Better understand Buddhism
Understanding Buddhism from a Western perspective seems very difficult.
The great teacher has been dead for a very long time, and subsequent generations have changed his philosophy, sometimes significantly.
For many people in the West, Buddhism today is a religion, others see it as a spiritual practice, a worldview. Both views have in common that in essence a healthy life is propagated, the body should be particularly cared for.
Those who have traveled in Asia know that Buddhism has grown together with local customs over the centuries, and that superstition, mythology and pre-Buddhist views have in part been interwoven with the teachings of the teacher of all teachers.
Also, the "honoring of ancestors" and the "cultivation of traditions" are repeatedly cited, but without clarifying to what extent such thoughts would correspond to the views of Buddha.
Chan (Zen) Buddhism, founded by Bodhidharma in the Shaolin Temple of China, differs fundamentally from all other Asian styles. According to Bodhidharma, Chan (Zen) is about the "transmission of the teaching beyond words and sacred scriptures", as Buddha repeatedly instructed his followers to seek the solution to their questions "within themselves", and thus not to follow any "leader", but to rely on themselves.
According to Buddha, his followers should strive for personal "enlightenment" based on personal practice and experiential self-knowledge, and by no means fall into rituals or beliefs. The great teacher "knew" even during his lifetime that his worldview would also be elevated to a religion, and he spoke out against such a practice. It was clear to him that the human tendency to worship a higher authority would be a serious obstacle to his teaching.
Those who strive to find and walk the "middle way" are subject to all kinds of influences and doctrines, each lineage has its conventions, its forms, its particular practice of paying homage to Buddha. But Buddha did not want us to pay homage to him, he wanted us to embark on the middle path to finally begin the journey to "enlightenment".
All the cults that are cultivated in different countries and teachings, they are just a more or less useful prop to help not to let the teaching fall into oblivion.
But this does not put the ego to rest, but rather incites it that with the word "Buddhism" only a cover for new cults should be created.
As a beginner with Buddhism, one has a hard time. For my part, I follow the pure teachings of Buddha, as well as the expressions that his worldview has experienced through Bodhidharma in Shaolin Temple China.

Be where you are, otherwise you will miss your life
- Buddha - honorary name of the Indian philosopher Siddhartha Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero

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