Buddhism…?

Andie: Buddhism…?
describe what is necessary to represent a genuinely “authentic” form of Buddhism as opposed to some individual or corporate version that has the name of Buddhism but lacks the critically defining beliefs and practices.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Pontius Pilate
The one that wawh-ship Caesar.

Answer by Citizen (Book Club Organizer)
The two undisputed seals of authentic Buddhism are the teachings of impermanence and no self

Answer by BOKO
The precepts of the Sevenfold Path are the defining moments in Buddhist belief. Other systems may be centered around the universality of suffering and the cessation of suffering through the elimination of desire, but these are only pre-conditions for the way to accomplishing this in true Buddhist belief, through discipline and adhering to the Sevenfold Path.

Answer by Officemonkey
As long as they remember the Four Noble Truths, and practice the Noble Eightfold Path, they’re Buddhists in my book.

Answer by bodhi
The ultimate truth is authentic form of budhism and four noble truth,eightfold path,and dependent origination are authentic form of buddhism. It is not religion,but way of life.

Answer by P’ang
You’ve asked a good question, but one that misunderstands core elements of the Buddhist tradition.

It was said that the Buddha resisted creating a written body of “authentic” teaching because the fundamental basis of his teaching was that each person needed to find out the truth for themselves. (Of course, his view didn’t prevent students from writing down some of his teaching (after his death).)

The wisdom of Buddha’s approach has enabled Buddhism to adapt to many different cultures and blend with other spiritual traditions (Tibetan Buddhism and Zen Buddhism resulted from mergers with other traditions).

But what is interesting is that all forms of Buddhism carry forward the basis of Buddha’s teaching, which the Buddha formulated as the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. These teachings have been carried forward by all Buddhist traditions because they are based on facts that can be verified by practice and experience. As a result, any meditation technique, chanting, or even sutra study can lead a practitioner to the same experience of the truth.

Parenthetically, there is really no such thing as “individual” Buddhism. Buddhism lacks a strong hermit tradition and encourages practitioners to come together in a community known as a “sangha.” I think it’s fair to say that there are some “corporate” Buddhist centers in Asia — but these are less a function of a tradition than of a particular center and teacher. (Think about the mega-church phenomenon in Christianity, by way of parallel.)

I hope this information helps you understand this complex issue.