Is the Buddhism only true religion and that all the others are false.

QUESTION :
                          You certainly think highly of Buddhism. I suppose you believe it is the only true religion and that all the others are false.

ANSWER :

• No Buddhist who understands the Buddha's teaching  thinks that other religions are wrong. No one who has made a genuine  effort to examine other religions with an open mind could think like that either. The first thing you notice when you study the different religions is just how much they have in common. 
• All religions acknowledge that humankind's present state is unsatisfactory. All believe that a change of attitude and behavior is needed if the human situation is to improve. 
• All teach an ethics that includes love, kindness, patience, generosity and social responsibility, and all accept the existence of some form of Absolute. 
• They use different languages, different names and different  symbols to describe and explain these things. It is only when people cling narrow-mindedly to their particular way of seeing things that intolerance, pride and self-righteousness arise. 
• Imagine an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Chinese and an Indonesian all looking at a cup. The Englishman says, ‘That is a cup.’ The Frenchman answers,  ‘No it's not. It's a tasse.’  Then the Chinese comments, ‘You are both wrong. It's a pei.’   Finally the Indonesian man laughs at the others and says, ‘What fools you are. It's a cawan.’   Then the Englishman get a dictionary and shows it to the others saying, ‘I can prove that it is a cup. My dictionary says so.’ ‘Then your dictionary is wrong,’ says the Frenchman, ‘because my dictionary clearly says it is a tasse.’  The Chinese scoffs:  ‘My dictionary says it’s a  pei and my dictionary is thousands of years older than yours so it must be right. And besides, more people speak Chinese than any other language, so it must be a  pei.’ While they are squabbling and arguing with each other,  
• Another man comes up,  drinks from the cup  and then says to the others, ‘Whether you call it a cup, a tasse, a pei or a cawan, the purpose of the cup is to hold water so that it can be drunk. Stop arguing and drink, stop squabbling and quench your thirst.’  
• This is the Buddhist attitude to other religions.

Why are there so many different types of Buddhism?

QUESTION : 
                             Why are there so many different types of Buddhism?

ANSWER :
There are many different types of sugar - brown sugar, white sugar, rock sugar, syrup and icing sugar - but it is all sugar and it all tastes sweet. It is produced in different forms so that it can be used in different ways. Buddhism is the same: there is Theravada Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, Yogacara
Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism but it is all the teachings of the Buddha and it all has the same taste - the taste of freedom. Buddhism has evolved into different forms so that it can be relevant to the different cultures in which it exists. It has been reinterpreted over the centuries so that it can remain relevant to each new generation.
Outwardly, the types of Buddhism may seem very different but at the center of all of them are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. All major religions, Buddhism included, have split into schools and sects.
Perhaps the difference between Buddhism and some other religions is that the various schools have generally been very tolerant and friendly towards each other.

If Buddhism is so good why are some Buddhist countries poor?

QUESTION :
                          If Buddhism is so good why are some Buddhist countries poor?

ANSWER :

• If by poor you mean economically poor, then it is true that some Buddhist countries are poor. But if by poor you mean a poor quality of life, then perhaps some Buddhist countries are quite rich. America,  for example, is an economically rich and powerful country but the crime rate is one of the highest in the world; millions of  elderly people are neglected by their children and die of loneliness in old people's homes; domestic violence, child abuse, drug addiction are major problems;  and one in three marriages end in divorce. Rich in terms of money but perhaps poor in terms of the quality of life. 
• Now if you look at some traditional Buddhist countries you find a very different situation. 
• Parents are honored and respected by their children, the crime rates are relatively low, divorce and suicide are rare, and traditional values like gentleness, generosity, hospitality to strangers, tolerance and respect for others are still strong. 
• Economically backward but perhaps a higher quality  of life than a country like America. However, even if we judge Buddhist countries in terms of economics alone, one of the wealthiest and most economically dynamic countries in the world today is Japan where a good percentage of the population call themselves Buddhist.