The Hindu or the Vedic tradition has been around for at least 5,000 years. Buddhism has been around for over 2,500 years. Judaism has been around for over 3,000 years. Christianity has been around for over 2,000 years. Islam has been around for about 1,500 years.
Christianity has about 2.4 billion adherents. Islam has about 1.9 billion adherents. Hinduism has about 1.2 billion adherents. Buddhism has about 530 million adherents.
Why have the Western spiritual/religious traditions expanded faster and farther than the Eastern spiritual/religious traditions?
It can also be said that Western traditions are more violent and warlike. Why?
I would say the key reason is PASSION.
Eastern traditions are about ending suffering and are particularly focused on the individual’s liberation from suffering. Western traditions are not about ending suffering; they even encourage suffering. Western traditions are more about community and expanding their influence.
The Vedic tradition focuses on the liberation from suffering for the individual. Buddhism has the Four Noble Truths, saying it is all about ending suffering, and the Eight-Fold Path is the way to end suffering. As an afterthought the Buddha added the idea of compassion toward others.
The problem with this is that compassion requires suffering. The etymology of the word “compassion” shows us that com means with and passion means “to suffer.” So compassion is the willingness to suffer (with others). But if your whole tradition is about ending suffering, then you are in conflict.
The Buddha was wrong. The goal in life is NOT to end suffering, it is to end the IDEA that we are trapped in suffering.
Passion motivates people. It pushes them outward and onward. Passion encourages change, growth, and expansion. Discouraging passion discourages that expansion and growth.
This is not to say that Eastern traditions don’t have something to offer humanity or even individuals. This only means the traditions are not complete.
Eastern traditions encourage finding inner peace, and that is very attractive for those who are suffering from inner conflicts.
Humans are considered the master species on Earth because they have been so successful at not just surviving but thriving and growing. So it would seem that the Western traditions are the master traditions because they, too, have been so successful at thriving and growing.
But this may not be true in the long run if the warlike nature of the Western traditions leads to a major war that destroys many of the adherents of the Western traditions.
Personally, I have found that BOTH traditions have a lot to offer, and by combining the two traditions of passion and peace, one can expedite the process of liberating oneself from the habits that create suffering, but can still use the suffering to motivate one to share that skill with their greater Self.
Life requires one to breathe in AND to breathe out. So too, it is healthier and more expedient for one’s evolution to develop BOTH skills of passion and peace. Western traditions have many psychological/philological tools to enable the development of passion. Eastern traditions have long developed the tools to develop skills of finding inner peace via meditation. But by adding one western skill/idea to that process, one can expedite the process of finding mental peace and the clarity that that brings.
Clarity is what enables one to see the truth that sets them free to unconditionally enjoy and love all that life offers. This can be called enlightenment, liberation, Nirvana, or the Kingdom of Heaven.
And once a person has the clarity, they can share that with others and their greater Self.