Does Zen Buddhism belong in the religion or the philosopy section.?

Question

The R+S section think it's a question for you lot!!

OK OM it's a deal!!!

Ah, john you deserve it, but I only break a deal when I really, really have to.

But think of the Karma points, have a billion!

In fact Karma points for everyone, infinate ones.
Have mine if you need them.

Answer 1

I'll star it so my friends will answer it in a cosmic way.


But the 10 points are mine.




I withdraw Love is enough Catalyst , CC, JCB

Answer 2

First, define the word 'religion'.
If you define religion as a belief in God then no part of Buddhism is a religion.
If, however, you define religion as spiritual practice then Buddhism certainly is.

As to philosophy.
Philosophers think. They are not obliged to actually DO anything except just that - think.
Buddhism is nothing if it is not something that you DO.
IMO Buddhism is, and must be, more than a philosophy.

I stand here with my begging bowl in my hands. Be it two points or ten they will be received with the same equanimity.

Yeah, right!

PS.
I forgot. Zen Buddhism belongs in the R&S section.
Zen would warrant a section of its own . . . The mind boggles!

Answer 3

We so often make the error of applying terms to the phenomena, rather than having the phenomena inform the terms. Similarly, we perpetually risk the very real impoverishment of logocentric "substantialization" of terms, rather than embracing them as instrumental. IOW, we tend continually to enact the naming fallacy, presuming we know what a thing is when we have given it a name and thereafter squeezing data into a prepacked shape to fit our namings.

In other other words, it seems to me so much more fruitful to hold with very light touch the notions of "religion," "philosophy," and "psychology," and to look instead at things like the experiential practices involved ... and on THAT empirical, wholesome, open-minded basis to realize what works, what benefits, what serves.

As Suzuki Roshi once put it, "Zen is not a religion like Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, or Zen."

Philosophy in the West can be and was once very much a love-of-wisdom enterprise, a spiritual path, a method for allowing ourselves to step out from under static conceptualizations and be available to living realizations.

Socrates, after all, was all about questioning concepts, and was quite content to find "we really don't know what we mean."
.

Answer 4

Buddhism is a philosophy, or a religion, that was founded by the Indian prince Siddhārtha Gautama, the first Buddha, presumably in the fifth century BCE. (The Sanskrit word “buddha”, “बुद्ध”, means “awake”, while “siddhārtha”, “सिद्धार्थ”, means “successful”.)

The Zen (Chan) branch descends from the semi-legendary figure Bodhidharma, heir of a line of Indian patriarchs starting from the first Buddha. Bodhidharma left India for China (sometime in the late fourth century CE) and started a new line of Chinese patriarchs. In that country, Zen Buddhism was highly influenced by Taoism. It was introduced in Japan sometime around the twelfth century.
Very succinct description

Zen aims at achieving a state of mind named “Enlightenment” (“覺悟”). Exactly what Enlightenment is is not easy to describe, but very loosely described, it is the liberation from the material world and its dualism. Enlightenment implies Oneness with the Universe and abolishment of mental barriers separating the Enlightened from all other things.

The path to Enlightenment is simply called the “Way”. It is this path that the Zen adept seeks to find and to follow. Meditation, various mental exercises, can help; so can the short texts called “kōans” (“公案”). But there is no royal road to Enlightenment.

Answer 5

Zen Buddhism is a religion and a philosophy as well. Unfortunately, questions on Zen Buddhism --or most any religion--can't be posted to the "Religion" site on yahoo answers because that portal is completely overrun by fundamentalist Christians and persons who want to argue them.

Answer 6

Zen is the main suitable faith to p.c.. because of the fact it would not want church homes, clergymen, government, dogma or miracles. you are able to practice it primary, everywhere, no count what else you're doing on the 2nd. Zen delivers a very distinctive attitude on life. Prayer relies upon on a god and his will. It has on no account been shown scientifically to have any measurable result. Meditation, even with the incontrovertible fact that, is shown to have effective outcomes. in simple terms check it out for your self. yet do no longer study too plenty approximately Zen. here expenses are packed with information: "have faith no longer something, no count the place you study it or who has reported it, no longer whether I even have reported it, until it concurs with your man or woman reasoning and your man or woman effortless sense." --Buddha-- the pupil asked the grasp: "what's going to you teach me in the present day?" The grasp replied: "I wish i could desire to teach you something, yet in Zen there's no longer something."

Answer 7

Buddhism is not a 'religion' in the normal sense of the word as Buddhists do not worship a deity. I would call it a philosophy which follows the teaching of a person known as The Buddha.

Answer 8

Zen (禪) is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism notable for its emphasis on practice and experiential wisdom—particularly as realized in the form of meditation known as zazen—in the attainment of awakening. As such, it de-emphasizes both theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts in favor of direct individual experience of one's own true nature.

A broader term is the Sanskrit word Dhyana, which exists also in other religions in India.

The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century CE. It is thought to have developed as an amalgam of various currents in Mahāyāna Buddhist thought—among them the Yogācāra and Madhyamaka philosophies and the Prajñāpāramitā literature—and of local traditions in China, particularly Taoism and Huáyán Buddhism. From China, Zen subsequently spread southwards to Vietnam and eastwards to Korea and Japan. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Zen also began to establish a notable presence in North America and Europe.

So it is Philosophy based on religion terms I think so

Answer 9

If we have to choose a fitting category it better fits in philosopy,
but R&S has more responses (=more fun) than philosopy.

10 points are for Om Tat Sat then I'll just be satisefied with my 2 points.

Answer 10

Not a flip answer but a question for Zen Buddhists