Is Budhism a relgion?

This is a stupid question, but is Budhism a religion. I mean there is no worship of a powerful being. The main goal is to attaining a state of enlightenment and not to go to some heaven or paradise. I guess I should be asking what is a religion?

Peace

If you want buddhism to be respected, don’t say that it is a religion.

My understanding is that Buddism was, sometimes is, but does not have to be a religion. You can find Buddists that believe in and teach all sorts of stuff about reincarnation, higher planes of reality and suchlike, and you can find other Buddists teaching a completely secular philosophy that need not refer to any of those things. In the West, the secular aspects of it seem to be emphasized more than the other.

This is one of those questions that doesn’t hafve a correct answer and is open to interpretation. What is religion? From Dictionary.com:

According to “A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.”, Buddhism is a religion.

So a sect of Buddhism is considered in one part of the world, the national religion.

You would think that Buddhism is a religion. Yet “religion” is such a controversial word that many Buddhist’s don’t call it a religion.

So for me, it is what it is. Better that than having someone shot over the dispute.

Buddhism is as much the religion of Buddha’s teachings as Christianity is the religion of Christ’s. There are different schools of thought on Buddhism focussed on different areas of practice, but they are essentially still Buddhism - the following of a set of precepts.

There is a subtle but distinct difference. Buddhism does not declare its’ teachings as the inviolate ‘word of God’, but as a path leading to that which is. Quite a difference from traditional Christianity or Islam.

JT

I think religion is the outcome of a Prophet’s discussion with God in which God reveals certain ideas and other things. Buddha never claimed that he was God ordained or that God spoke to him. I have the feeling that since Buddha himself denounced all luxury and security but had the choice to go back to it always, therefore, it’s possible that he never really saw insecurity, fear and emotional pain. The only discomfort he saw was the one he brought on himself. Therefore, I doubt that God was ever close to him like He was to Christ and other messengers. So, whatever Buddha has propagated in the form of his four noble truths and the eight fold path, etc., is just his own logical analysis and conclusion for any given situation. Therefore, I’d say that Buddhism is not a religion.

Moreover, Buddha was mainly concerned about getting his peace of mind back because he lost it that day in the woods upon seeing distressing things which he was not accustomed to because of his upbringing, and so his quest was mainly personal or I can also say selfish in a way. He did not aim to make humanity more humane like Christ did. Christ’s aim on the other hand was not personal but universal. True, that whatever Buddha laid down in terms of teachings can be learnt by all but his aim was never to find solutions for humanity in general but only himself. Therefore I can make the claim that God could not have been close to Buddha because God comprises of the universe. And so his teachings could not have been the word of God. Therefore Buddhism can never be regarded as a religion and should not be regarded as a religion.

True, but that subtle difference is a matter of perspective! Method is different, but method is method!

BJ,

The assumptions you have to make in order to generate that statement suggests that you may have missed something. It does not reflect an understanding of either Buddhism or Christianity.

JT

You didn’t read Buddhism and Christianity properly and so you don’t know that I never made any assumptions at all. From next time please do your home-work well. ~ Class Teacher

Hi A,

It is true that method is method, but many have tripped over perspective and skinned their knees.

JT

Indeed JT, indeed!

Well, lets examine it. Religion has 5 traits

Rituals - repetitive behaviors not necessary for the sustaining of life
Emotions - non-linguistic responses to experience
Myths - stories developed to explain the purpose of ritual-emotional cycle
Beliefs - complex set of claims arising from the myth cycle
Function: self- or group-rectification, justification, harmony (salvation, redemption, enlightenment, etc.)

So the answer is YES Buddism religion!!!

So would political parties be religions?

political parties lack “Myths - stories developed to explain the purpose of ritual-emotional cycle”

Any philosophy that is laid down onto paper that guides or lays down the law in order to achieve a specifc goal–be it enlightenment (a happy place) or heaven (another happy place)–can be construed as a religion.

Each religion has a doctrine: Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life…”. Some buddhist argue that the path to enlightenment can only be achieve in this way or that (the point is that it still sets down rules) Other buddhists believe that the essense of the bhudda can manifest as rain or animals…

In my opinion, any time you start to talk about spiritual or physical transformations into inanimate objects or animals you have hit the realm of religious philosophy–namely religion.