[无量香光 · 显密文库 · 手机站]
fowap.goodweb.net.cn
{返回首页}


Why the Buddha Dhamma is not a religion
 
{返回 Buddhist Article 文集}
{返回网页版}
点击:2023

Why the Buddha Dhamma is not a religion

By Dhammika - Courtesy Vesak Lipi

"0 Young man, living beings have Kamma as their inheritance, matrix, relation and refuge." (Kammassaka, manava, satta Kammadayada Kammayoni Kammabandu ammapatisarana)
-Majjhima Nikaya iii, 203.

Before I proceed with the subject of this Essay, I must say that the word Buddhism to mean the teachings of Lord Buddha is a misnomer. Much of the misunderstanding and misinterpretations of the Buddha-Dhamma are due, I believe, to the suffix" ism" added at the end of the ennobling word Buddha. "Buddhism" is considered in certain quarters as yet another theory explanative of the beginning and creation of the word, of the finitude of the world and such other "ologies". Or, it may mean yet another materialistic derivative, such as: Nazism, Fascism and Communism, anyone of which has its roots in greed, hatred and delusion, the three fires, according to the Buddha-Dhamma, that consume the entirety of the being.

The Buddha-Dhamma is primarily concerned with the immediate, insistent and poignant problem of suffering (Dukkha) and its end. To the Buddha suffering meant the endless process of being born, ageing and dying motivated by selfish Craving the offspring of Ignorance. By its end is meant the extinction of ignorance by extra-sensory Wisdom, the extinguishing of the fires of greed, ill-will and delusion and attaining the "coolness" of Nibbana. Gotama Buddha was actuated by a loving commitment to show all mankind the way to attain this undying Reality. All His teachings are directed to this end, and therefore, let them be called Buddha-Dhamma, sanctified by the liberating Truth they carry and prescribed by custom and long usage.

What does the word religion mean? Websters Dictionary defines it as. "the outward act or form by which men indicate their recognition of the existence of a god or gods, having power over their destinies, to whom obedience, service and honour are due". The Shorter Oxford Dictionary defines religion more exhaustively: "Action or conduct indicating a belief in, reverence for, and desire to please a divine ruling power; the exercise or practice of rites or observances implying this. Recognition on the part of man of some higher unseen power as having control of his destiny, and as being entitled to obedience, reverence and worship'.

Now, the Buddha-Dhamma does not fall within this definition, and hence it is not a religion. Moreover, it denied in toto the existence of a Creator-God (Iswara-Nirmana). It also does not demand blind and submissive faith to a supernatural being placed over man. It is free from dogmatism, from rites and ceremonies and from fanaticism. It exhibits an aversion for metaphysical speculation. It is not tainted with the fear or wrath of a divine power, nor does it believe in a vicarious salvation for sinners.

The Buddha-Dhamma is a "Way of life" for free men to think freely, to act freely and express their ideas freely independent of a "Supreme Being's" acts of grace and compassion. It has bestowed upon the human mind its inherent freedom and dignity to plan out and shape its destiny without the aid of an external agency. In the world of Dwight Goddard :- "If the worth of a truly great man consist in raising the worth of all mankind, who is better entitled to be called truly great than the Blessed One, who instead of degrading man by placing another over him, has exalted him to the highest pinnacle of wisdom and love. His figure is the noblest, the most perfect that man can ever attain."


{返回 Buddhist Article 文集}
{返回网页版}
{返回首页}

上一篇:What Do Death And Rebirth Explain
下一篇:The Three Characteristics of Existence
 Buddhist Ethics
 The Way of the Lotus
 Three Poisons
 Tenfold Recitation in Pure Land: Re..
 The Effects of Chan Meditation
 SHUNYATA, THE EMPTINESS
 The Five Precepts of Buddhism
 In the Spirit of Chan
 Draft of a Very Brief Introduction ..
 Buddhism: A Method of Mind Training..
全文 标题
 
【佛教文章随机阅读】
 云门文偃及其禅法思想(释道恒)[栏目:禅宗·云门宗]
 对初入佛门的居士们的开示[栏目:阿松·桑昂丹增仁波切]
 第七册 佛教常识 第六课 宗教法令[栏目:佛光教科书 第七册]
 问18:尊者,为什么你教禅修者从观照“起与伏”开始禅修?[栏目:马哈希尊者访谈 An Interview with Mahasi Sayadaw]
 二八七 利得轻侮本生谭[栏目:第三篇]
 新裙子[栏目:智空和尚讲禅]
 志行自述[栏目:太虚法师]
 修华严奥旨妄尽还源观 第五十八集[栏目:修华严奥旨妄尽还源观讲记·净空法师]
 禅学的生命智慧 三、中国禅门的主要旨趣 6.平常心是道[栏目:龚隽教授]
 以修行来看是否做人比较重要?[栏目:海云继梦·禅修释疑]


{返回首页}

△TOP

- 手机版 -
[无量香光·显密文库·佛教文集]
教育、非赢利、公益性的佛教文化传播
白玛若拙佛教文化传播工作室制作
www.goodweb.net.cn Copyrights reserved
(2003-2015)
站长信箱:yjp990@163.com