Buddhism is a religion with half a billion practitioners. 99 percent in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Western world, it is associated with meditation and philosophy, and is described as a religion without gods and magic. Is that true? Meditation is extremely unusual. Most Buddhists do not meditate. I would say that Buddhism as a philosophy is a construct. This other thing is Buddhism. What then is "this other"? And how is Buddhism practiced today? We know little about the person said to have founded Buddhism. Not even if he existed. According to legend, Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born in India - several hundred years before the birth of Christ. It was clear early on that he was no ordinary prince . Immediately upon his birth, the gods welcomed him. Then he walked seven steps and proclaimed that he was superior. It should be borne in mind that the legend does not describe actual events. As a prince, he lives a comfortable and protected life. But he leaves his bubble and sees the horrors that await us all: Illness, old age and death. It will be an eye-opener. He realizes that he has been living in an illusion. He sets out in search of answers to his existential questions. He does this among the new movements that existed at this time. Ideas about the vicious cycle, which leads to nothing. Only new rebirths. You want to reach something beyond this, liberation. The cycle is called samsara. How we are reborn is governed by our actions, our karma. The goal is to be liberated and avoid rebirth. To reach nirvana. Siddharta tests several methods. For example, living as a self-effacing ascetic. It makes him emaciated and thin-haired, not happier. He concludes that abundance does not make us happier. Nor from poverty and hunger. Instead, we should follow the golden mean. This will be the breakthrough. He sits down to meditate under the Bodhi tree. There he gains the insights that make him a buddha, an awakened one. Other people are in a sleeping state. But he has come to realization, therefore he is an awakened person. He is urged by the god Brahma to spread his message. Because now Buddha is not an ordinary person. There are gods in myths. But he stands above the gods and goddesses. He could fly, see into the future, and walk on water. He could create copies of himself, who could preach in his absence. But Buddha Gautama is neither the first nor the last Buddha... but one of many. He shares his insights on how nirvana is possible to achieve. These insights are the Four Noble Truths. The first is that life consists of suffering. We face illness and death, and nothing lasts forever. Everything is changeable and fleeting. There is no soul. Everything is a seesaw that changes. The second truth is that suffering is due to the thirst for life, our desires. We dream of happiness, love and eternal life. These desires bind us to samsara, the vicious cycle. The attachment to things, to the idea that I have a self... is the reason I remain in the world and suffer. But the third truth says that the thirst for life can be quenched. Only then can we see the world as it is. Fortunately, the Buddha has a solution, the Fourth Noble Truth. We can reach nirvana if we follow the eightfold path. But Buddha doesn't require it, if you don't want to. It's up to me. It's more a matter of me getting worse karma and rebirth if I don't. Are the Four Noble Truths and the pursuit of nirvana what most Buddhists aim for in life? Is that the core? A fairly common understanding in the West about Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths and meditation. It's about how I live a good life. Then maybe that's not the important thing to think about. What is important then? It is different for different Buddhists. To simplify it, we can imagine all the practitioners in the world as a three-level pyramid. In each level, the focus is on different ways of practicing religion. The higher up, the fewer practitioners... but the more religious power. At the very top, in the smallest part, we have donuts. To some extent nuns. They are the intellectual, ritual specialists. They perform rituals. They can write texts. And sometimes they meditate. Monks and nuns are not allowed to work. They depend on donations from lay people, other Buddhists. In exchange for their gifts, they receive better karma. A mutual relationship that is very important. That takes us into the second level of the pyramid. Some have called it Karma Buddhism. One improves one's karma to obtain a better rebirth - -in the human or divine world. Like handsome, rich. Whatever it may be that is better than the current one. Improving one's karma is important for monks and nuns. It's not always just about the action itself, but also about your intention. The same type of action can produce different results. For example, stabbing someone in the stomach. For a doctor at the operating table, the intention is to save lives. But if I come into a dark alley and want your wallet, the intention is to harm and bring negative karma. In the third level, where the vast majority of people are, the focus is on divinities. Most Buddhists go to a temple. They make offerings to gods and goddesses. People worship various holy people to achieve good things in this life. For the majority, divinities and magic are important. Also spirits, ghosts, ancestors and Buddhas. And bodhisattvas. If you look at bodhisattvas. We could consider them as gods. They can change one's karma. They can help with illnesses or with money. There are also creatures that wish you harm and can make you sick. There are a variety of repellent rituals to protect oneself from evil influences. Many people approach Buddha statues with offerings in the form of flowers. And you can offer rice and water. Buddhism can be practiced in many ways. But there are common guidelines that most Buddhists share. There is a common belief: Taking refuge in the Three Jewels. The first is the Buddha, the second is the dharma, the teaching, and the third is the sangha, the community. But I usually say it in Tibetan: To the Buddha, the Dharma, and to the Sangha... I take refuge until awakening. It's not like praying to Buddha, "Make me enlightened." He cannot grant refuge. He can tell you how he did it. Then you can try it yourself. Anyone who becomes a Buddhist usually makes a vow to follow five parts of the eightfold path, ethics. It is a way to avoid committing the most serious karmic transgressions. Refraining from killing is the most serious thing. Besides that, you shall not lie, steal, intoxicate your mind, or engage in inappropriate sexuality. It boils down to this: you shall not harm any living being. There are no strict rules. I call it commitments. These are not ordinary rules. You don't end up in prison. But it is based on one's own understanding. And it's based on what you want. Since everyone and everything depends on something else for their existence, we should cherish everything with respect, live in harmony with each other, and avoid harming others. This permeates the entire Buddhist teaching. Besides the fact that there are different ways of practicing religion, there are three main directions. They differ from each other in their views on nirvana and Buddha - but also in how the religion is practiced. There is a difference in rituals and in religious life. This is because you find yourself in different cultural contexts. The schools of thought, Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana, are of varying sizes in different parts of Asia. Theravada, or Southern Buddhism, is large in Thailand and Sri Lanka. It is described as the strictest, with the most common rules. It's based on the relationship between the laity and the sangha, which is about acquiring good karma in order to have better rebirths. Reaching nirvana is a very long-term goal. It's nothing that will happen in this life or in the next. In Theravada, there are a few who aspire to become a Buddha. A bodhisattva strives for Buddhahood. The endeavor is only possible for monks and nuns. That's a difference from Mahayana, which is prevalent in Eastern Buddhism--in China, Japan, and Vietnam. In Mahayana, the very ideal of the bodhisattva becomes a path open to all. One wants to be reborn until one has helped everyone to be freed from suffering. Views on Buddha also differ. Within Theravada, they imagine one Buddha at a time. Within Mahayana, they imagine an innumerable number of Buddhas. They exist in hidden Buddha worlds. They can intervene in people's lives and help them. As savior gods. There were Theravada and Mahayana. On to the third, Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism. It is common in northern Buddhism, in Nepal, Mongolia and Tibet. It is a variant of Mahayana, which differs mainly in that: It focuses on the possibility of achieving Buddhahood here and now. It is a shortcut to Buddhahood. Anyone can achieve it. The fast path is based on identifying with a Buddha through rituals and meditations. Like repeating mantras, using ritual mandalas, and special finger gestures, mudras. If you have the right rituals, the mantras, and the right knowledge, you can manipulate the world. But it is more dangerous. It's magic. It is a magical discipline, you could say. That's why it's important to have a guru guide you... so you don't go astray. The guru can transmit his knowledge and religious development to his disciple. An extra power. Imagine that you get power directly from the source. Instead of generating the power yourself, it is transferred to you. In Tibetan Buddhism, the word for guru is lama. The lamas are incarnations of bodhisattvas, a kind of gods. The Dalai Lama is seen as an incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, lives in exile outside Tibet, which is occupied. The Chinese have felt that Buddhism has had a negative impact on the people. The Dalai Lama has become a religious and political figure. When a Dalai Lama dies, they look for the next incarnation of the bodhisattva. If he is reborn, that is. The question of who will be the next Dalai Lama is world politics. He has signaled that he will not certainly be reborn. Precisely so that it doesn't become a political battle. The Dalai Lama's peaceful struggle against a major occupying power is an example of something associated with Buddhism. Kindness and nonviolence. That it is a kind religion. "Buddhism has not started any war." There are religious conflicts that have to do with Buddhism. Where Buddhism is taken as the cause of the conflict. One of the most notable examples is from Myanmar. There, monks have defended the cleansing of Rohingya, a Muslim minority. The war in Sri Lanka also had religious overtones, with Buddhists fighting Tamil Hindus. When Buddhist traditions have become part of a state ideology, they have tended to legitimize acts of violence. Buddhists are as peaceful or as restless as other people. Another common misconception is that Buddhism is atheistic. A religion without gods, which is not true. One percent of the world's Buddhists deny the existence of gods. Where does this thought come from? It can be traced back to Western scholars who in the 19th century summarized what they considered to be the essence of Buddhism. There, Buddha had no supernatural powers, but was an ordinary person. As a religious reformer, like Martin Luther within Christianity. The scientists purged magic and the world of spirits and demons. And other things that did not match what they considered to be true Buddhism. It's about rituals being something that needs to be cleared away. This led to Buddhism being seen as a philosophy rather than a religion. In Sweden, Buddhism is small, with around 40,000 practitioners. Many come into contact with its traditions - albeit in roundabout ways, for example through mindfulness. Part of the Eightfold Path. It's ironic. It has almost taken on an opposite expression. The very goal of practicing it today is to feel better. It's almost about strengthening your self. In Buddhist mindfulness, one strives to free oneself from one's self. All religions are constantly evolving, based on their environment. In Sweden, there are practitioners of Southern, Eastern and Northern Buddhism. But perhaps also a new Western Buddhism. In the West, there is more emphasis on meditation than amulets, magic and rituals. It is a new form of Buddhism, which is simply emerging.