Most people discover that they are Buddhist after they have already started thinking and acting like one. Buddhism, as we view it at CPB, is not a religion in the "Western" sense of the term; deities are not discussed, as the Buddhist concern is of the suffering in this world. Speculations of an afterlife, unknowable by any human, only hinders the ability to address pressing concerns of our fellow neighbors today. The here and now, this life on earth of which we are part and parcel, is where we find our power and responsibility. The condition of humanity as a whole is the concern of Buddhism. One of the empowering aspects of Buddhism is that our understanding of the world we live in comes after we have observed what is actually going on around us. It is after we accurately perceive the world that we can begin to make informed decisions as responsible human beings.

A central conclusion from meditative practice ("awareness cultivation") is that the world is interconnected and interdependent (a fact emphasized by modern physics). Thus, in Buddhism, we do not love our neighbors as ourselves only because we are told to do so, but because we actually see and recognize that other members of humanity are an integral and important part of the world we live in. They are important because they are here, and what happens to them naturally affects the rest of us. It is in everyone's interest to take care of one another, so that the same care will be given to us as well. Buddhism is well known as being "decentralized," a characteristic that stands in contrast to the "centralized" structures of Western religions. The reason for this decentralization in Buddhism is that there truly are no followers; instead, practitioners are empowered to better themselves through their own understanding and realizations, with the guidance of others already on the journey. No one is left behind in Buddhism. A threefold formula of 1) awareness, 2) acceptance, and 3) action, grants all of us the opportunity to cultivate goodness within ourselves. One becomes a great human being not through beliefs, thoughts and ideas alone, but through consistent and dedicated practice (action), and this is the very reason for the Buddhist focus on contemplation and meditation.

Simply put, karma is the pre-scientific era word for "physics." In the human realm, karma means that in fact the laws of physics apply to human beings as well. The word has its origins in the Indian Vedic tradition, particularly in the concept of rta (pronounced ri-TA), which means "natural order" or that "every event has a cause." Insofar as all human actions also have consequences that reflect the nature of those actions, karma is a useful way to describe this process. This is especially helpful in determining what can be considered "right" action. "Right" and "wrong" in Buddhism are interwoven into the consequences of one's actions--(the concept of karma)--and whether or not those actions promote harmony. Just like causation in the natural world, the effects of actions (karmic effects) have different time-frames in which they work; thus karmic results may or may not be instantaneous. In Buddhism, there is an emphasis on living a life as a descent human being all of the time instead of just some of the time, because karmic effects occur constantly. Unlike the Jain view, Buddhists do not think in terms of "extinguishing" karma, but rather generating positive karma, the fruits of harmonious actions that benefit everyone.

There are two reasons: 1) a philosophical one and 2) a practical one. First, we must be careful not to confuse difference with dualism. Though Buddhism teaches non-dualism (i.e., the notion that there is a single, unified reality), this does not imply that difference cannot exist within our holistic experience. We can acknowledge that our Universe is unified (interconnected & interdependent) but this does not say anything about the possibility of unique expressions of this unified reality. Buddhism accepts the Hindu idea that the "macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm," that the various unique manifestations of existence are all "expressions of the Universe."

Secondly, we make distinction and use language--and appreciate it deeply for what it offers us--because this is important for our daily lives. Because we make distinctions, we can design and engineer solutions to our various problems. Additionally, it allows us to communicate with others and create meaningful social experiences. If we made no distinctions, there would be no thought at all, and we could not perform simple, life-sustaining activities such as feeding ourselves, for we must know which foods serve to nourish the body and which ones harm it, and we must communicate this to others. Physicians would not be able to save lives if they could not describe or differentiate a heart from a kidney. Though there is an emphasis in Chan and Zen Buddhism to value the prelinguistic, undifferentiated experience of zazen (pure, "direct" experience), we also value the role of language and discursive thought for its wonderfully pragmatic applications in daily life.

The Socratic Method is an approach to human problems that takes place among two or more persons, in which participants pose problems and arrive at solutions based on intersubjective agreement among members. This group decision-making allows for the derivation of a social consensus to problems, thereby increasing the likelihood of mutual understanding, respect and harmony among group members. More importantly from a personal standpoint, however, is that such group discussion allows individuals to judge the appropriateness of their own perspectives within the context of the whole community. From a pragmatic perspective, intersubjective agreement among members of a culture or subculture is necessary for the highest degree of harmony and homeostasis.

The idea that pragmatism--even the neopragmatism of Richard Rorty--is relativism, is an unfortunate misunderstanding. Pragmatism, while accepting a notion of pluralism (there are many paths that work equally well instead of just one) does not imply that all solutions are equally useful, equally viable, or equally good. We can accept that there are multiple ways of seeing, thinking, speaking and doing, without accepting that all of them are going to be equally useful all of the time.