Why do people in the West always think Buddhism is the answer...

I live in a country where many people practice it, and I have been to many temples and such throughout Asia and I really mostly see alot of incense burning and kneeling before statues of various ancient kings, spirits, landowners, etc... It's not like you go to a Buddhist temple and there are hundreds of monks sitting in the lotus position searching for enlightenment...HAHA!!! :Smokin: In the temples I have been to, all of the monks are selling little doo-dads and asking for donations.

I remember this time in Jiuzhaigou (I believe it is in Northwestern Sichuan province extremely close to Tibet) when I climbed up this mountain for four hours to get to the top. At the top they have this huge temple that was built over a number of years of workers carrying all this material up this huge mountain. There was a monk standing in front of the main hall of the temple banging on a gong, smokin a cigarette, saying, "Give me money! Give me money!"

Is that how you picture Buddhists? Don't leave one religion behind and escape to another one until you do real world research and aren't just living off the image inside your head...

I also see a lot of Buddhists here who are perpetually afraid of ghosts and spirits. They always leave offering of fruit and such at the door and burn incense and chant and such not in an attempt to find enlightenment but in an attempt to ward off evil spirits and bring in good luck and money.

The pictures are of Jiuzhaigou. Enjoy! :smokin: