Buddhism In America Essay

According to the Statistic Brain Research Institute, 77% of Americans regularly experience physical symptoms caused by stress, 73% regularly experience psychological symptoms caused by stress and 33% feel that they are living with extreme stress. Now, those are high numbers. But, what do you expect? Americans are overscheduled, overstimulated and generally in need of anything that might cultivate a sense of internal calm. In a world of turmoil, it’s no wonder that a religion like Buddhism would seem so appealing to the average America. Unlike most other religions, it specifies the ultimate cause of suffering, how to end it and the path to nirvana, a buddhist term for a state of happiness and peace. Buddhism continues to grow in the United States right behind Christianity, Judaism and Islam as one of the largest religions. So, I wanted to find out what all of the hype was about. I was originally going to not use technology for ten days, but that seemed pointless. I wanted to pick a project that I

Traditionally, yoga is not a mandatory principle of Buddhism, but the two commonly overlap. They evolved in the same spiritual Indian culture and now, have adapted their principles to fit the modern American culture. So, I attended yoga classes everyday for ten days. Just like my meditation, it was a rough start. My first class was yogalates, which was a small room of sixty, sweaty people. Wasn’t yoga supposed to be similar to meditation? Isn’t it supposed to be peaceful? This class was the furthest thing from peaceful. But as I found my bearings, I began to enjoy yoga. Having played tennis my whole life, it was refreshing to exercise without worrying about trying to do a better downward dog than the person next to me. I’m naturally very competitive and old habits die hard, but yes, if you were wondering, my downward dog is usually always better than the person next to