The Indian subcontinent has a highly developed ideologies in
place during Buddha's time,which formed the basis for the
Lord Buddha to contemplate. As the ideologies were
unsatisfactory, other concepts and views are needed.
Now, the concepts of Anatta or No Self is diametrically
different from the other ideologies, also concept of karma are not
quite the same, since there is assertion of no self to begin with.
As for the philosophy, it is necessary to explain the concepts in
the already existing vocabluary and in context of the current
philosophies. Certain concepts are similar but not the same also
goals are different.
[ Philosophy is the
study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected
with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and
language.[1][2] It is
distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its
critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance
on rational argument.[3] The word
"philosophy" comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia),
which literally means "love of wisdom".[4][5][6]] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
Organised religion for Buddhist begins when you need house the
Sangha and when you need the laity as devotees to support the
monastic community. If you are an ascetic, is asking for alms
considered an act of religious activity?
[Religion is
a collection of cultural
systems, belief systems,
and worldviews that establishes symbols that
relate humanity to spirituality and moral
values.[1] Many
religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are
intended to give meaning to life or to
explain the origin of life or
the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a
preferred lifestyle from
their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.
The
word religion is sometimes used interchangeably
with faith or belief
system, but religion differs from private belief in that
it has a public aspect. Most religions have
organized behaviors,
including clerical hierarchies, a definition of what
constitutes adherence or membership, congregations of laity, regular meetings or services for the purposes
of veneration of a deity or for prayer, holy places (either natural or
architectural), and/or scriptures. The practice of a religion may also
include sermons, commemoration of the activities of
a god or gods, sacrifices, festivals, feasts, trance, initiations,funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, music, art, dance, public service, or other
aspects of human culture.
The development of
religion has taken different forms in different cultures.
Some religions place an emphasis on belief, while others emphasize
practice. Some religions focus on the subjective experience of the
religious individual, while others consider the activities of the
religious community to be most important. Some religions claim to
be universal, believing their laws and cosmology to be binding for everyone, while
others are intended to be practiced only by a closely defined or
localized group. In many places religion has been associated with
public institutions such as education, hospitals, thefamily, government, and political hierarchies.
Some academics studying the
subject have divided religions into three broad
categories: world religions, a term which
refers to transcultural,international faiths; indigenous religions,
which refers to smaller, culture-specific or nation-specific
religious groups; and new religious
movements, which refers to recently developed
faiths.[2] One modern
academic theory of religion, social constructionism,
says that religion is a modern concept that suggests
all spiritual practice
and worship follows a model similar to
the Abrahamic
religions as an orientation system that helps to interpret
reality and define human beings,[3] and thus
religion, as a concept, has been applied
inappropriately to non-Western cultures that are not based
upon such systems, or in which these systems are a substantially
simpler construct]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
Thank you for the definitions on philosophy and religion.
They are what ordinary people would take to mean. I did not
give the definition for religion in my two posts on (by now you shd
know) the most objectionable statement in the Buddhist world. Some
pathetic pedantric asked but he/she couldn't google.
Every thinker (or philosopher) has ideology/ies. Some are
quite similar to another while some are unique. Can't be that
every one has the same concept, ideology, or philosophy. I
do NOT think Buddhism is Hinduism but I DO think Hinduism
(as successor or Vedic-Brahmanism) has some influence on Buddhism,
as evident in similar concepts and beliefs.
