I would like to know too ... why Chinese Buddhists different from Thai Buddhists (in practice, rituals, gods)?
I'll try and answer that one.
Simply, there is a great amount of variation in Buddhism, and in the two and a half thousand years or so of its existence it has diverged, in places, considerably from the 'original' teachings of the Buddha, at least as far as we know them from the Pali canon; which is as close to 'original' as we have (they were still written some considerable time after the Buddha's death, transmission prior to that being by word of mouth).
Buddhism has been particularly prone to such variation, (or 'corruption' depending on your point of view). One reason is that there has never been any centralized authority that controlled and suppressed the 'wrong' view, such as the Catholic/Roman church in Christianity. The other is that a religion/philosophy it is open to growth. There is no divine revalation, no word of God that must be followed. The Buddha himself's attitude to his teachings was pretty much 'suck-it-and-see'. Over the centuries variation arose as various masters found their own particular path and passed it on to their disciples, who passed it on (maybe with a few additions of their own) themselves. The Buddhism that is 'right' is which works for the individual concerned; each path to enlightenment is unique and the Buddha only pointed the way.
To take a couple of the most well known examples, the Tibetan traditions originated from Indian Buddhism mixed with doses of both Indian tantric traditions and the local religion, the Bon, essentially a form of animism, but even that is divided into two main schools, and that most closely aligned to the Bon effectively died some time ago.
Zen grew in China, although it was founded by an Indian who found his own route to enlightenment; one that concentrated exclusively on meditation and what are now called
koans, short and generally nonsensical (in everyday terms) saying meant to shock the mind out if the illusion into which is has settled and to allow direct experience of reality.
As to 'gods' that has to be taken with care, particular in comparison to the Judeo/Christian/Islamic conception of God. Some traditions have incorporporated 'gods' as representations of particular spiritual realities (much the same as the Hindu gods), and are 'worshipped' primarily to gain an insight in to that reality. Others have developed 'popular' routes, acknowledging both that Buddhist philosophy was intellectually beyond much of the population, and the simple reality that not everybody could dump everything to trot off and sit and meditate for years. The best example is probably the 'Pure Land' school in which disciples believe that repetition of a prayer to Amida Buddha will result in rebirth in his 'pure land', from which final enlightenment will be easy to achieve... barely Buddhism at all, but widely popular as it is so simple, and does what is necessary to serve he spiritual need of many people.
Among all that, though, the core principles are still the same, the 'Four Noble Truths' as the Buddha taught them, and the Noble Eightfold Path. The latter will be easily recognisable to all Jews, Christians and muslims; the 'rules' for a spiritual life are always pretty much the same.
The Four Noble Truths
1. Life means suffering.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
The Noble Eightfold Path
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
Ethical Conduct
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
Mental Development
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Those are acknowledged by all Buddhists.
kay:
