I can't stand people who say Buddhism is not a religion. In many, many, MANY ways Christianity is as much a philosophy as Buddhism is. People also don't realize that Buddhism in the West is specifically catered to Westerners who are sick of the dogma of the Abrahamic religions. Ironically, Buddhism is filled with the same dogma, but it's hidden in the West until you buy into it. I can't imagine it's entirely different from how Christian missionaries approach developing countries.
Not saying that Buddhism is "bad" - not at all. But it is in no way as secular, or as peaceful, as Westerners think it is. It has a long and torrid history of violence, as well as dogma.
I just wish people recognized Buddhism for what it is - a religion.
I was a practicing Mahayana Buddhist for many years and I can assure you it is a religion. There is an entire pantheon with Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, ancestors are worshipped. There are temples, rituals, idols, altars, prostration, chanting, incense lighting, religious texts, etc. There is an afterlife via rebirth which you are trying to end via merit making (virtuous acts). Most of the religious practices are there. There is even a religious rite similar to the Christian sacrament of confirmation called taking the precepts where you make certain religious commitments, and you are given a Buddhist name after time of religious study.
I think it is pure fantasy that people believe Buddhism is not a religion. I think some people want to convert Buddhism into just philosophy because they want to take out the interesting content and drop the baggage (rituals, worship, etc.). Many are leaving Christianity with the hope of finding a spiritual community without all of the negatives of religion. However without the baggage there is no meaning or purpose and people will fill in the blanks with their own culture and religious upbringing.
I don't consider myself religious, but I have incorporated some buddhist practices into my life.
Also, not to derail, but I think that it's pretty ambiguous whether buddhism counts as a religion, per se, according to the (generally unstated) assumptions in discussions like these. Some schools of buddhism are athiestic or agnostic, some are not, etc.
You are equating religion with spirituality, most organized religion is a madhouse. Buddhism is an anomaly and IMO it's more a faith, and offers a real path to spirituality.
I can't stand people who say Buddhism is not a religion.
It is definitely a religion. But I'd like to add the remark that the earlier writings in particular (those attributed to the Buddha and those of early Zen masters) focus mostly on meditation practice and ethics and are quite agnostic about other (e.g. existential) questions.
Buddhism is definitely a religion with a specific epistemology, claims on the supernatural (karma, cycle of samsara), manifestations of the divine (Bodhisattva), rituals, chants and prayers. Some Buddhist sects can be pretty radical, even.
Buddhism as conceptualized in the western world is a marketing strategy that appeals to people thanks to the fact the Buddhism is exotic, the same reason Christian symbolism is à la mode in Asia (just see how many anime have Christian themes). If you could repackage Christianity to convince these people that it is new, exotic and exciting they would convert immediately.
By the way, there are philosophical traditions, both in Buddhism and Christianity, that reject any supernatural claim and see religion as a useful but not true moral framework, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_atheism
P.S.: I'm an atheist. I'm not defending a religion or another.
Maybe let's not talk about Buddhism like we all know what it's really like as a religion. It IS a religion and there is much more to it than the average person seems to think.
Granted, like any belief system people are free to pick and choose if they want, but we don't base our judgement of a belief system's "religiousness" on people who have chosen the very least amount.
I'd say that Buddhism is more like philosophy than a "real" religion. Though I agree that there's no clear definition of what "religion", especially now, where every nutjob can create his own "religion".
The question is clarified if you distinguish between Buddhism the religion and Buddhism the philosophy. As a Westerner, I can compare it to this: I try to embody the teachings of Jesus Christ but I don't consider myself a Christian because I think the religion has become corrupt in America.
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