Where does "holiness" fit in to Buddhism?

[GodHypothesis]

The rational and philosophical sides of Buddhism are often emphasized to the Western audience.

But it certainly is spiritual and holy too. The Pali texts constantly refer to the "holy life" of following the Dhamma, being a "holy man", etc.

Many other religions get to invoke God and His holiness, but Buddhism can't do that directly. Though for most lay Buddhists and even most monks, they believe in the fantastic Buddhist cosmology, so that is sufficiently holy for them. But it's unclear if the Buddha actually taught such a cosmology, or, regardless of that, if it is even necessary in the practice of his core teachings.

So where does "holiness" fit in to Buddhism? Or, to make my question more clear, I might say, where is the holiness in a more extracted version of Buddhism like Zen?

Is holiness just the nature of reality that is realized as you progress along the path? Is it "skillful" but not necessarily a feature of ultimate reality?

 

[LuisDantas]

The rational and philosophical sides of Buddhism are often emphasized to the Western audience.

But it certainly is spiritual and holy too. The Pali texts constantly refer to the "holy life" of following the Dhamma, being a "holy man", etc.

Many other religions get to invoke God and His holiness, but Buddhism can't do that directly.

Quite frankly, it is the other way around. Holiness is the core concept, defined in Buddhism as harmony to the Noble Eightfold Path. God is a human creation, a concept that attempts to give a name and a personality to holiness.

I is invoking God as a source of holiness that is the indirect way.

Though for most lay Buddhists and even most monks, they believe in the fantastic Buddhist cosmology, so that is sufficiently holy for them. But it's unclear if the Buddha actually taught such a cosmology, or, regardless of that, if it is even necessary in the practice of his core teachings.

So where does "holiness" fit in to Buddhism? Or, to make my question more clear, I might say, where is the holiness in a more extracted version of Buddhism like Zen?

Is holiness just the nature of reality that is realized as you progress along the path? Is it "skillful" but not necessarily a feature of ultimate reality?

This is related to what I'm wondering about the role of love in Buddhism. Certainly, love is a primary virtue in Buddhism. Is it good in itself, or is it "merely" a skillful emotion that is conducive to ego-detachment?

Those are one and the same thing, so the answer is "both".

 

[Engyo]

Here we come again to my favorite bugaboo, translations. The English word chosen as closest to whatever word we want to discuss often comes with commonly-understood meanings in English, which are not accurate for the word in its use as a translation. For that reason (for example), our school has dropped the use of the term "Reverend" for ordained clergy, and substituted the word "Shonin". Too many people were misunderstanding or making incorrect assumptions, based on the commonly-understood usage of "Reverend" in English.