Community of Buddhism
Joining: refuge — or robes.
A layperson joins by taking the three refuges; a monastic by ordination. Both doors swing both ways in most of the tradition.
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
You become Buddhist by taking refuge in the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha — three sentences said in front of a teacher, with no baptism, no examination, and no register. That is the whole gate, and it explains why Buddhist populations are so hard to count: taking refuge is compatible in practice with continuing to visit a Shinto shrine or a Taoist temple, and across East Asia most people do. Ordination is the second, far higher threshold, and it is the one the tradition polices carefully.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
Ritual sustains the order of the world.
Vedic Religion · core tenet
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Dharma sustains the cosmos; to live rightly is to live in accord with it.
Hinduism · core tenet
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Paryushana.
Jainism · rite
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The commandments are how the covenant is lived.
Judaism · core tenet
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The Eucharist.
Christianity · rite
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Salat — the five daily prayers.
Islam · rite
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