Buddhism: Philosophy or Religion?
For many years, Buddhists have lived without even knowing that their own religion is actually a philosophy or a religion. In today’s society, there are still so many arguments and debates going on among people about the matter that Buddhism is a philosophy or a religion as numerous people said that both doesn’t fit neatly into either category. Some people said that Buddhism is a philosophy although, some even said that it is a religion. So, is Buddhism a philosophy or a religion? According to my point of view after I did some researches, I personally think that Buddhism is a religion due to the fact that most Buddhists claim themselves as a Buddhist even though they did not follow all of the five precepts
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Aesthetic is the philosophical study of beauty and taste. It is closely related to the philosophy of art, which is concerned with the nature of art and the concepts in terms of which individual works of art are interpreted and evaluated. Next, social philosophy is the study and interpretation of society and social institutions in terms of ethical values rather than empirical relations. Social philosophy as a branch of philosophy deals with social problems, especially those issues pertaining to social values. Also, politics are the actions or activities concerned with achieving and using power in a country or society. Last, logic is the reasoning conducted according to strict principles of correctness. Basically, philosophy is the study of the theoretical basis of a particular branch of knowledge or …show more content…
The similarities are the matters that make people confused whether buddhism belongs to which category as both are related with ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Since Buddhism does actually have a clear belief system on the afterlife, I would say it is more than a “way of life” or “lifestyle” as some people say. However, calling Buddhism a philosophy is pretty accurate. One definition of philosophy from Dictionary.com is “the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or
DBQ Different people in China had different views on the spread of Buddhism. Buddhism was a religion, created in India (6th century B.C.E) and spread to China (1st Century). After Buddhism, China started to experience political problems. Many people believed this was caused by Buddhism. Some people sided with the belief and praised Buddha saying he has much to offer, while others repelled it for the effect of the ideas on China.
Many scholars disagree and have no say with the success of Buddhism in
Buddhism is a religion born in India 563 B.C. with Siddhartha as there founder. the basic beliefs are the 4 noble truths (Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirodha, and Marga). Like document 6 says noble truth one (Dukkha) "birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffering etc." In noble truth four (Marga) says "right intention, right action, right effort ect." Which means if you are suffering in some type of way you stop it by doing something right.
Document 5 is from the writings of Zong Mi, a Buddhist scholar. Zong Mi compares the Buddha to other sages such as Confucius and Laozi. He does this because although someone may support one sage, they could disagree with another. He says however, that all three teachings should be observed the same. An additional document that could be helpful in the analyzation of the question would perhaps be a simple account of Buddhism from a lower class citizens point of view.
Han Yu, who was a Confucian scholar and official at the Tang imperial court highly disdained Buddhism, he states that Buddha was incapable of speaking the Chinese language and that the man belonged to the barbarians and he should not be worthy of worshiping. “Your servant begs to leave to say that Buddhism is no more than a cult of the barbarian people spread to China. It did not exist here in ancient times. ”(Doc. 4) in this quote from the document, one is able to observe that Han Yu did not accept Buddhism.
Hinduism and Buddhism are both two religions that are similar, yet different in many ways. Known to be one of the oldest religions in the world, Hinduism began in India about 4000 years ago. Hinduism was originally practiced by an ancient population, the Aryans. About 2500 years ago, or 1500 years after the beginning of Hinduism, a prince by the name of Siddhartha Gautama realized that even princes can not escape illness and death after he saw those who suffer from them. It is said that he practiced praying, meditating and fasting until he was given the name Buddha, meaning the Enlightened one because of his understanding of the truths of life.
Buddhism is a religion that has been under pressure for hundreds of years. Specifically in China, the acceptance of the religion was a hard, long battle that formed demise and refute amongst the society. Emperors, Scholars, and even anonymous Chinese writers voiced their opinions for and against Buddhism. Many controversial arguments are held today. Emperor Wu of the Tang Dynasty (845 C.E.), did not respect Buddhism as a religion.
Buddhist believe in the teachings of Buddha, who was originally Hindu until enlightenment. Buddhist highly believe in the 4 Noble Truths and the 8 Fold Path. There are many religious things that fall off of Buddhism like Confucius and Taoism. In Document 5 it says that’s Buddhist should be respected because they are encouraging and are at different levels of
In Stephen Batchelor’s book, Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening he goes into depth about the idea that Buddhism is not a religion or something to believe in, but rather a mindset that is a way of living with a course of action. Throughout the book he gives examples and tells stories to defend the idea that Buddhism is more than just something to believe in, but it is a way of living. Batchelor noted that when it comes to viewing Buddhism as a religion it is important to know the way Buddha viewed himself “Instead of presenting himself as a savior, he saw himself as a healer” (6). His ‘job’ was not to convert people to believe in his beliefs, rather, he wanted to show them through actions how fulfilling his way of living
Religion also can be defined as a set of beliefs, dogmas, feelings, and practices that define the relations between human being and sacred or divinity. Over the centuries, people came up with thousands of religions
Religions mostly worship a god, but the Buddha is not a god. The Buddha is just an admirable man in Buddhism. Buddhists believe that people who train ascetic practices and follow the Buddha can live better in their next life. In addition, Buddhism has Buddhist scriptures, on which were recorded the teachings of Buddha. On the other hand, there are eight million gods in Shintoism.
What is religion? Religion is a way of life founded upon the apprehension of sacredness in existence. In order for something to be considered a religion it must have all eight characteristics of religion incorporated in it. The eight characteristics, there must be are; myths or having a sacred text, having a community or house of worship, rituals must be practiced, ethics are involved, material expressions, worldview or beliefs that everyone in the religion believes, sacredness, and emotional expressions.
Buddhism is also a polytheism religion they also believe in one god. That god is name is Buddha One of their sacred texts is called both records the words of the Buddha. They have many Holy days here is a few Vesak, Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path of Buddhism is the eight practices called right view, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right samadhi. So the Noble eightfold path is one of the principal teachings.
Buddhism/Hinduism vs. Christianity: Afterlife The concept of afterlife is different for many. Some would say there is a heaven or hell, or some would believe in the concept of reincarnation. The answer varies from different peoples perspective in terms of their religion or personal opinion; yet despite these differences it is agreed that different concepts of afterlife in different religions can have a certain degree of similarity or comparison. Although Buddhism/Hinduism and Christianity are three different religions in terms of where the soul enters in afterlife; they do have many similarities such as a reward and punishment system and second chances to redeem oneself.