Is Buddhism a Philosophy or a Religion?

Aik TC SG

Is Buddhism a Philosophy or a Religion?

05/31/2016 Nicholas Liusuwan Huffpost

A common debate among people in modern times, especially among westerners, is that Buddhism is not a religion â but a philosophy or way of life. This of course, is something people are divided on and really depends on various technicalities in how one defines religion.

So what is the argument for Buddhism being a philosophy and what is the argument for Buddhism being a religion?

Arguments for Buddhism Being a Philosophy

Since Buddhism does actually have a clear belief system on the afterlife, I would say it is more than a âway of lifeâ or âlifestyleâ as some people say. However, calling Buddhism a philosophy is pretty accurate. One definition of philosophy from Dictionary.com is âthe rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.â

This is indeed something that fits into Buddhism very snugly. The Buddhaâs teachings are referred to as the Dhamma (or Dharma in Sanskrit), which literally means the ultimate truth or the truth about reality, and the Buddha encourages followers to investigate his teachings for themselves. One of the six qualities of the Dhamma is described as âEhipassikoâ, meaning roughly âencouraging investigationâ or âinviting to come and see for themselves.â In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha states that one should not believe in things simply because they hear it, it comes from their masters, is a part of tradition, etc.; but to investigate for themselves and if they find that:

â... these things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, enter on and abide in themâ.

Not to mention, the Buddhaâs teachings emphasized personal practice and adhering to moral principles above any kind of dogma. Even in regards to the Five Precepts, the Buddha doesnât describe them as divine laws, but as practical guidelines to follow for oneâs own happiness in this life and the next. Although he mentions karmic consequences if one chooses to break them, the Buddha provides practical benefits to following them also, such as âfreedom from danger... animosity... suspicion,â etc.

While the Buddha did discuss some metaphysical aspects of reality that people would often associate with religion, he made it clear that the most important aspect of Buddhism is how you practice, not what you know. A good example can be seen from the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta, where the monk Venerable Malunkyaputta asks the Buddha a series of metaphysical questions such as whether:

âThe cosmos is eternal,â âThe cosmos is not eternal,â âThe cosmos is finite,â âThe cosmos is infinite,â âThe soul and the body are the same,â âThe soul is one thing and the body another...â

The Buddha responds to these inquiries by saying that such questions are not important and that asking such is like being shot by a poison arrow and saying, âI wonât have this arrow removed until I know the given name and clan name of the man who wounded me.â

Of course, the logical thing to do would be to go to a doctor about the wound rather than wasting precious time asking such questions. So the lesson is, knowing such things doesnât really have a use and itâs a waste of time to focus on them, that time could be much better spent developing oneself.

Arguments for Buddhism being a Religion

Buddhism is still considered to be a religion by the majority of the public, so clearly there have to be reasons for this also. So what are the arguments for Buddhism being a religion? Unless one defines religion as having a centralized belief system based on a god or set of gods, which isnât the definition used by everybody, Buddhism does have religious aspects.

As previously mentioned, the Buddha did discuss metaphysical aspects of reality that are typically associated with religion. While the Buddha stressed this wasnât as important as the practice, he still mentioned them, and they are a part of Buddhist teachings. The most âreligiousâ aspects of Buddhism are probably the Buddhaâs discussions of the afterlife and the various realms of existence.

The Buddha does mention the Thirty-One realms of existence that one can be reborn in after death throughout many of his sermons, and references to supernatural beings and the other realms can even be seen in his first and most famous discourse, theDhammacakkappavattana Sutta. These aspects of Buddhism are often times overlooked by those who advocate Buddhism as a philosophy, which is understandable since knowing details about the Brahma and Deva worlds isnât particularly useful for most people. Whether you find it useful or not, the Buddha did mention them and such details are still parts of Buddhism.

The Buddha also addresses various questions about society that can sometimes be seen as being similar to religious questions, such as why there are so many differences between people and why the world is so unfair. In fact, this very question was asked in the Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta, in which the Buddha gives a brief summary of the famous Law of Karma to explain the âunfairnessâ of life.

Another, not so scriptural, argument for Buddhism being a religion is that itâs just easier for everyone if itâs simply classified as such. Itâs much easier for keepers of religion statistics to classify Buddhism as a religion than to ask people what their âreligion or philosophy isâ. And whether or not it is technically a religion, it essentially serves a similar purpose to most people in the world as (other) religions like Christianity.

There are those who firmly believe Buddhism is a religion and those who firmly believe it is a philosophy, some are casual about it; some are quite meticulous about it. Believe it or not, I have encountered people who actually put in the effort to carefully look for details and technicalities in how people talk about Buddhism or how things are run at some Buddhist organizations for the sole purpose of preaching about how Buddhism is one or the other.

In the end, each side has their own points, and it is a legitimate debate with solid arguments both ways depending on how one defines religion. However, the lesson of the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta mentioned earlier is that one should focus more on personal practice above any kind of superficial concept, or definitive knowledge.

Thereâs a story I heard in college that would explain this point in regards to the religion-philosophy debate quite well. An associate of mine told me a story of this staunch nihilist who gave a long speech to a group of people about how nothing in the world means anything, ever will mean anything, and that there is no point to anything, etc. He was very adamant about it, and was quite passionate about his nihilistic views. After he finished his tirade, one of his listeners turned to him and replied: âWho cares?â

bic_cherry SG

Bhuddism is a religion with a philosophy behind it.đ

Weychin SG

It all depends on whether a Buddhist practises as a matter of religion or philosophy. It also matters how one is introduced into Buddhism; whether faith based or wisdom based. Also when one is freed from the fetters of attachment to the (wrong) rites and ceremonies, it becomes less religion based.

Weychin SG

Buddhism even within the so called confines of different paths, eg. Theravada(yana?), Mahayana, and Vayjayana, has expediency depending teacher and audience.
As one practises Buddhism, oneâs outlook changes and hopefully, oneâs cravings and attachments reduces and looking back, oneâs wisdom will rise.

Larry Hunt SG

Does it really matter? Just the nitty gritty of words and definitions.

Jayden99 SG

Buddhism reveals the Bodhicitta or Buddhahood of all sentience. One of several metaphors for Bodhicitta used by Buddha Shakyamuni mentioned in the sutra is liken to Cosmos. Cosmos is vastly beyond, present timelessly and everywhere, in body and outside of body, quite similar to bodhicitta because it can't be physically seen, felt, heard, tasted, smelt and intellectually engaged, practically beyond six senses and omnisciently, and also can't claim its non existence. Thus, in this regard, is buddhism a philosophy or religion? Generally, religions are coined as religions because there are "invisible superpower" governing and control, liken to ancient China dynastic era where the Emperor is the superpower, all commoners can only be as lower caste. In philosophy, it is only a few hundred years that based only on a very narrow aspects of perceptions and conducts of human sphere or realm alone. It does not taken into account of animals, ghosts, non living beings, deities, bodhisavatt etc

Vincentwm SG

Buddhism is a religion yet containing lots of philosophy.

Just my two cents.

Jayden99 SG

In addition, basically without Buddhism all are religions and with Buddhism to evolve it, all are transformed into Bodhi, the supreme philosophy of neither right nor wrong and neither beginning nor ending, as it is at very now, and in the future from now is also now, since the future is also now as it is, the past is now as well. Liken to when you are dreaming in your deep sleep, you never know that those occurring in your dream is a dream having past and future. it is only when you awake from sleep that you aware it just a dream.

Weychin SG

One of key tenets in Buddhism is non/not self. Without this realization, one cannot be said to have understood Buddhism. This where Buddhism separates from other beliefs.

It is without self that dreams are just an arising algamation of experiences, within our minds during sleep. They are just thoughts without emotional attachment. Stored in our memories, it arises in to the forefront of our unwaking consciousness, and contents of it quickly disappears upon waking

Just as if we had the luxury of watching cloud formations in the sky, each conceptual entity arises in our mind, and the cloud formation changes even as we begin to label it as such.

Maybe I "saw" a rabbit or I "saw" a dog, and yet it is not so now. Did many clouds merge to be a bigger cloud, or has one big cloud "breaks up" into tinier clouds. Does any of it really matter? Be they a cluster of clouds or simply clouds, simply conceptual thoughts!

Thus we don't "see" cloud as cloud, but instead, ascribing our values on what is basically water vapours affected by wind movements.

Weychin SG

When we do not attach any emotional values or fixation, as each moment of consciousness of thoughts rises, as soon it falls, another rises.

Rather, perhaps,it could better framed as a present thought rises, the previous one disappears. But when we are fixated, we created a string of thoughts connected by our logic, our story line.

Jayden99 SG

To better appreciate and understand this topic in particular yourself, humanity as a whole and to achieve the desired journey of bliss regardless of religions, philosophy and psychology, the best advice is spent your leisure time referring to the book on Topic entitled Shurangama Sutra that has just been posted in this forum :) May the bless in all be fragrant consistently _/|\_

zaza006 SG

Buddhism is a religion yet containing lots of philosophy.

Just my two cents.

Agreed. It good to learn the philosophy even if you dont believe in the religion. There are alot of good moral techings in it.

Jayden99 SG

In the inherent buddha self of all beings, there is no buddhism, philosophy, or religion, and in the defiled minds of beings, indeed buddhism, philosophy and religion existed. Thus if you rely on your investigative mind to learn it, it is liken to using gravels to cook rice. However the merit of learning it will not be futile, as it still will directly or indirectly eliciting your inherent buddha self. In fact, in ancient era, there was no general class as religion. The purpose of modern classification is an honour to each one, mutual respect and mutual acceptance of benefitting each person who embracing it with utmost sincerity.

Jayden99 SG

https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh/%E6%AD%90%E9%99%BD%E6%BC%B8

In 1923, it was mentioned at a famous university in China that Buddhism is neither Philosophy nor Religion(as commonly regarded as an external invisible superpower staying in the sky)

libido SG

There are many kinds of belief systems that label themselves as Buddhism.

poorbunny88 SG

not a buddhist. but to my perspective it's a well ridden philosophy of a religion. it's still a religion though since it recognizes Gods.

Jayden99 SG

Of course, in the perspective for layman understanding and tutorial, it certainly recognises Gods. And in the perspective of all inherent supreme quality, there are no Gods, no buddha.

Jayden99 SG

There are many kinds of belief systems that label themselves as Buddhism.

exactly. Trying to create confusion amongst buddhism. The lesser strength of true buddhism, the world will gradually enter into severe calamity. Religions wars and different kinds of belief systems will engage in conflicting and people are lack of a good basis to embrace. Buddhism even flourishes also must maintain its humility to benefit even more. Buddhism assists other religions in understanding its religions so as to achieve its desired destination, once buddhism ceased or only within its buddhist community, there will be misunderstanding. In fact, it is better for buddhists community to stay recluse or closed door meditational practice within themselves for the time being owing to many kind of belief systems masquerading as buddhism.