Kozak - Buddhism 101: From Karma to the Four Noble Truths, Your Guide to Understanding the Principles of Buddhism

Religion or Philosophy?

Buddhism is one of the worlds great religions. Behind Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, it is the fourth most followed religion in the world. The question might be raised: Is Buddhism a religion at all?

Can you have a religion without god, a supreme being that created the world and intervenes in the lives of his (or her) creatures? It appears that Buddhism can be considered a nontheistic religion, according to Buddhist scholar Damien Keown, when it is considered along seven dimensions common to religion. These seven dimensions include:

Practical and Ritual

Experiential and Emotional

Narrative and Mythic

Doctrinal and Philosophical

Ethical and Legal

Social and Institutional

Material

While the ritual elements of Buddhism may seem bare bones compared to the Catholic Church, for example, Buddhism certainly has rites and rituals that are public and private, many of which are associated with monastic life. Different Buddhist traditions place different emphasis on ritual.

The experiential dimension is the most important dimension of Buddhism. The Buddha was the exemplar. He transformed his life not through belief but through experiential practice. The heart of Buddhist practice is to be experienced rather than believed.

Buddhism is not without its myths and legends, including those surrounding the life of the Buddha, which can be read as a parable as well as a biographical account of the historical figure known as Siddhartha Gotama. There are many narrative elements in Buddhism, including the Jataka tales. Indeed, even the name Siddhartha is part of the mythologyan honorific title added centuries after his death.

Professor Keown says of doctrine, if by doctrine we understand the systematic formulation of religious teachings in an intellectually coherent form, then Buddhism qualifies as having doctrine in this sense. For example, the Four Noble Truths are the foundation of the Buddhas teachings.

Buddhism is widely regarded as one of the worlds most ethical religions, having incorporated ethics into the foundation of the experiential practices. The central ethic is to do no harm. Buddhism is predominately a path of peace. For example, the Dalai Lama has consistently advocated peaceful resistance to the Chinese occupation of his country, an occupation that has, by some estimates, claimed a million lives and destroyed 6,000 monasteries.

The sangha is the community of Buddhist practitioners, and it is one of humanitys oldest continuous institutions. Yet the sangha is not an institution in the sense that it has a central authority such as the Vatican. It is a diverse collection of people across nations and cultures that practice the Buddhas teachings in diverse ways. Buddhism is a socially engaged religion seeking to make positive changes in society.

Buddhists have built breathtaking monasteries, caves, and carvings of the Buddha. King Ashoka left a legacy of stupas (dome-shaped structures) across India. Buddhist art is colorful and narrative. Buddhists make pilgrimages to holy sites such as the birth and death place of the Buddha and the places where he became enlightened and gave his first sermon.

As you can see, while Buddhism does not have a god and the Buddha is not regarded as a god, it fulfills the other criteria for a religion. You can adopt Buddhism as your religion or you can regard it as a set of experiential practices, such as meditation, that you can integrate with your own religious beliefs. Or, as many do, you can approach Buddhism in an entirely secular manner, as a philosophical system for living, eschewing all rituals, beliefs, and doctrine, just as the Buddha did 2,500 years ago in his search for a way to end suffering. You, just like the Buddha, have the same potential for awakening.

Throughout this book a distinction will be made between the Buddha (the life and teachings of Siddhartha Gotama) and Buddhism (the religious institutions that have developed over the past 2,500 years in many different parts of the world). Not all Buddhism is Buddha, as these social organizations have migrated and developed over the centuries.