It's the quiet religion that has grown to become the fourth-largest faith in North America and much of the Western world. With no crusades or jihads, nor even belief in a Creator, Buddhism has flourished in the West largely unnoticed over the last 100 years.
Always a dominant religion in Asia, the powerful appeal of Buddhism resides in its lack of dogmatism, its flexibility. With the charismatic Dalai Lama as one of its key spokespeople, Buddhism today has become nearly synonymous with inner peace.
Because Buddhism does not require practitioners to renounce other religions, many Buddhists in the West have adopted multi-faith identity, resulting in 'Jewish-Buddhists' and 'Christian-Buddists' who meditate daily and go to Sunday Mass. Many see it as a kind of open-source faith that can be learned and customized to suit one's needs, be it to relieve suffering for the dying or to promote simplicity for high-powered business execs.
With more than 450 million believers worldwide and no central leadership, Buddhism continues to thrive.

- Adbusters