Religion vs Philosophy?

[Avinash]

Originally Posted by samabudhi

Theory and practice should always go hand in hand.

Yes, that's what I meant to say also. Philosophy that bears no relation to real life is for amusement only. I think that mac1 was referring to this kind of speculative philosophy only, hence my agreement with his posting.

[CalgaryKat]

I agree with you on most points, but what I am unclear on is whether you view practical Buddhism as a religion. It is my understanding that Buddhism is really more of a holistic philosophy than a religion. The greek meaning for the word 'religion' is more closely related to being bound to something, which would make it closer in meaning to the word 'cult'.
I wouldn't think it is a stretch to retain traditional Taoist roots while adopting Buddhism at all. As I understand it, when a new ideology was introduced and accepted throughout Asia, it didn't necessarily mean a subjugation of the formerly accepted ideology. On the contrary, it would simply meld into an amalgamation. These new amalgamations would surface and become dominant without a violent struggle to preserve to former in its entirety, such as was more common in Judeo-Christian history.


[quote=samabudhi]I think you are wrong. I have never departed from my philosophical Taoist roots in adventuring into practical Buddhism. I consider the philosophical nature that I have nurtured to be one of my greatest foundations for experimenting with practical methods. QUOTE]