Buddhists, what are they?

Question

I'm an atheist now but back when I was Buddhist I saw it as a religion. Now I see it as a philosophy. What is it actually?

Answer 1

It is a philosophy really, but many refer to it as a religion.

Even the Dalai Lama has used the term religion when referring to his Buddhist beliefs.
“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”

Answer 2

I have been a practicing Buddhist for many years and I have to say that I admire the amount of effort that you put into this, as well as the intelligent answers you have placed here. Normally when my faith is criticized, it is by uneducated people who just want to attack for the purpose of attacking so I appreciate your approach. In addition to that, I can say that I agree with a lot of your points - however, this does not rattle my faith at all. I could write for hours on how I agree with your points and add my own faith into that but I will try to keep it simple for the purpose of this posting. Although, I would certainly not disagree to a future conversation about this if you are interested. Buddha said: "Believe nothing, whether you hear it from Me or anyone else unless you know it to be true." My perception of this statement is what keeps my faith in spite of all the difficulties and human error that have encircled the faith. I know that a lot of things contradict each other and the reason is obvious - If you take a faith and spread it around to different cultures it will develop into something that closely resembles the culture that has taken it. Even I am guilty of this but I feel that it is necessary for my basic understanding. You can't change what we are and what we are is human. Human's seem to have an innate need for a "god" figure and even though it is against the Buddha's ideals, he has become a "god" in a sense. Still, I refute this belief as an educated person does the best they can to do what is right and that is the basic principal of faith in general. If we split straws on what people have done, the good in Buddha's words may never inspire people. Inspiration is the key but still human error has warped a lot of things. This is true in every faith, Judaism, Taoism, Hindu, Christianity and Islam. I think the great Messiah's, Profits, and "gods" are more interested in making our hearts pure and being good but I understand the difficulties of blind faith and thoughts of Nihilism. So, I will end my debate with a quote from the Dali Lama, he said that the faith is good but it is not for everyone. You should be true to you and if that means being other than Buddhism, please do that because the point is to find your happiness.

Answer 3

It depends upon the belief of the individual Buddhist. If the Buddhist is atheistic, then it is only his/her philosophy. If the Buddhist believes in the numerous Buddhist deities, then it is his/her religion.

Same with Judaism. If the Jew is atheistic, then Judaism is only a culture. If the Jew believes in the Jewish God, then it is his/her religion.

Answer 4

i seem to remember from somewhere that the word "religion" means "re-" (or "again") and "ligare" (to"bind" or "bond" or "yoke")...or to re-tie, re-bind, or re-yoke that which has been untied, unbound, or unyoked...which, in turn, implies a pre-existence that has come "undone." In my mind, pure "religion," then, is coming back to the original state. Unfortunately, religions have reduced this idea to dogma, which has further turned seekers from the truth by diverting them from "seeking the kingdom within." Buddhism is based on personal experience rather than dogmatic Thou Shalts, which obscure and turn ones away from "yoking" to the divine within, the Light of Being, the Absolute. Labels do not change the experience. So whether Buddshism is philosophy or religion is inconsequetial. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. I am Sirius

Answer 5

Three religions now stand in the world, which have come down to us from time prehistoric- Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism. They have all received tremendous shocks and all of them prove by their survival their internal strength. But while Judaism failed to absorb Christianity and was driven out of its place of birth by its all conquering daughter, and a handful of Parsees is all that remains to tell the tale of their grand religion (Zoroastrianism), sect after sect arose in India and seemed to shake the religion of the Vedas to its very foundations, but like the waters of the sea shore in a tremendous earthquake it receded only for a while, only to return in an all-absorbing flood, a thousand times more vigorous, and when the tumult of the rush was over, these sects were all sucked in, absorbed, and assimilated into the immense body of the mother faith.

From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists, and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hindu’s religion

Answer 6

"Religion" and "Philosophy" are largely Western categories. Buddhism is a PRACTICE. It is a "therapy" to help heal our relationship with what is most actual.

Religion can be that, and, at it's most humanely beautiful, so can philosophy. But the point, of course, is to get on with it, and it is especially characteristic of Buddhism to encourage less attention to the words and more to the living experience those words are based on to begin with.

Even the word "Buddhism" is a Western one. Buddhists tend to speak of their tradition as practicing the Dharma, the living truth.
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Answer 7

You will find that what we in society define as words in spiritual context is often what the word isn't rather than what it is. Language is defective in this manner. A religion is pretty much a philosophy lived. A religion doesn't have to be dogmatic, nor does it have to be forcing. True religion when it is pure and faultless is application of higher principles and concepts towards invoking harmonious being within yourself and having such a movement of harmony from the within have its expression outwards towards those in your presence. It's helping the people of the world to progress and overcome their addictions and conditioning towards becoming whole within themselves and unto themselves. The ideal of "Harmonious being," is required through Enlightenment which occurs and happens at degrees and capacities. This entitles a lot in regards ones consciousness and the different spectrums of it and the balance that is achieved between such, however this is the objective of knowing Thy Self, to become your Authentic Self, to become acquainted with and be born into your Greater Self.

All worldly religions are pretty much watered down from their original likeness, if its Judaism, Islam, or Christianity. At their root they are ALL the same because of their Scriptures. The objective of their scriptures are ALL the same, that being Preparation towards knowing thy self, entering what indwells you. They are all esoteric allegories, what you see represented in the world however would be entry-level practices and understanding, where they apply scriptures literally. People make the GRAVE error of thinking that this literal application of things that are purely spiritual allegories is a religion, but actually that is Anti-religious, as a religion would be that which you turn within to work and develop yourself towards transformation and the expansion of consciousness towards an attainable ideal of becoming. I call it anti-religion because by applying things outward in their external God-centeredness they do not bring about the conditions necessary within themselves to invoke inner change towards enlightenment, to fulfill what is necessary to succeed, in fact they go about seeking to beat out all the competition and convert people by force or fear, or they see themselves as being special and more than everyone else while they do what others do. True Religion the only multitude you are supposed to convert to that single Ideal is within your mind, just as the Jihad is within you. A religion that is expressed outward in the traditions of man is not True religion.

Answer 8

Less time spent on naming things and more energy on peaceful practice in silence mind, may be one example of what you ask. Does it matter if one calls it a philosophy or a religion? Will it change your life or mine? "Buddhists, what are they?" They're people quietly minding their own mind's.

An old monk, listening to the ceaseless questioning of a westerner on the nature of everything, replied....."Quiet! Stop walking your big, muddy shoes through my mind!"

Answer 9

A Buddhist monk was asked "What is a Buddhist"? He answered "There is no such thing as a Buddhist, Buddhist is just a word". This is very, very close to the truth of everything. : )

Answer 10

because Buddha is not God, it's an atheistic religion.

I know mainly about Theravada Buddhism and a bit about Tibetan Buddhism. They are as different as Catholicism and Protestantism though/