Atheistic Buddhism?

[an anarchist]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Buddhism is a religion so of course it has metaphysical beliefs.

Personally, I'm confused. You want to get away from religion but are still posting on a site about religion and talking about it all the time. Why not go away and get a hobby or something?

 

[Soandso]

You could try treating it like modern westerners treat yoga, but I do think that in attempting something you aren't familiar with while holding preconceived notions and strict goals you do a disservice to the thing you attempt - especially if it has as much depth as Buddhism does. If I were in your shoes I'd go in with an open mind then make your assessments after trying it for a while and learning what's what for yourself. It's hard to learn anything new if you already have the answers you want

 

[an anarchist]

Buddhism is a religion so of course it has metaphysical beliefs.

Personally, I'm confused. You want to get away from religion but are still posting on a site about religion and talking about it all the time. Why not go away and get a hobby or something?

You are right, I am on the verge of giving up religion completely. And when I do, you guys won’t hear from me any more. I can learn much about irreligion from the atheists on this site though.

I was religious all my life. And I have made friends here. Religion has been my hobby. Like i said, there is a void in my life. Suppose you had to suddenly become atheist. Would you just hop to it then and ghost your religious acquaintances?

I post on this site socially now. Sorry if that confuses you ;0

 

[LuisDantas]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

I don't know that memorizing texts would be helpful.

Generally speaking, I would think that Dharmas such as Buddhism are best engaged into by taking them to heart and taking responsibility for their practice and interpretation.

How that fits with your goals and your understandings of metaphysics and disciplines I just can't say.

 

[Nimos]

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

"Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha. Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment."

So guess the answer is yes

 

[an anarchist]

"Siddhartha Gautama was the first person to reach this state of enlightenment and was, and is still today, known as the Buddha. Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment."

So guess the answer is yes

Hmm

 

[LuisDantas]

You are right, I am on the verge of giving up religion completely. And when I do, you guys won’t hear from me any more. I can learn much about irreligion from the atheists on this site though.

Do you think religion opposes atheism or vice-versa?

I would think not, although that is a very common and influential misconception.

I was religious all my life. And I have made friends here. Religion has been my hobby. Like i said, there is a void in my life. Suppose you had to suddenly become atheist. Would you just hop to it then and ghost your religious acquaintances?

I don't know. I guess I did, to a slight extent. Authenticity of belief and expression is important to me, despite environments that aren't all that helpful on that regard.

 

[LuisDantas]

If it helps any, @an anarchist , I have concluded that belief in deities is an aesthetical inclination with no deeper meaning - and therefore so is disbelief.

Religion is really about more practical and less imaginary things - no matter how deeply or how many other people have convinced themselves otherwise.

 

[Polka_time]

@an anarchist what would you say you are after? How do you see yourself being (ir)religious? Do you want practices to do? Texts to believe in? Sages you admire? Want something Eastern or Western?

I've been on the non-theist religious quest for about 4 years now and know a lot of the various non-theist paths and traditions out there.

 

[Heyo]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

Buddhism is a spectrum from religion (with god-like entities and spiritual beliefs) to a philosophy. It doesn't really fit into our western distinction between those two. Most Buddhists won't even answer the question if they are theists or atheists as that is not something they contemplate (or should be contemplated).

 

[Twilight Hue]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

Buddhism is not theistic at all. Its most certainly a discipline or practice.

Those people who are theistic are actually best described as Hindus dressed in Buddhist garb.

You'll find no Buddhist clergy that will acknowledge anything supernatural in the religion aside from its metaphorical use and that type of nonsense has become an issue as such things are actually a hindrance to the practice itself.

Buddhadāsa Bikkhu for example, addresses the theistic nonsense in his book Handbook for Mankind.

 

[ChristineM]

As i understand Buddhism, it's more a way of life based on spirit liberation, many consider it a non-theistic religion.

Edit: see Secular Buddhism - Wikipedia

 

[wellwisher]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

Buddhism is an example of a religion without deities. It is more about developing higher human potential. This is an important distinction since there are many secular religions, that do not call themselves religions, based on deity criteria. This is a faux loophole to avoid separation of church and state. However, they are technically still religions but more in the flavor of Buddhism, such as Liberalism. There is supposed to be separation of church and state, but currently this deity loophole, defined by Liberalism, violates the role of Government.

For example, one of the central dogma of the religion of Liberalism is abortion which are essentially human sacrifices to appease inner demons. The demons compel a woman to get pregnant and the only way out is to sacrifice to the demons. The very idea of losing that sacrificial option to the inner demons produces hysteria. Young child sacrifices were popular in Carthage in BC but was discontinued when Rome conquered Carthage and force this odd religious practice to discontinue.

We should have see seen this coming, since it began with nature worship; tree huggers and evolved to self mutilation rituals; body piercing to sex change then to human sacrifices. These all have roots in pagan religions. The 1960's and 1970's was about exploring spirituality and alternate religions. This continued with lawyers working to create a loophole, so the Liberal religions could avoid detection and exploit government resources.

 

[metis]

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

Yes. This is why you at some point read the phrase "If you see the Buddha, kill him"-- not to be taken literally.

The basis of Buddhism are the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, neither of which are theistic.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

Religion and spirituality served their role in my life. Now it is time for irreligion.

I read it was a western misconception that Buddhism was a discipline, as opposed to a religion.

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously. My irreligion has left a void.

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada. Would this route lead me to metaphysics though? I am trying to avoid that. Is it possible for Buddhism to be strictly a discipline?

Buddhism makes no comments on any god. I've known plenty of atheist Buddhists.

 

[Left Coast]

I am trying to shed my metaphysical beliefs.

That's a little like a fish trying to swim out of water.

Even atheists have metaphysical beliefs.

I think you mean you want to shed your supernatural beliefs. That's very possible in a Buddhist paradigm. You can get into versions of Buddhism that are more supernatural, but the most basic, OG variety doesn't have all that.

 

[Rival]

Suppose you had to suddenly become atheist.

What is forcing you to become an atheist?

 

[Secret Chief]

I am wondering if I can be an atheist and a Buddhist simultaneously.

Here's one opinion:

- Confession of a Buddhist Atheist

I would start by memorizing the Dhammapada.

It's a relatively minor part of the Tipitaka, I think it is well-known because of its straightforward verse structure.

I agree with @Heyo in that the pigeonhole in the western sense isn't really always helpful.

Imo, atheism is a position that is taken in reference to theism. In this light Buddhism is best described at non-theistic. My opinions on gods are not derived from Buddhism per se.

 

[Valjean]

As I understand it, Buddha and the original believers were not concerned with deities. For that matter, they weren't that interested in metaphysics, either.
The movement began as a sort of psychotherapeutic modality concerned with suffering. A lot of tradition and cultural overlay has been added.

I see a lot of overlap with Stoicism.