sions, even if it is difficult to accomplish. The Buddhist story is essential to the tradition because it is the model of the spiritual aspirant's path. Yet, the Buddha has also been modified in different traditions to be almost a god like, supernatural figure. At the same time, the emphasis has been on the potential for each person to attain Buddhahood. Any authentic expression of Buddhist tradition needs to retain this focus on awakening and on the potential for awakening of each person.
It seems as though one reason for Buddhism's adaptability is that it is primarily a process or method for attaining understanding, rather than a set of beliefs that the aspirant must accept without question. Different expressions of Buddhism have emphasized Buddha's charge to his students not to take his word for anything, but to explore for themselves. In some respects, this is the religious scientific method, in which aspirants are expected to follow a particular process and discover the reality revealed by it for themselves. No one can enlighten them from the outside, nor can any savior make them whole. Instead, they must do it themselves, learning the truth for themselves, and awakening to reality individually (although interdependently).
Variations on the Length of the Path
In looking at the various forms of Buddhism, there does not seem as much discrepancy between them in terms of basic beliefs and goals, but there is a major difference in terms of the length of the path and in the relationship to other peop
...