Reply to PSA: Buddhism is a religion

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Reply to "PSA: Buddhism is a religion"

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[quote=Anonymous]OP again. The other argument that the naysayers use is something like this: "Well I know a Buddhist who says it's just a philosophy of the mind for him." Well, I know a Christian who says Jesus isn't the only way to God - her name is Oprah.

There are a [i]lot[/i] of Christians who think that Jesus isn't the only way or the only truth. Does that suddenly invalidate Christianity as a religion? Does that suddenly mean that I can argue that the central tenets of Christianity - that Jesus is the Son of the Father and the only way to the Father is through Jesus - no longer exists? Of course not.

In terms of legal definitions, Buddhism fulfills almost every criterion the United States Internal Revenue Service uses to define a religion for tax purposes.

Returning to the big problem about Westerners having a narrow definition of "God" (that it can only be conceptualized in an Abrahamic context), when you apply such a narrow definition of what a deity should be, you not only invalidate Buddhism, you also invalidate a bunch of Western pagan religions like the ancient Celtic religion and the ancient Norse religion, and you also invalidate the Shinto religion of Japan. Buddhism is atheistic and polytheistic, just like Hinduism is many 'theisms tied together. These faith traditions do not have to conform to a Western template in order to be religions.

This is not to say you can't borrow what you like. Are you a fan of Buddhist mindfulness meditation but you want to remain Christian/Muslim/whatever? Sure you can practice mindfulness and still be a Christian or a Muslim. You can benefit from these techniques without turning Buddhism itself into some pop culture, feel-good, New Age way of life, because that's not what the Buddha Dharma is.

The sad thing about history is that Buddhism likely would not have survived in the West if it had not been stripped down to sparkly New Age bullshit and/or promoted strictly as a science. This is part of the trend that has grossly misinterpreted a whole host of dharmic concepts, from what karma is (no, shouting "karma!" when your sworn enemy falls off a cliff isn't accurate) to what chakras are. Buddhism has been grossly watered down to suit the comfort levels of white Christians or ex-Christians who, for all they may call themselves "Buddhist", would likely feel grossly uncomfortable if they saw traditional Buddhists lighting incense in prayer to Shakyamuni Buddha, or even worse, chanting hymns to a wrathful Dharmapala.[/quote]

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