Some would say that Buddhism is a religion because that’s how everyone recognises it and it has many features of a religion, such as the guidelines the Buddha set out, and the rites of passage that monks undergo, such as their ordainment, however not every Buddhist has to become an ordained monk so it is not exactly a rite of passage. However some say that the Buddha is a sort of leader to Buddhists as they follow the guidelines he set out and they have shrines to him and stupa’s over his relics, to some people this is considered to be worship, a shrine is there to worship the person, in this case the Buddha. People would say that Buddhism is not a conventional religion with a clear God and rules but because people follow someone’s teachings and live by their guidelines it is a religion.
Although the point of view in the previous paragraph is completely understandable and valid I disagree and so would many other people. I understand that Buddhism is recognised as a religion all over the world but that doesn’t make it so, Buddhists may have shrines in their homes and monasteries but these shrines are for what the Buddha said and believed in they are not for the Buddha as a person they are for what he stands for. This is why the shrines have several symbols on them not just a picture or sculpture of the Buddha; they have flowers for impermanence, pictures of the dead as a sign of reverence and incense to pass on good thoughts and good karma. I agree that many people follow the Buddha’s ideas and guidelines help them within their life, but that is all they are, guidelines, if someone was to become a Buddhist but they did not agree with one aspect of what the Buddha said they could just leave it out, or add their own bit in, it would not be breaking the rules because there are no rules.
In conclusion many people view Buddhism as a religion because they do not full understand it and it is known worldwide as a major religion, I also thought that Buddhism was a religion before I studied it and learnt that it is in fact a philosophy, however I understand that most people think it is a religion, we do study it in R.E at school so I can see where the confusion comes from. I also think that some people genuinely feel that it is a religion and I can understand that too I am still unsure as to whether I have completely decided myself what I think. I totally understand the people who say it is a philosophy as I can see their point that it does not qualify as a religion if we do the ’check list’ and after reading up on it I am swaying towards it not being a religion, mostly because it seems to have so many sides and conclusions that I feel it is just not clear cut enough to be a religion.
