Steve; I'm under the impresion that buddhism in some Countries is regarded as a religion and the way it's follow is as Buddha kind of "God" and other Contries is more a way of living. It may be depending upo different schools and traditions Buddhism come from. I was educated to see buddhism as non religion. In fact our instructor used to tell us never try to convert anyone into buddhism as it wasn't a religion but a way to freely choose to live or not. We were also instructed to only talk about the dharma if someone asked a question or that person was interested. It will be interesting to know what you, Bill and others consider a religion. Mayka
--- On Mon, 28/3/11, SteveW <[email protected]> wrote: From: SteveW <[email protected]> Subject: [Zen] Re: Is Zen a religion? To: [email protected] Date: Monday, 28 March, 2011, 5:15 --- In [email protected], "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote: > > JMJM, > > In my opinion: > > US PERCEPTIONS > - Buddhism is considered a religion - albeit a quirky one. > - Zen Buddhism is considered a sect of Buddhism. > > WORLD PERCEPTION > - Buddhism is considered a religion. > - Zen Buddhism is considered a sect of Buddhism - albeit a quiky one. > > ...Bill! > > Hi Bill! Oh, Buddhism itself can be properly regarded as a philosophy rather > than a religion. There is an interesting book by Stephen Batchelor entitled > Buddhism Without Beliefs. Mr. Batchelor received Dharma transmission, if I am > not mistaken, in the Korean form of Zen. Steve
