Found this in the dev log

[zzcat]

Originally Posted by Epaminondas

An interesting and welcome news. As a former Buddhist monk myself, the one lacuna in the game's coverage of the great Asian religious traditions seems to be its neglect of the Buddhist element.

Many "good" race in sutra of Buddhism & Hinduism have been covered by Bandar Log's national summon, the whole EA/MA setting of Jomon come from Shinto, and the immortal system of Taoism is reflected in Ti'en Ch'i national god and heroes. I think the game already have an amazingly coverage of Asia religions

I think the thing that was really omitted is localized Buddhism in east Asia. Both Chinese and Japanese make their buddhism very different from the original one. The most obvious example is Guanyin. In China she is the buddist version of Virgin Maria or "the Eternal Feminine" who has numerous worshipers far more than any other god of any religion. But in the original sutra, she is a man!

[Epaminondas]

Originally Posted by zzcat

Many "good" race in sutra of Buddhism & Hinduism have been covered by Bandar Log's national summon, the whole EA/MA setting of Jomon come from Shinto, and the immortal system of Taoism is reflected in Ti'en Ch'i national god and heroes. I think the game already have an amazingly coverage of Asia religions

I think the thing that was really omitted is localized Buddhism in east Asia. Both Chinese and Japanese make their buddhism very different from the original one. The most obvious example is Guanyin. In China she is the buddist version of Virgin Maria or "the Eternal Feminine" who has numerous worshipers far more than any other god of any religion. But in the original sutra, she is a man!

I have never played with Bandar Log, but my impression was that the units from the sub-continent themed nations were Hindu, not Buddhist. And yes, I recognize that both Taoism and Shintoism are well-represented in this game.

[lch]

Originally Posted by Epaminondas

As a former Buddhist monk myself, the one lacuna in the game's coverage of the great Asian religious traditions seems to be its neglect of the Buddhist element.

How does one become a former Buddhist monk? Found God? On a related note, how does one become a Buddhist monk in the first place? I had this weird situation when I visited the Himachal Pradesh area, that I wanted to buy those functional and good looking robes that the Buddhist monks were wearing, in a shop in McLeod Ganj where they were manufactured. The color composition (ruby and orange) looked fine and the material seemed to be quite good to be comfortable. The price they asked was very cheap, even for India. So (to paraphrase) when I asked "I can really buy those clothes like that? Even if I'm not a Buddhist monk?" the tibetian woman replied "No, those are only for priests." - "But I am not one." - "Maybe you should become one." - "Huh? Errm, err, no, thank you." That was weird. I'm still a little disappointed that I didn't get to buy those cool clothes.

[Epaminondas]

Originally Posted by lch

How does one become a former Buddhist monk? Found God? On a related note, how does one become a Buddhist monk in the first place? I had this weird situation when I visited the Himachal Pradesh area, that I wanted to buy those functional and good looking robes that the Buddhist monks were wearing, in a shop in McLeod Ganj where they were manufactured. The color composition (ruby and orange) looked fine and the material seemed to be quite good to be comfortable. The price they asked was very cheap, even for India. So (to paraphrase) when I asked "I can really buy those clothes like that? Even if I'm not a Buddhist monk?" the tibetian woman replied "No, those are only for priests." - "But I am not one." - "Maybe you should become one." - "Huh? Errm, err, no, thank you." That was weird. I'm still a little disappointed that I didn't get to buy those cool clothes.

I became a "former Buddhist monk," because I no longer accepted the ideas and practices associated with the particular Buddhist "school" with which I was affiliated. I do not want to get into too much details, but there were two factors at work here. First, I saw too much corruption and sexual debauchery going on among supposedly "enlightened" folks. So that turned off the young idealist in me. Second, given that these men were some of the most renowned Buddhist figures of the last century, I began to doubt whether there was such a thing as "satori" or enlightenment or whatever you may wish to call that exalted state that seekers throughout history have been hankering after. Relatedly, given that I am a rationalist by nature, I was wondering whether I would ever achieve the said state even if it existed.

In terms of loosening ties, a Buddhist precept-taking is not an irrevocable contract with the Devil--at least among the schools with which I am familiar. You can get out, if you don't like it.

[VedalkenBear]

Something else that I was given to believe regarding Buddhism in its various forms (and I'm fairly sure that KO can back me up on this) is that the Buddhism practiced in Eastern Asia (i.e., China and Japan) has a fundamental difference from the Buddhism practiced in Southeast Asia and, I believe, India. That fundamental difference would be the ability of others to help the believer towards enlightenment. (The answer to the question is 'yes' for East Asia and 'no' for Southeast Asia.)

I am not surprised at all that the tradition found in Thailand (Theravada, I believe it's called, or alternately Inhayana) has no issue with individuals entering and leaving their 'faith'. The Mahayana tradition, as found in China and Japan, would probably be more likely to have issues, but neither probably have the issues that 'leaving the faith' does with almost any Western religion.

[Dedas]

Cool, looking forward to it.

[Kristoffer O]

Many of the buddhist spirits have a hindu origin, but as you say the bandar log summons are hindu.

Yakshas, rakshas, vidarajas, asuras, apsaras and others all appear in similar forms in buddhist traditions.

[HoneyBadger]

Nounours has started working on a Tibetan mod-I'm guessing based in part on the the pre-Buddhist 'Bon' religion.

I don't know much about it, but from what little I could garner, it's an existing (as in, people still practice it today) Shamanistic tradition that survived in Tibet since before Buddhism arrived there.

[zzcat]

Originally Posted by Epaminondas

I have never played with Bandar Log, but my impression was that the units from the sub-continent themed nations were Hindu, not Buddhist.

When rising as a new religion, Buddhist mythology said most divine or semi-divine races in Hinduism are guardians of buddha. The Lotus Sutra sum them up to "Eight Divisions of Gods and Dragons": deva, nagas, yakas, ganharvas, asuras, gaudas, kinaras, mahoragas.

Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Nounours has started working on a Tibetan mod-I'm guessing based in part on the the pre-Buddhist 'Bon' religion.

I don't know much about it, but from what little I could garner, it's an existing (as in, people still practice it today) Shamanistic tradition that survived in Tibet since before Buddhism arrived there.

It's very diffcult to divide the "Bon" element from current Tantric buddhism of Tibet. They affect each other so deeply that Bon is accpeted by Tibetian buddhism and is named as "black denomination". I wonder how many original concept of Bon can be recovered by modern people.

[VedalkenBear]

Mmm... I would rather say that EA/MA Jomon (i.e., Yomi and Sinuyama) are based off of popular concepts of classical Japan, not really Shinto or Buddhist belief.