4 Answers

  1. In Buddhism, there is a belief – shraddha. As for the word “religion”, due to the fact that it does not have a generally accepted meaning, the attitude to it is uncertain. Some Buddhists insist that this is definitely a religion, because there is a developed ritual system here, others-that it is definitely not a religion, because there is no mandatory personal connection between the adept and the deity. All these fluctuations are well summed up by the current 14th Dalai Lama (leader of Tibetan Buddhism): “On the one hand, Buddhism is a religion, on the other hand, Buddhism is a science of the mind, not a religion. Buddhism can be a bridge between these two sides.” In general, all concepts in Buddhism are considered artificial constructs that do not reflect reality in itself, so Buddhists are skeptical and indifferent to any naming, especially those claiming to reveal some truth.

    As for Russia, where everyone is waiting for an “official” opinion, i.e. public approval of state officials, the preamble of the law on freedom of conscience names Buddhism among the religions.

  2. Certainly. This is especially true in a country like Myanmar. There is a terrible story from 2013, when a tourist from Holland made a Buddhist sermon on the radio quieter in a hotel – as a result, he was jailed for insulting religion and believers. In Sri Lanka, local Buddhists recently vandalized a Muslim neighborhood. These are, of course, lay people, not monks.In countries where Buddhism is the traditional and main religion for the population, everything is no more peaceful than in others.

  3. Unfortunately, I can say that in its new mass, Buddhism has degraded to the level of religion. I can confidently say that Buddhism was not originally a religion and was not conceived as a religion at all. Buddhism is a method of ending a very long and meaningless cycle of rebirth in the 6 realms of samsara. not a cult of the Buddha, as the one who replaced “god or gods”

    as for the excessive zeal of some Budists. it runs into excessive disrespect on the part of some tourists. or marketers. and some designers. Using the image of the Buddha as a decorative element is completely unnecessary. okay, still in the form of statuesor paintings on the wall. but sometimes it comes to the point of absurdity. floor mats with the image of the Buddha or bath towels with the image of the Buddha or slippers with the image of the Buddha or the toilet lid with the image of the Buddha or the proverbial Buddha bar……….. the whole thing is just sickeningly unpleasant.

  4. There is Asian Buddhism, which is obviously a religion. Try in Thailand or Sri Lanka to say something about the fact that this is not a religion… 🙂 And in this regard, it is not particularly important what the Dalai Lama says (the leader of not even Tibetan Buddhism, but only one of its Gelug schools).�

    But there is also Western Buddhism. This is definitely not a religion, this is New Age in its purest form (and the Dalai Lama is its prophet 🙂 well, one of them). In fact, significant New Age scholars such as Paul Hilas mention Western Buddhists in the same company as homeopaths, yoga enthusiasts, and other lovers of “spiritual growth.” It is from Western Buddhists that all this nonsense about “Buddhism is just such a philosophy” comes.

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