Philosophy Vs. Philosophy: Buddhism, A Religion And Philosophy

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What makes a religion a religion? This question has caused the greatest of debates, and the argument may never end. A religion can be interpreted as the belief of a God, or Gods, and the organized system of beliefs used to worship a God or Gods. Thus comes to question whether Buddhism is a religion or philosophy? Buddhism is the teaching that life is full of suffering caused by bad desire. Buddhism’s goal is to reach enlightenment through wisdom and meditation to release oneself from rebirth, suffering, and desire. Buddhism can be taught and disciplined in a fellowship setting but it can be done solo, and it runs by a "cause and effect" theory closely relating it to a philosophy or science; calling Buddhism a science is extreme, thus Buddhism is a philosophy. While exploring this subject matter, one must be able to comprehend the “philosophy versus religion” argument, closely pay attention to who The Buddha was and his teachings, question how dogmatic Buddhism is, find the relevance of Buddhism in the world today, see Buddhism’s relationship with other religions, and analyze the true cause for devotion in Buddhism.
Religion and philosophy do have their similarities and differences, but it is important to look beyond the surface meaning of both and understand what they actually imply. Religion and philosophy do deal with human life, the human mind, life’s meaning and so on, but there is so much more of a difference then there is a similarity. The need for rituals is a definite difference between religion and philosophy. Many religions have a set in stone list of rituals that must be followed, while different philosophies don’t. A philosophy is a way of thinking, or in more technical terms: the study of a theoretical basis of a par...

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...udaya (Cause of Suffering: Desire/Attachment), Nirodha (Cessation of Suffering: Eliminate Desire/Attachment), and Marga (Path out of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path). These truths teach how to free oneself from suffering and avoid cycles of rebirth. When looking further into these truths, it comes to question where is the religion aspect. There is no speak of God, worship, rituals, and common things major religions hold. Buddhism is a philosophy, and that is not a negative connotation. With such positive thoughts on how to live life, Buddhism fits the description of a philosophy.
The entire argument about Buddhism being a philosophy is solely based on the fact that Buddhism is less dogmatic than other religions. Buddhism does not ask it’s followers for unquestionable blind faith. Instead, it places a heavy emphasis on self discipline and individual striving.

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