Quote:
Originally posted by perth
Jag, out of curiousity, from what I'fe read of Buddhism it seems to me that it's more of a philosophy than a religion. Is that accurate?
I imagine Christianity can be argued to be a philosophy as well, but the distinction I'm trying to make is that my understanding of Buddhism indicates that there is no faith in a diety required. That Buddha is treated as more of an enlightened man, deserving of admiration and respect, but no more so than any other "good" person.
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Since Jag has probably gone to sleep and I have nothing better to do, I'll attempt to answer your question, Perth.
Buddhism in its purest form is very akin to philosophy. The Buddha himself never claimed to be a deity. When asked what he was, the Buddha merely replied, "I am awake." In one of the Buddhist teaching stories the students of the Buddha asked him about God and the after life. The Buddha replied, "Some things are unknowable by man. What you must concentrate on is what you are doing now, in this moment. You worry about this or that. This may happen, now that. This may be the afterlife or that. A man who occupies his mind so throws his life away because he no longer lives in this moment. It is in this moment which we live. Nothing else need concern you."
There are no Buddhist equivalents to our Christian missionaries. Buddhists believe that if you wish to follow the Buddha's teachings (the dharma), you may do so. If you wish to follow some other path that's fine also. Buddhist monks did travel in much of India and China and Japan. The people of these regions altered Buddhist thought to meet their own needs. Tibetan Buddhism, for example, is very mystical with many Bodisattva's (Saints - sort of) and different manifestations of the Buddha which are worshipped as deities. Even Tibetan Buddhism, however, adheres to the basic Buddist teachings of the "4 Noble Truths" and the "Eightfold Noble Path" and "anhimsa" or non harming of all living beings.
End of lecture. If you want to know more than that its readily available thru a google search on the internet.
