Buddhism: philosophy or religion?
Buddhism, however a little Buddhism, is a practice of contemplation and investigation that does not depend on belief in God or in a soul or in something supernatural. Therefore, the theory goes, it cannot be a religion.
Sam Harris expressed this vision of Buddhism in his essay "Killing the Buddha" (Shambhala Sun, March 2006). Harris admires Buddhism, calling it "the richest source of contemplative wisdom that every civilization has produced". But he thinks it would be even better if he could be turned away from Buddhists.
"The wisdom of the Buddha is currently trapped in the religion of Buddhism," complains Harris. Worse still, the continued identification of Buddhists with Buddhism provides tacit support for religious differences in our world. "Buddhist" must be unacceptable in violence and ignorance of the world ".
The phrase "Kill the Buddha" comes from a Zen that says "If you meet the Buddha on the street, kill him". Harris interprets it as a warning against the Buddha's transformation into a "religious fetish" and therefore the lack of the essence of his teachings.
But this is Harris' interpretation of the phrase. In Zen, "killing the Buddha" means extinguishing ideas and concepts about the Buddha to realize the true Buddha. Harris isn't killing the Buddha; he is simply replacing a religious idea of the Buddha with another non-religious one he likes.
In many ways, the "religion versus philosophy" argument is artificial. The clear separation between religion and philosophy on which we insist today did not exist in western civilization until about the eighteenth century and there was never such a separation in eastern civilization. Insisting that Buddhism should be one thing and not the other is tantamount to forcing an ancient product into modern packaging.
In Buddhism, this type of conceptual packaging is considered a barrier for enlightenment. Without realizing it, we use prefabricated concepts about ourselves and the world around us to organize and interpret what we learn and experience. One of the functions of Buddhist practice is to wipe out all the artificial filing cabinets in our heads so that we can see the world as it is.
Likewise, arguing that Buddhism is a philosophy or religion is not a topic on Buddhism. It is a discussion of our prejudices regarding philosophy and religion. Buddhism is what it is.
Dogma against mysticism
The Buddhism-as-philosophy argument is strongly based on the fact that Buddhism is less dogmatic than most other religions. This argument, however, ignores mysticism.
Mysticism is difficult to define, but fundamentally it is the direct and intimate experience of ultimate reality, or the Absolute, or God. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has a more detailed explanation of mysticism.
Buddhism is deeply mystical and mysticism belongs to religion more than to philosophy. Through meditation, Siddhartha Gautama has intimately experienced Consciousness beyond the subject and object, the self and the other, life and death. The experience of enlightenment is the sine qua non condition of Buddhism.
transcendence
What is Religion? Those who claim that Buddhism is not a religion tend to define religion as a belief system, which is a western notion. Religious historian Karen Armstrong defines religion as a search for transcendence, which goes beyond the self.
The only way to understand Buddhism is said to be to practice it. Through practice, its transformative power is perceived. A Buddhism that remains in the realm of concepts and ideas is not Buddhism. The robes, rituals and other symbols of religion are not a corruption of Buddhism, as some imagine, but expressions of it.
There is a Zen story in which a professor visited a Japanese master to investigate Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor's cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and onto the table.
"The cup is full!" said the professor. "He won't come in anymore!"
"Like this cup," said the master, "you are full of your opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen if you don't empty your cup first? "
If you want to understand Buddhism, empty your cup.