Is Buddhism a Religion ?
I spent half of my life to find what is Zen.
As my understanding of the Zen deepen and the points what
Lord Buddha taught then became clear, I realized many mix-ups and the confusions
surrounding the Buddhism.
(Please read the previous post to see What was the original teachings ? = Scientific Universal Truth)
Provably the most controversial question I can make is, whether the Buddhism
(in its original teachings) was a religion at all in the first place ?
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The answer to this question must lay in the title what
Lord Syakya-muni Buddha was given = [ BUDDHA] the enlightened one, not a Divine figure
even not a reincarnated Divine figure, such as Brahman’s.
Instead, he was described as a person even the God Brahman came and pay a respect.
Hindu people regarding him as a Guru, the great Teacher.
Not as an imaginary Godly figure but a historical real person.
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Another fact to consider this question is, in his core teaching of [Four Noble Truth], of which
one of them defined that the [Life is to have suffering, illness, getting old and to die] —– what sort
of the person was able to say such extremely blunt harsh words ? = sound not very popular.
In contrast, moneymaking Guru needs to attract a lots of worshipers hence resorting with soothing sweet
words. = Lords of attractive promises, Salvation, Heaven, Mythical Power, New Opportunities, Love
etc etc, while saying “Believe me” and in the same time “ Otherwise you go to the Hell ”
The same tactics of fraudsters = [Carrot and Whip] = with those [Words], Guru mislead the people
= This is what the Religion is = “If you believe, it is True”. ( Sorry to use harsh unreserved
words here, because I don’t need to be popular nor drive Mercedes neither 😀 )
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Lord Buddha didn’t need to tell this kind of mambo-jumbo at all. Because he was not teaching
a Belief System but just the TRUTH and that was the reason, on his death bed he gave an order to his
disciples [Don’t believe the words, but think yourself] and [Don’t worship me].
What Lord Buddha taught was a Technique to live the life in Peace, and the Truth of the Life.
Like a teaching of how to ride a bicycle, and the knowledges of the road and its terrain ==> having learned
this technique, anybody can have a freedom to go around by their will.
And knowing the road-map and the condition of the road, by which people can chose the best way to
reach their destination, while avoiding obstacles and dangers.
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So that, the teachings of Lord Buddha can be applicable to anybody, any people in any persuasion.
Since it was not a belief system but the Wisdom = Truth of the life. (How the Mind works,
and How the existences, include us are operating as a Rational Interactive System)
And this is why it is appealing to even to the people of another religion, who is
searching the road-map and the direction.
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But Lord Buddha did know that his teachings itself is not a salvation by its own.
It is not his teachings save, but the people themselves,the rider of the bicycle.
And in his teachings there is no strong Carrots or Whip = no Heaven or Hell = no Get-Rich scheme
or God’s Punishment of which those illusion can scare and drive the people.
Lord Buddha didn’t use an illusion or fear, nor Placebo effects to fool the people,
but aimed to change their Habit = Habit can be changed only by the willing person.
With this reason, he intentionally put a [MUST] in one of [Four Noble Truth] =
[The One has to actively cherish and learn this teachings] —– This is a clear indication of
[How Buddhism was not a religion] = All the Religion says ” God will give you the benefit,
otherwise sends you to the Hell”. But Buddhism doesn’t have a God to undertake this.
So that, the matter was not a Belief, but the Mind-set and the Technique to get it.
It was more like to recruit a member for a fancy sports club.
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As everybody remember, it was not easy to learn how to ride a bicycle = unless you wished and had
eager will to ride, you couldn’t master it. And the way of learning / practicing Buddhism is rather laborious
continuous work = you can’t master it quick manner, regardless how big the donation was.
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Yet another difficulty of the Lord Buddha’s teaching was, as a nature of learning a practice,
it was hard to teach in the words. (You can not find any written explanation, how to ride a bicycle.)
Even worse, practice itself was not the goal but a process to change a state of Mind, which is invisible.
Who can describe this. ( On top of this, there was no notion of [SUBCONSCIOUS] then ) = Only the way
was to observe how Lord Buddha was doing, and try to do the same.
Still, the teachings has been kept by the people who actually mastered the practice.
If you try again and again, soon or later, suddenly you become able to ride a bicycle.
Because, as a nature, our body has its sense of balance and dynamic controls.
And once you mastered it, it is impossible to go back to the state of [can’t ride] 😀
Same as riding a bicycle, Lord Buddha’s teachings are the universal technique applicable to the whole
human, in other words, it is the Universal Truth, like a Scientific Truth of the Gravity.
= Because, how human mind works, and its controls are common to all the human being.
Lord Buddha’s teachings can not be regarded as a kind of religion.
Whether the person chose it, believe it or not, it is there and working. (as Dharma and the Karma IS )
Therefore, classify his teachings as mere religion and try to monopolize it, is a mistake.
Lord Buddha’s teachings are the asset of the whole human being =
it is much more than a religion.
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Yoshizen's Blog 
Excellent points, Yoshizen. It seems to me that all great religious founders teach spiritual autonomy, and tell us no human being has any intrinsic authority over another. The problem is that people seem to want an authority they can look at and speak to; in Buddhist terms, they want to have the Buddha, Gotama himself, in the flesh. And that’s where the trouble starts. Next you get a priest or master or guru who tells you, in effect, “I am the Buddha.” At the very least, he claims to have authority to say who’s really a Buddhist. An as you put it, “…classify his teachings as mere religion and try to monopolize it, is a mistake.” From that point on, you can’t ever be Buddhist again, not on that path.
All religions have been hijacked this way. Hence the over-emphasis on sangha (church, temple, etc), i.e., clerical approval. Companions are necessary; they tell us when we’ve gone crazy. But we must tell them when they’ve gone crazy as well.
I’ve found that walking the true path of the Buddha (or Jesus, or Elijah, or Krsna, or Muhammed) means resisting the constant pressure of others to cede them control of your practice. The founders’ own teaching is liberating and sufficient to my needs, and I encourage others to see if it doesn’t work for them, too.
Gassho, .
Robin
Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey Hermit
Good observation Robin.
I’m not completely dismissive to the establishment, such as the sects and their temples, as it is functioning
as a nursing bed for a seedling great masters on the history. At least the temple got a big library 😀
Great masters, in its definition, got clear eyes and the mind which wouldn’t be deflected by the Dogma,
hence able to see what was the core of Lord Buddha’s teachings.
With the practice, the person may able reach the state of Oneness / Ichijo / Samady which enable
the person to communicate with the depth of spirituality or Dharma. Whether the person, able to reach
there or not is dependent to the person = not the Dogma of the sect (even the different religion).
This is why the teachings of Lord Buddha was universal.
Since the Buddhism had spread to remote country and the local group grown, they needed to have a kind
of own authority = hence needed to elaborate the leader as the [Buddha] —– this must be the reason
to creates many Buddhas with an excuse of Large-vehcles, along side the encouragement to the
ordinary people to take Buddhism practice. So that the Mantras were written accordingly.
Your blog is excellent. The one about mindfulness cleared up a big fog for me.
It’s true that Buddha’s teachings shed light on truth and were not a religion.
All religions are man-made gobbeldy-gook.
Thank you Stephen
Lord Buddha found the technique to develop the potential of which human mind
has it in subconsciousness.
So, the potential has been always, naturally there.
As it is there, nobody need to believe it, or even if you refused to see it, it is still there.
To show its function, and to expose the Truth was not the matter of the belief / religion.
When you learn the physics, you don’t need a religion = you just lean it.