Difference between Asian and Western cultures

As a psychotherapist and working with the different cultures, I have come to realize while there are vast differences between the diverse cultures, there are many commonalities.

According to Paul B. Pederson, author of Culture-Centered Counseling Interventions, who asserts "The Eastern and Western viewpoints are not competing but, rather complementary view of reality, and the false dichotomy of materialism versus spiritualism and of West versus East must be transcended. Each must be understood within its own context."

But you can not classify all Asians into one culture group any more than you can say all Americans are alike, all Europeans are alike or all Africans are alike. The Asian culture consists of China, Japan, India, and Philippines, very different countries with different religions.

To relate with a person of a different culture, race, gender, or social-economical background it is necessary to understand the particular culture, or sub-culture your client or aquantance is from, and to understand his/her belief system.

China is Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and Christian. Japan is Shinto, and Buddhism. India is Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim. The Philippines is 80 percent Catholic.

Outside of religious differences, the Western cultures tend to be more individualist while the Asian cultures focus more on the group as a whole. A Westerner asks, "What's in it for me," the Asian asks, "How will my actions affect the group. Will my action bring honor or shame to my family, community, or country?"

In Asia, as a whole, one's spiritual life is more important than in the Western world. Asians devote much time to contemplating, meditation and gaining insight into situations and life. Western societies are drifting away from their once strong Catholic/Protestant ethics.

In recent years there has been a blending of the cultures as the Western world is awakening to the fact the Euro ethics may not be the only ethic and that there is a great deal of merit in the Eastern cultural beliefs.

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According to my Japanese friend, Kim Lea, everything in the West is backwards. We put our old folks in the nursing homes when we should be honoring them, seeking their advice. We spoil our children, when we should be training them to be good workers and to take care of us when we are old.

We worry about life after death and we should be concern about solving our karma while living and what or who we are coming back as when we reincarnate. We train our children to be self-centered and egotistical and we should be training them to be considerate of others and nurture the ego through service to others.

Kim Lea says we surround ourselves with loud noise when we should be seeking quiet and peace in our lives. We rush and keep super busy when we should be taking time to contemplate, and seek the beauty that surrounds us.

Kim Lea says thee are obvious differences as music, religion, the arts, government and politics. But she has noticed the differences are becoming fewer and fewer with television, and the Internet bridging the gap. Plus Western society is looking more to the East for ancient knowledge and wisdom.

Anyway, that's what my friend Kim Lea says is the main differences between the Asian and Western cultures.

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There are many differences between Asian and Western cultures.

These differences can be found along the lines of religion, family and government.

First, the Western world is primarily Christian while the Asian world is dominated by Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. The rituals and beliefs between these religions varies greatly and underlies the two cultures whole world view.

For the Christian West, monotheism is espoused and rituals observed, while the Buddhist and Taoist focus on meditation and release from the problems of life. So, for Christians it is much more about worship of an entity, whereas for Buddhists and Taoists it is about contemplation and spiritual freedom without a Creator God.

These differences have a profound effect on each cultures' world view. For example, Christians will observe their religion primarily on Sundays and include social betterment programs as part of the practice of their faith.

Conversely, Buddhists and Taoists will primarily not attend temple that often and practice their faith at home in a personal way.

Second, the families of the two cultures are very different. In the Asian culture, individual family members are interdependent. Family pride is of utmost importance in Asia. Children strive hard to please their parents and bring respect and admiration to the family name. They do this by hard work in the home through chores and service and by strict attention to their education.

In the 20th century the same could be said of Western culture, but not so much anymore. For example, according to an article written September 18th, 2007 by the Unesco Institute for Statistics in Canada, China has twice as many university graduates as the United States, which was the world leader at one time. Education in Asia is of utmost importance and has taken the lead around the world.

Crime can be another factor relevant to family life between the two cultures. For instance, based on the most recent United Nations statistics done in 1994, the recorded crimes in China was 134 per population of 100,000 people. For the same year, the recorded crimes in the US was 5,375 per 100,000 people. While individualism is highly valued in the US and the West, collectivism is highly valued in the East and Asian countries. It is much harder to commit a crime against your neighbor in Asia considering the shame and embarrassment it causes your family than in the US.

The last difference between the two cultures is primarily centered around government structure and economy. While the West is primarily one based on democracy and individual rights and privileges, the Asian culture is based on one of collective betterment and government oversight. This can be seen in the economic principles of Capitalism in the West and Communism in Asia. They are two vastly different forms of government and economies that reflect the cultures of the people that form them.

The differences that have been addressed between the two cultures of the West and Asia are not the only ones, but are the primary differences that anyone can see at first glance. While these differences should not be used as a dividing line between the two cultures, they can be used for dialog and hopefully will lead to greater understanding and partnership between them.

>……………………………..“As the soil, however rich it may be, cannot be productive without cultivation, so the mind without culture can never produce good fruit.” Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

“People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist.”

 Daisaku Ikeda quotes (Japanese peace Activist and Buddhist Leader of Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International, b.1928)

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.”

 Mahatma Gandhi quotes (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948)

“If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse gift will find a fitting place.”

 Margaret Mead quotes (American anthropologist whose great fame owed as much to the force of her personality and her outspokenness as it did to the quality of her scientific work, 1901-1978)

“Every age, every culture, every custom and tradition has its own character, its own weakness and its own strength, its beauties and cruelties; it accepts certain sufferings as matters of course, puts up patiently with certain evils. Human life is reduced to real suffering, to hell, only when two ages, two cultures and religions overlap.”

 Hermann Hesse quotes (German born Swiss Novelist and Poet. Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946, 1877-1962)

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 Thomas Sowell quotes (American Writer and Economist, b.1930)

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 John Fitzgerald Kennedy quotes (American 35th US President (1961-63), 1917-1963)

“The great law of culture is: Let each become all that he was capable of being; expand, if possible to his full growth; resisting all impediments, casting off all foreign, especially all noxious adhesions; and show himself at length in his own shape a”

 Thomas Carlyle quotes (Scottish Historian and Essayist, leading figure in the Victorian era. 1795-1881)

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      “I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry”

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      “He was not hip-hop's most gifted emcee. Still, Shakur may be the most influential and compelling rapper of them all, he was more than the sum of his artistic parts.”

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