Buddhism: Religion or Philosophy
What is the difference between religion and philosophy? ... Is it possible to have religion without God? Buddhists dont believe in God, but do believe that there is a state of existence, that goes on forever, after what we know as life, or in the case of Buddhism, many lifetimes. So, is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? ... To start with, what constitutes religion? What exactly is philosophy? In addition, we also need to have some understanding of what Buddhism is. In the following paragraphs, I will try to deal with these subjects with enough clarity to formulate an answer as to where Buddhism fits in. Is it religion, philosophy or some combination of both? ... First, we will look at religion. To paraphrase the Oxford Dictionary, religion is the belief in a God or gods entitled to obedience and worship, or a particular system of faith and worship. ... Many of us also associate other things with religion. ... Does this mean that these things are necessary for a set of beliefs to be called religion? Belief in these things may be necessary to follow a particular religion, but they are not part of the definition of religion. They could be seen more accurately as a product of religion rather than a definition of religion.
Now lets take a quick look at philosophy. However complicated and difficult the mental discipline of a good philosopher must be, the definition of philosophy is reasonably straightforward. Simply stated, philosophy is the use of reason, logic and argument in seeking truth and knowledge of reality, especially of the causes and nature of things, and of the principles governing existence.
Both philosophy and religion can affect the way we think and the way we live our lives. ... This overlap seriously obscures the distinction between philosophy and religion. Dont be confused by these similarities, the clear distinction between the two is that religion requires the belief in, and worship of, a God or gods. Philosophy does not exclude these, but it does not require them.
At this point, we should have a fair idea of what religion is and how it differs from philosophy. However, before we can decide where Buddhism fits in, we need to understand what Buddhism is. ... As with any pursuit that has a following of hundreds of millions of people, there are different versions of what Buddhism is. ...
So, what is Buddhism all about? I will start by trying to explain the most central principles of Buddhism. ...
The four noble truths, and the eight-fold path are the basic teachings of Buddhism. There are also some important concepts that are essential to Buddhism. ...
Another concept that is important to Buddhism is the belief that there is no God. The closest thing Buddhism has to a god is nirvana. ...
It is impossible to capture the essence of a subject as vast as Buddhism in a few paragraphs, but we have covered much of the key points that are relevant to this discussion. With this background information, we should now be able to look at Buddhism as a philosophy, a religion, or some combination of the two. I would first like to address the possibility that Buddhism could be a combination of religion and philosophy. It is true that Buddhism has some of the characteristics of both religion and philosophy. The problem is not in what it does have, its in what Buddhism does not have.
To link to this page, copy the following code to your site:
All Papers Are For Research And Reference Purposes Only!
You may not turn these papers in as your own! You must cite our web site as your source!
