Is Buddhism a religion? (Jesus, salvation, reincarnation, Christianity, God)

[Saint Tigeress]

I don't really see why you couldn't take pieces of each or different parts of each and be both. I was just reiterating how it was classified by my professor....

I am really interested to know what is up with that now. It was quite a few years ago when I was with her. In fact I think I vaguely remember someone asking why it wasn't athiest and her answering... but I definately can't remember the answer...

[MidnightBlue]

Originally Posted by Saint Tigeress

You know how they call Abarahamic religions monothiestic and more than one like hinduism polytheistic?

If you call Hindus polytheistic, Hema is going to have to beat you about the head and shoulders with a big stick.

Originally Posted by penguino

Am i not a Buddhist? i am a buddhist as well as a hindu.

Point taken, but I had in mind people like Somkid and Heather who are just Buddhists and don't identify themselves as Hindus.

[Don Penguinoini]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

Point taken, but I had in mind people like Somkid and Heather who are just Buddhists and don't identify themselves as Hindus.

i understand And you are very right too.

[Saint Tigeress]

Originally Posted by MidnightBlue

If you call Hindus polytheistic, Hema is going to have to beat you about the head and shoulders with a big stick.

OMG!I can't believe I said that! I told you I have had a long day! Hinduism is one of my favorites because I love the concept of Brahman so much and such....

Aaahhhh!!!

[vandervalley]

Originally Posted by Saint Tigeress

You know how they call Abarahamic religions monothiestic and more than one like hinduism polytheistic? Well for some reason in the class according to the text Buddhism was neotheistic, neo I thought meaning "without/no god".... I dont really remember, but I know 100% that it wasn't classified as athiestic.

I did find this definition:

Neotheism (Open Theism a.k.a. or Open view of God): A belief that God is not omniscient. In particular, God does not know what will happen in the future with precision. Supporters of this belief back up their position with biblical quotations.
------> Not much good........

It was this way from what i understood because Buddha is not supposed to be considered a "God." There is no deity that is the center of the religion.... it is reaching nirvana and something something anatman or something.....

Sorry... I am working a 12 hour shift today and I've been up since 6:45 this morning....

I wil have to dig my notes back up from the class to really figure out what was up with that.

neo- actually means "recent" or "new"

for example neo-nazism which means new nazism.

neo - Definitions from Dictionary.com

[Saint Tigeress]

Okay so now I am totally confused. Maybe I am mixing up prefixes or something. I know it started with an N though.....

I swear I will look it up tonight.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Saint Tigeress

You know how they call Abarahamic religions monothiestic and more than one like hinduism polytheistic? Well for some reason in the class according to the text Buddhism was neotheistic, neo I thought meaning "without/no god".... I dont really remember, but I know 100% that it wasn't classified as athiestic.

I think you meant non-theistic, which would mean without or no god but not anti-god. As someone else pointed out, neo- means new. Buddhism is non-theistic.

As for the poll, I voted that Buddhism is a religion. I actually agree with those who said that it can be a philosophy, a way of life, and a religion - all of those. But I voted that it IS a religion because most of the time when people claim Buddhism isn't a religion it's because they associate the concept of religion with things they don't like but they like their version of Buddhism, so they say it isn't one. Instead of rejecting the concept of religion, I would rather redeem it.

Besides, Buddhism the way my relatives practice it IS a religion. And I don't see why the way they practice it should be considered any less valid, or less Buddhist, than the Western versions.

[YmirGF]

I voted as did Lady Lilithu. Buddhism is definitely a religion to many, if not most, practitioners. Who are we to claim otherwise, really. There are however, many forms of Buddhism and some supply a more circuitous route that appeal to the masses where others offer far more direct approaches. That being said, it is my opinion that the true keys that made Buddhism as wonderous a path as at its point of origin have now become murky and misunderstood. Hopeflully the phoenix will arise from the ashes of oblivion before much longer. It's hard to pin a good bird down, no matter how hard people try to pidgeon-hole her.