 and later converted to Buddhism. She also works as a counselor helping ex-cult members. – Source
20. 1500 years ago in western China European people called the Tocharians were successful merchants that may have been responsible for the spread of Buddhism to China. – Source
21-25 Buddhism Facts
21. Buddhism has a demon named Mara who embodies the unholy impulses of men. – Source
22. Gautama Buddha wasn’t the only Buddha. In Buddhism, 27 Buddhas exist that are known to have preceded Siddhārtha Gautama (Gautama Buddha). – Source
23. The Fremen, inhabitants of the planet Arrakis, in the novel series Dune are descendent of people who followed a 3rd incarnation of Islam that mixed with Buddhism. – Source
24. The “Laughing Buddha”, or Budai, is not the same as Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. – Source
25. Tibet had an incredibly large Empire that fell because Buddhism caused a Civil War. – Source
26-30 Buddhism Facts
26. According to a Tibetan monastery, Steven Seagal is a tulku, the reincarnation of Chungdrag Dorje, a 17th-century terton (treasure revealer) of the Nyingma, the oldest sect of Tibetan Buddhism. – Source
27. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan lays claim over a district in India that is 66% Buddhist and has been practicing Buddhism for 2000 years. – Source
28. There was a Kingdom in North Western India which practiced a syncretism of Buddhism, and Ancient Greek polytheism. – Source
29. In Buddhism, wrathful deities are enlightened beings who take on wrathful forms in order to lead sentient beings to enlightenment. – Source
30. Buddhism does not believe in a god, but rather on earthly relationships. – Source
