When will Buddhism die out? Unlikely to be soon. However, by the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence, Buddhism will die out eventually, as all composite things pass. Buddha also predicted the end of Buddhism around this time. This will come from a general decline in faith and a rise in doubt about the validity of the teachings.
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When Buddhism comes to its declining state, people will misinterpret the Buddhas teachings and prefer immorality more and more.
Buddha Shakyamuni Prophecy
Will Buddhism die out or decline in the west
Will Buddhism die out in the West? Buddhism appears to be strong in the future of the United States. Growth looks profound, with the Buddhist overall community increasing by 2 million plus to more than 6 million total by 2050. It is projected to outgrow population increases by more than double. In Europe the situation is even more interesting: Buddhists will nearly double their absolute numbers to 2.5 million. This is despite an overall population decline of 6%.
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How many Buddhists are in the world now and in the near future
Currently, there are 506mn Buddhists globally. Despite the significant growth in absolute numbers in the West, the population looks to decline globally. That’s because the raw numbers in Asia are so much higher. Asia is home to more than 50% of the global population and 98% of Buddhists. Consequently, a small change in the number of Buddhists makes a large swing versus the West.
Absolute numbers of practitioners in Asia appear relatively steady, dropping by 6 million. However, measured against the general rise in population overall, the religion will experience a 20% relative decline in percent of population, dropping from almost 12% to below 10%. This is likely due to people turning away from religion in general.
Why is Buddhism declining?
List of three reasons for the decline of Buddhism
- Prediction of the Buddha
- Corruption of the monastic community and of the teachings in general
- Intersectarianism
- Also: the general decline of religiousness globally.
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Buddha predicted the end of Buddhism
Back in the origin of Buddhism in ancient India, Shakyamuni Buddha apparently predicted the end of his teachings 1000 years after his death. He said that would drop to half, or 500 years if women were allowed to become monastics. This was not because women are inferior practitioners – in fact, they have a greater capacity for enlightenment. It is because the mixture of men and women is inherently destabilizing.
After supplication, he relented and allowed women to take ordination. Since Buddhism is now in its 25th Century, his numbers appear a bit off. However, other predictions have claimed a 2500-year limit or even 5100. As it is now 2500 years since he taught and the religion is as strong as ever, the only possible valid prediction would seem to be 5100.
The true dharma was also predicted to last 500 years. This would be a period when the dharma was taught with perfect validity and when practitioners could attain liberation. After that would be a period of several millennia when it would be increasingly difficult to hear the true dharma and the conditions for practice would steadily decline. Negative emotions and wrong view prevail and people are less inclined to practice dharma. They don’t see the value and succumb to laziness, even if they vaguely appreciate the dharma and the Buddha.
Conclusion
Buddhism will not die anytime soon, despite past predictions. It appears the Buddha was mistaken or his predictions were not properly understood. However, all things are impermanent, so it will eventually die. On the other hand, some would say that people are so heavily misinterpreting the dharma that Buddhism is altered beyond the original intent of the Buddha.
While there is some truth to that problem, it ignores the many genuine practitioners striving to actually accomplish the Buddha’s teachings and attain enlightenment.
May all beings be happy
May all beings be peaceful
May all beings be safe
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature
May all beings be free
