>><snip>
>>In Buddhism there is no discussion of the idea of God, no bible, no church, no alter. There is nothing about God at all. There is no recourse to the supernatural, no spirits, no heaven or hell. There is only the learning and practice of meditation whose only goal is to focus the mind in the here and now.
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>>Of course, like anything there are those that would commercialize it and like to control it for their own benefit, but that is not Buddhism. I am talking about the core of Buddhism here, not any human failures in practicing it.
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>I know that Buddhism is quite different in many aspects, so I put this intentionally to get into exactly this sort of discussion. In many cultures, becoming a priest is a recluse for many of those who don't like to work but want to be important. And, as Pratchett would say, when the going gets tough, they are behind the thick walls and out of trouble. Since I don't exactly know how much of this applies to Buddhist monks, this was my way of asking for details.

I think that perhaps the most important aspect of Buddhism to understand is that it is a non-theistic religion. Therefore there is no discussion as to the existence or not of a God. There is no church who has been appointed as Gods representation on earth. It requires no faith.

The foundation of Buddhism is actually quite simple. The recognition that all things suffer, the understanding of the cause of suffering, and the manner in which one can be free of that suffering. This is the root and what the original Buddha taught. Becoming a monk is then a way to focus ones attention on this practice.

As Charles pointed out, however, in many cultures and countries spending some time as a monk or nun is a cultural influence but this is not mandated as a religious requirement. One must separate the Buddhist philosophy/religion from the cultural influences and human implementations (as with any religion I suppose).

Certainly you will not find the sort of power structures in Buddhism that you find in the other major religions. The "higher ups" act as guides and teachers, not as centres of power or authority over those below.