1BUDDHISM

Buddhism: Religion or Philosophy?

Julian P. TuyoCharie Natividad S. Eusores

Guang Ming College

2BUDDHISM

Religion could be defined as a system of belief and faith

into a God. According to Merriam Dictionary (2015), religion is a

worship of a supernatural being or a God which forms a system of

belief and practice. On the other hand, philosophy is a branch of

science that can be defined as a vision of how a person foresees

attitude and its purpose. Religion and philosophy are two of the

most influential aspect people follow and observe throughout the

human existence until this very moment of the 21st century era.

Religion should always touch philosophy but on the other aspects

both also contradict especially on what it presents. Religion in

this world exists because of their founders and disciples who

propagate their teachings and introduce firm faith among people.

Every religion has its own different identity may it be spiritual

and philosophical. Among these religions, Buddhism is considered

as a philosophy because of its teachings that are more on values

and forms a system of ideas that is recognize as a form of

philosophy. Buddhism became a religion because of its influence

to the people for them to become good individuals of the society.

3BUDDHISM It is more on philosophy in such a way that it could answer

questions and problems of today’s materialistic world. Although

Buddhism is considered as a religion, people should take it as a

form of philosophy.

Buddhism actually started in the plains of Indian continent

around 2500 years ago founded by Siddharta Gautama. According to

Gyatso (2005), Buddhism is founded by Buddha specifically named

Sakyamuni Buddha. He is a son of a Kshatriya king from

Kapilavastu currently a border between India and Nepal. The

Buddha was born around 624 BC in a place called Lumbini garden.

He left his luxurious life and became a sage for he realizes the

supreme truth. Attained complete enlightenment at the age of 35,

renounce all his desires and taught the Dharma or his teachings

for 50 years. Upon the early times of Buddha the disciples

propagate his teachings throughout Indian continents. He always

encourages his disciples to observe the rules and etiquettes of

the Sangha for them to benefit people and the world. The Buddha

believed that all worldly things are impermanent and desires that

hallucinate of a person’s life. He is the supreme one who leads

the Sangha community. He is also known as the supreme one or the

4BUDDHISM knower of the world. The word Buddha came from a Sanskrit word

means enlightenment or the so called great realization. His

teachings became the guide to all his disciples who considered

him as a supreme teacher. The Buddha entered final nirvana

between two sala tress in Kusinagara. Upon the death of the great

teacher his ashes and remains was kept by the different kingdoms

of Northern India and they built stupas to keep the remains of

the great teacher. Buddhism has been existing for almost 2500

years ago especially in Asia like the countries of China, Japan,

Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and many more (BDEA,

2008). These countries as Buddhist community make a total of

almost 360 million Buddhist followers all over the world.

Buddhism is known to be as the oldest religion in the world and

in Asia. It is also a founding religion of faith and belief in

Asia. Among these Buddhist followers, they are classified as two

major schools and community known as Mahayana or the great

vehicle and Theravada Buddhism. Mahayana is a sector of Buddhism

that originated in the plains of Indian continent after the

Buddha’s passing. This classification of Buddhist community is

more on sutras or the early text and the Dharma or the Buddha’s

5BUDDHISM original teaching. This Buddhist community is now in the

countries of China, Taiwan, and so on. Theravada Buddhism is

another branch of early Buddhism that specifically using their

teaching of the Buddha in the Pali Canon. Pali Canon is a

collection of the old text that was collected by when the time of

the Buddha’s original teachings. Theravada believed that the

teachings of the Buddha should not be changed nor replaced for it

is the original words of the Buddha and it is written in

historical texts. Theravada is a kind of Buddhism mostly dominant

in the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, and Burma or

Myanmar. Theravada mostly covers a vast number of traditions and

interactions to communities. These two major sectors of Buddhism

make up the whole Buddhist community to become the most

discipline religion in the world. Buddhism is the fourth largest

religion in the whole world next Catholicism which rank first,

Muslim, and its sister religion which also originated in India

that is Hinduism who rank third. Nowadays, Buddhism is gaining

popularity in other continents like in Europe, Australia, and

also in America (BDEA, 2008). According to Yun (2013), one

example of this Buddhist community that could be considered as

6BUDDHISM one of the most important and elite Buddhist community in the

world is the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order or Buddha’s Light

Mountain originated in the country of Taiwan year 1969. Fo Guang

Shan is considered as a Buddhist community founded by Venerable

Master Hsing Yun’ living legacy as the 48th lineage holder of Lin

Chi Chan school of Buddhism. Venerable Master Hsing Yun is a

simple Buddhist monk establishes Fo Guang Shan which in today’s

world almost have millions of devotees. Fo Guang Shan has 300

temples worldwide. Fo Guang Shan also focuses more on Buddhism as

they believe that it is one of the tools for the improvement of

the world. The philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism explained by

the Venerable Master Hsing Yun to Fo Guang Shan Buddhist

community became fruitful when Buddha’s Light International

Association was founded year 1996 which now considered as one of

the largest Buddhist community in the world. BLIA is also the

largest charity organization established by a Buddhist

organization. Fo Guang Shan’s community contributes a lot to the

Buddhist community to spread the wheel and harmony of the Dharma

all around the world. The Buddhist community gives a total of

almost 360 million Buddhist believers across the globe. These

7BUDDHISM followers provide greater emphasis on self- cultivation and deep

understanding regarding Buddhism as one of the most profound

philosophy in this generation. According to Basilio & Barua

(2009), only less than 1% Buddhist live in India but on China,

Taiwan and other Buddhist countries in Southern Asia Buddhism is

one of the most influential religion that dominates mostly all

other religion. Buddha’s teaching is an impeccable philosophy

2500 years ago which could be considered metamorphic as

footprints in the Ganges. Buddhism named after the great teacher

Sakyamuni Buddha mostly emphasized his teachings on a more

metamorphic way that sometimes laypeople would not be able to

understand. It is because for Buddhism it is mostly on deep

understanding of the general truth just what when the Buddha

realized his supreme truth to give away all his luxurious

things in life. Mostly, Buddha’s teachings generally focus on

self-cultivation and application it to the society. The Buddhist

teachings are more on Sangha community or the order of the monks

and the nuns, the laypeople or the believer of intrinsic faith

and the society as one of the main point for the generalization

of mankind. Buddha’s teaching like the philosophy of the

8BUDDHISM emptiness which according to Chinese text and literature is the

Prajnaparamita Sutra mostly focuses on the senses of the human

body as an empty one. The philosophy of the so called emptiness

believes that things and people are empty and cleared for them to

realize how important life is. Emptiness is a philosophy which

deals more on the general truth rather than the physical one of a

person. According to Kung (2005), Buddha’s teaching mainly

focuses on three major aspects; discipline, meditation, and

intrinsic wisdom. Wisdom would generally be gained by thorough

meditative concentration in achieving the so called Prajna

wisdom. Discipline should be observed on oneself of a person by

observing the five precepts of the Vinaya which are no killing,

no lying, no stealing, no sexual misconduct and no taking of

intoxicants. Wisdom according to Buddhism could be realized

naturally. The whole teachings of the Buddha mainly encompass the

Tripitaka. The Tripitaka is divided into three parts, mainly the

Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma which emphasize wisdom, meditation,

and discipline respectively. He also mentioned about the goal of

the Buddha’s teachings which also gives importance to education,

which according to him is similar to Confucius because of their

9BUDDHISM methods of teachings and how to oversee general viewpoints. One

of the aims of the Buddhist teachings is to inherit wisdom

especially on education. According to Guang (2015) wisdom in

Sanskrit is the so called Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi. It is mainly

because the Buddha taught that the practice of cultivation has

the aim of achieving wisdom. It is an intrinsic part of nature.

The Buddha also presented great equality that for the Buddha all

sentient beings great virtue that should be protected. Therefore,

there is no general different among beings in this world. The

Buddha’s teachings realize and uplift beings to gain realization.

With this realization it can solve problems and answers questions

of today’s materialistic world. Additionally, Buddhist doctrines

generally specialized when it comes to the traditions of each

country. Accordingly, Buddhist doctrines could be classified when

it comes to the traditions of each Buddhist country. Buddhist

doctrines gradually change back when to the times of the early

Buddhism until now that Buddhism has been propagating worldwide.

Buddhist doctrines could be specified when it comes to the way

how they treat Buddha as a teacher, the way they address the

Dharma, and the culture they applied in Buddhism. For example is

10BUDDHISM Mahayana Buddhism that propagate in China during the time of

dynasties is with culture of Chinese tradition nowadays like

using of Chinese instruments when praying, and the way monks act

is totally changed because of the influence of culture and

tradition to Buddhism. The image of the Buddha also changes

depending upon the country where Buddhism is. The tradition and

culture of this Buddhist country generally affect the way

Buddhism acts nowadays. Buddhism nowadays is celebrating Chinese

traditions and following Chinese rules like using chopsticks

which that time is not used by the Sangha community. Indeed it is

gradually a very big change to Buddhism because of the influence

of culture and tradition.

Buddhism considered Buddha as a great teacher who teaches

his disciples and explains its own philosophy just as the same as

a father who help his son realize about the truth. The reality

the Buddha explained its teachings through self-explanation and

philosophical views. The Buddha taught its teachings along the

Ganges River around 2500 years ago in northern India with

profound evidences of relics and artifacts about its existence.

The knowledge the Buddha expresses towards his disciples, values

11BUDDHISM and etiquettes he applied by breaking down the caste system of

India and the reason of his teachings the Buddha has its own

similar explanation of mind and knowledge in line with other

religion such as Christianity which is also more on values.

According to Stoesz (1978), Buddha is a teacher with the evidence

of the scriptures of the Theravada Buddhism focusing on his

relationship with the lay people and various disciples who

dispatches his teachings. Additionally, he also mentioned that

Buddha is considered as the “sattha” as an authoritative teacher

who gives lessons about common life, because the Buddha generally

detached himself from all worldly things and to his ordinary

life. The power he expresses on the community is defined not only

excellent but also expressive. The Buddha is also called as the

master of different instructions may it be monk and laypeople.

His teachings as the Buddha are called the Dharma which is

written on the Sutras. The Buddha is a philosopher, one who gives

beneficial effect to the community authenticating him as a great

teacher and philosopher. Nowadays, even though Buddhism is

flourishing in Asia, still people could not left behind that it

was neglected to the land of his rebirth in India. According to

12BUDDHISM Barua & Basilio (2009), there are pieces of evidence regarding

the disappearance of Buddhism in India. One of the reasons is the

accumulation of wealth monks did in the monasteries. Monastics

gradually receive a lot of money and support from kings and

emperors and the money they receive were benefiting some other

monks not the monastery alone. The monks stop the cultivation by

not going to villages and communities to teach and they focus

on their own benefit and salvation. They left behind the Dharma

and put aside the causes of the sufferings. As the Buddhist

community was set aside, Buddhism began to lose its wondrous

meaning in India and lost its pride content among laypeople and

kings. The support to Buddhism was declined of some of the

laypeople and the community. Another point to add is the actions

led by the Brahmans that they started to rife the understanding

between monks to laypeople. Brahmanism started to violate

monastic rules and time by time revived the religion Brahmanism.

After the existence of Brahmanism, soon Hinduism exists. Towards

the decline of Buddhism soon Muslim colonized the whole Indian

continent and the remaining Buddhist in India was compulsory or

forcefully converted to Muslim. Buddhism actually was born in

13BUDDHISM India and there was that time when Buddhism dominated the

Northern Indian continent. According to Nayyar (2003), the lack

of attention monks did to their life and the values of the Dharma

have disappeared. The entry of women to monasteries and temples

and the discrimination of people into monks and nuns also result

for Buddhism to vanish. Another reason for the neglect of the

people into Buddhism is the conflict of the Buddhist community

into politics and economy. Monks tried to use their power into

political way and the practice of monastics was left behind. The

monasteries was lost due to the lack of support of the kings and

followed by the invasion of Muslims. The Buddha generally gives

his teachings together with his disciples and other laypeople and

most of his teachings are address in a metamorphic way. He often

addresses his teachings in a verse and people would be confused

and think for a while before realizing the Buddha’s taught.

Generally, Buddhism teaches their disciple in a moral and

philosophical way rather than religious one. More of the Buddha’s

teachings are self-explanation and an advice to a person who

suffers sufferings. The Buddha mostly taught more on truth to be

out of suffering and to cleanse the Buddha of the anger that was

14BUDDHISM stored in there. Some of the teachings the Buddha taught is the

Four Noble Truth, and the Eightfold Noble Path. According to

Allan (1996), the Buddha actually teaches the Four Noble Truth

that was actually dealing with sufferings in a more explainable

way. He generally explains suffering as inevitable that is in

line with people’s life. The explanation of the Buddha could be

considered as a philosophy not only addressing a solution of

one’s problem in life but also answering the problems of people.

He explains suffering with a basis of people’s life especially

when a child was born until the day he or she will die. He also

addresses a lucid awareness of a person’s actions, to contemplate

the Dharma and to detach oneself into his desires. The supreme

teacher also mentioned about the Eightfold Noble Path which

actually focus more on oneself and it’s characteristics in going

beyond to his society, his work, and especially his attitude

towards his fellows. He teaches the way of being right and to

foresee things in a more positive way. The right view generally

focusing on the future one of a person on where he or she will go

on. The right intention towards things whether it may be simple

or not and the positive purposes it will produce in order to

15BUDDHISM benefit others as well. The right speech among other fellows will

create affinity between each other and will be a fruitful one

according to the Buddha. He also mentioned the right actions

which when generalized will be saying good words, thinking good

thoughts, and doing good deeds not only for the benefit of one

self but also for the others as well. The right livelihood is

also included in the Buddha’s teaching focusing on the people’s

way of living. He believed that a good way of living is creating

good affinity between people. He also mentioned right endeavor

and good relationship. He also mentioned about a good focus on

everyday doings and with the application of heart on the works,

the teacher take it as right mindfulness. Meditative

concentration is also mentioned on the Eightfold Noble Path

focusing more on the meditation practices of an individual in

seeking the truth. Buddha generally focusing on self- awareness

of the actions and by realizing of what good or bad is. According

to Hayes (2002), the focus of the Buddha’s teaching in a

philosophical way general concerns and intention is to decrease

suffering and find an immediate solution for the suffering of the

human raise. The Buddha was compared to as a doctor who treats

16BUDDHISM the wounds of a person to relive the pain. He further described

that the Buddha’s teachings as a medical prescription that helps

heal the wound of the suffering. The same as a doctor, the Buddha

is person who first observed what the cause of the suffering or

the problem is that generally it is the disease that people get

and the people’s infected mind because of delusions. The

enlightened one explains life as suffering. Life is full of

troubles and even though people has material things that they

need still they will undergo sufferings because they are craving

for more than what they have. Another teaching of Buddhist

philosophy is the philosophy of impermanence which said that all

things are changing even though human being as well. According to

Dhammananda (1993), the Buddhist philosophy of Dependent

Origination, or Interdependent co-arising would explain that all

things are interconnected within each other, that the cause of

suffering will affect other thing. This philosophy or teaching of

the Buddha explains that things should be together in order for

it to exist and no things exist on its own. He also teaches that

effects will always be the last and cause is generally the first.

The goal of this philosophy of the Buddha’s teaching is to

17BUDDHISM liberate all beings from pain and sufferings. Buddha’s philosophy

is more on a process of personal development of an individual.

Buddhism generally believes that a person is a changing one

because he or she has the changes. Buddha’s philosophy also

believes in Karma as a philosophy which explains that what you do

in the past would affect the future. Karma in Buddhism is also

the same of that in Catholicism which is the Golden Rule. The

Buddha’s teachings are focused on the inside of the individual

especially its attitude rather than the physical aspect of it.

According to Einstein (n d.), the teachings of the Buddha is

considered as a philosophy for its application to mankind and its

connection to science.

Even though Buddhism originated in India because of the

Buddha himself which founded Buddhism as religion still Buddhism

could be considered non-theistic or no worship of a supernatural

God. According to Dhammika (1996), the Buddha is not a God nor

does he not say so. Dhammika explained that the Buddha is a

person who perfected himself in realizing the truth. According to

Brown (2009), “there are a few non-theistic or semi-theistic

religions to consider as well. Obviously we could have included

18BUDDHISM Buddhism here as a non-theistic religion as easily as above,

since the Buddha was at the very least a heretic protestant

relative to the Hinduism of his day and explicitly warned his

followers to pretty much ignore the Gods, as they too (if they

existed) were bound to the same wheel of petty desires and

actions and suffering and had to follow the same path to be

liberated from that suffering.” He also mentioned that “however,

to be a Buddhist all one has to do is say ``I am a Buddhist'',

accept the Four Noble Truths and begin to practice the Eightfold

Way and poof! You're a Buddhist! Nothing to sign, no need for a

church, or priests, or donations. If you feel really inspired and

want some organization, you can go whole hog and become a

Buddhist monk and retire from the world, but Buddhism is

essentially egalitarian and purely lay practice is perfectly all

right and even was specified by the Buddha long ago (and, given a

lack of evidence from reincarnation, is probably a more ethical

form of Buddhism because if one has only one life to live it is

hardly ethical to ask other people to work to support you with

alms when you are perfectly capable of supporting yourself)”.

The quotations mentioned a while ago according to Brown generally

19BUDDHISM pointing out that Buddhism is not a religion because they

typically not considering Buddha as a God. Buddhist believed to

Buddha as a teacher and because Brown (2009) believes that

Buddhism is non-theistic Buddha’s teaching is a philosophy.

Buddhism generally does not believe Buddha as a God but a teacher

who helps people realize sufferings. Buddha usually teaches more

on philosophical views as a teacher who teaches his student

regarding values and attitude. Buddha actually was born in India

and its existence is a prince of a kingdom and does not proclaim

his self as a God like Jesus Christ in Catholicism. According to

Merriam Dictionary (2012), religion is a devotion to a God or

supernatural being. Mahayana Buddhism which actually focus on

North Asia and generally focusing on the so called “the great

vehicle”, as the counter part of the Theravada tradition or the

Hiyayana or the lesser vehicle. The Mahayana tradition which is

mostly prominent in China mostly covers the teachings of the

Buddha that according to Theravada has already changed. Theravada

believed that their teachings are not already the original

teachings of the Buddha back 2500 years ago during the original

Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism engages in Chinese culture and

20BUDDHISM applied the way to cultivation by doing meditation. This

meditation practice was applied in Zen Buddhism from Japan to

cultivate oneself to become more relax and calm and to control

the body when circumstances comes. The Buddha’s teachings are

more on philosophy that actually depicts the way to self-practice

that would actually the person to obtain good deeds and to help

the society a well. It was stated in early text of Buddhism that

the teachings of the Buddha as a teacher are self-applied because

it is more on advice the Buddha did to his disciple or to the

common people as whole. These two sections of Buddhism, Mahayana

and Theravada actually split into schisms because of the

misunderstandings of the original teachings the Buddha teach when

the first council of Buddhism happened three months before the

Buddha’s passing. According to Ross (1996) there are so many

philosophical text that were found and with connection with

Buddhism that denials to be as a non-Buddhist teachings. Some

parts of the Buddha’s teachings mostly cover commentaries as part

of the philosophy like as what Buddhist believe that things could

not exist on their own. Things should be process in order for it

to exist. For Buddhist they believe that the only connection

21BUDDHISM things have within each other is because of its cause. Buddhist

also believe in the philosophy of non-self that things or even

people are made up of elements and the physical appearance are

just temporary, so as what Buddhist tried to explain is that

people should obey the rules of the community, and to become a

catalyst for the betterment of each other. The concept of the

philosophy of non-self also explains about people who are selfish

with others. The non-self-philosophy of the Buddha often explains

that the body is not the original body but the inner self is the

original one. Another teaching of the Buddha is about the

impermanence where in the he explains it as one of the most

important teaching he made. He also stated that impermanence is a

continuous change of a person to another. According to Wong

(2014), impermanence is like a child who was born in this world,

undergoes the process of being mature, became an adult, and later

dies. The characteristics of a person do not only changes but

also its behavior towards the development of his age. Impermanent

often level to as a change to a being may it be physical or not,

it is like a young face that turned into old and dry when years

pass by. According to Ross (1996), the philosophy of Twelve

22BUDDHISM Dependent origination where in this teaching is considered as one

of the Buddha’s original Dharma or teachings. The Twelve

Dependent Origination is the list of characteristics people have

and also values people could applied. He also mentioned that,

these 12 Dependent Origination are as follows, ignorance,

impressions, consciousness, mind-body, the sense organs, contact

with objects, contacts, desires, clinging, craving, suffering and

the will to things. With these teachings that the Buddha actually

said, it actually focuses on self- application and can be applied

as a way of life if we people could understand what these things

are. Buddha’s teachings often talk about greed, anger, and

ignorance which actually could be conclude as three of the most

undesirable characters human beings have. Anger is part of

people’s character that may lead them to actually commit crimes

or even brutal ones. As a matter of fact, this anger is one of

the negative attitudes people have which according to Buddha

anger is actually one of the delusion people have. Greed was

also mentioned together with ignorance that is also negative

among people and was also mentioned by the Buddha. As what the

teachings of the Buddha were telling to people it is actually the

23BUDDHISM same of what people have right now. The Buddha considers these

three negative attitudes as undesirable and now people actually

considered it as negative. Buddhism could be considered as a

philosophy and not a religion because of the teachings the Buddha

actually taught. It is to believed that when the Buddha was still

alive, his own opinion with problems that are actually positive

become his teachings that nowadays people could classified as a

form of philosophy applied through the daily life. According to

Dhammika (1996), Buddha is teacher and not a God, as what the

Buddha said according to canonical text the people should not

worship God and Goddesses as what other religion are doing.

Buddhism emerges actually on the teaching s of the Buddha who

started because of the great realization of the so called great

teacher according to Buddhist. Buddhism actually believes

according to the Buddha’s teachings. According to White (1993),

Buddhism is a system of belief which is different among other

religions merely because of its philosophy. He stated that

Buddhism respects and agrees with the doctrines of other

religions but it is giving great effect and purpose of people’s

presence here on Earth, through knowledge and wisdom, and a deep

24BUDDHISM understanding of the general truth. Buddhism is lenient and they

are not concern of their own signs just what the Catholicism,

Muslim, and Hindu did, for it is the reason that they do not go

into war in the name of Buddhism. Also he believes that Buddhism

do not preach and convert and they only provide information and

explanation if needed and with purpose for the betterment of

society. In line with this, Thera (n. d.), said that if research

and studies will go back to the history of Buddhism in India

people could see how respectful Buddhist missionaries gave the

teachings of the Buddha in honorable way. According to him

Buddhist missionaries or could also be Buddhist disciples do not

compete with other religions when it comes to teachings and to

convert then to become Buddhist. He stated that there is no

Buddhist monk will thought of saying something that is not good

against someone who does not believe to Buddhism. Buddhism also

do not have any conflict when it comes to culture and tradition

of a nation, may it be culture or art of the people who accepted

Buddhism as a philosophy but treated Buddhism with refinement and

with sincerity. For Buddhist the love of the great teacher to the

laypeople and to all the beings is very wide that no matter what

25BUDDHISM state of religion they have for as long as they are sincere still

Buddhism could be a guide for their way of life. According to

Kung (1996), the cores of the Buddha’s teachings are discipline,

meditation, and wisdom is the most important factor for the

foundation of Buddhism as a philosophy. One of the aims of

Buddhism is to focus on the concentration of an individual and

towards the process of achieving wisdom. Buddhism would always

cover the simplicity of life founded by the Buddha. That is the

reasons why there are councils of laws and doctrines explained in

Buddhism for people to be more mature and observe Buddhism with

great respect. The core values of thoroughness and compassion.

According to Yun (2008), Humanistic Buddhism is cultivation for

life to be applied to the life of an individual. The reason why

Buddhism is the philosophy of life applied in person’s daily

life. That is one of the reasons why Buddhism is more on

philosophy rather than a state of religion.

Buddhism is a philosophy because it is a way of life. It is

a path for change and it helps people to be mindful and aware of

thoughts and actions. It also develops wisdom and understanding.

It is not about religion which governs a person’s but it is

26BUDDHISM through people’s understanding to know what is right or wrong for

the betterment of the human race. Upon knowing these thoughts,

would Buddhist still believe that Buddhism is a religion?

27BUDDHISM

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