The folk Buddhism in China is very different from the Buddhism originally founded by Sakyamuni.
Buddhism has a profound influence on China culture, but today's China folk Buddhism is completely different from the Buddhism originally founded by Sakyamuni. In fact, Sakyamuni is a saint and a great thinker. He claims to be a man, not a god, does not worship God, and does not allow believers to worship idols.
But after his death, he was deified by later generations and his lessons were misinterpreted. The most obvious example is that not all the Buddhist scriptures now belong to Sakyamuni. Dr. Liang explained that Sakyamuni did not compile his own teachings before his death. At first, Buddhist scriptures were handed down from generation to generation by believers and were not recorded until 500 years after his death.
"After 500 years of oral communication, there will inevitably be distortions and deviations. More importantly, some believers add their own understanding and lessons in the process of oral transmission, which leads to the vast number of Buddhist scriptures today, with different contents and even contradictions. It can be seen that today's Buddhist scriptures are no longer the teachings of Sakyamuni. "
Another "creation" of folk Buddhism is bodhisattva. Sakyamuni did not propose a "bodhisattva", and the Buddha statues enshrined in the temple even violated Sakyamuni's teachings. Ashoka, a devout Buddhist, once ordered the eradication of 18 thousand idol sculptors, because Ashoka knew that idol worship was against the purpose of Buddhism.
As for Guanyin Bodhisattva, which is widely believed by China people, it was "modified" by later generations. Dr. Liang said that Guanyin is a new god assembled by Buddhists from the Indian gods of mercy and freedom. At first, Guanyin was a bearded man. Later, she was turned into a woman by Buddhists in China. "It can be seen that Guanyin is only a product invented by later generations. And its so-called bodhisattva manifestation is the work of evil spirits. "