Chapter 3 - Not A Religion

The question of whether Buddhism is a religion as casually known and accepted depends either on ones own inner attitude or conviction or on the definition of the term religion referred to. If religion is defined as constancy in the acceptance of duty as a divine command or as self surrender of the human spirit to the Divine Power or God, or as a belief in the Divine Power or Heavenly Being for guidance on ones destiny or for sanctifying any committed sins, then obviously Buddhism is not any such kind of religion.

If on the other hand, the religion is defined in a modern or wider sense as a system of thought, a rational faith or practice followed by individuals, or as an object of veneration and devotion for the attainment of mental perfection and peace of mind and body, then Buddhism may be called a religion.

Most of world religions originally based their teachings on the idea of God. The believers in God always maintain that God is the only Supreme One who is eternally existent indefinitely everywhere in the heaven and elsewhere. Their ultimate aim is more or less ever connected or concerned with the will or command of God. They ever pray to God to get rewards for their good and for sanctification of their sins. Such being the case, when they say religion, they mean only the idea of God. In most cases, when they come up to the stage of unsolved mystery of thought, they hand up at last all their problems into the will of God.

Quite contrary to the above view, in Buddhism there is no Heavenly Being or Almighty God who can guide one to ones own fate or destiny, make judgements on ones own behaviour or answer to any supplications of prayer. In short, Buddhism believes in ones own actions of how one has done either good or bad and in the results of how one has to reap the fruits as reaction out of their very actions previously done. For the aforesaid reasons Buddhism, as seen from the Western religious point of view, cannot possibly be called a religion.