Is Buddhism really not a religion?

First, the wrong definition of Buddhism.

Some people think that Buddhism is a kind of belief.

Faith is faith, and Buddhism certainly needs confidence, but it is too simple to say that Buddhism is faith, because confidence is only one of many concepts in Buddhism. The basis and focus of Buddhism is not faith, but wisdom and compassion. Although Buddhism advocates faith, besides Buddhism, science also needs confidence. For example, modern people advocate confidence in science. If someone doesn't believe in science, he may not even dare to fly. It is precisely because they believe in technology and that airplanes can take people from their starting point to their destination that people fly. No matter what you do in the world, you must have confidence to do it, and so does the so-called confidence in Buddhism. Therefore, it is incorrect to think that Buddhism is just a belief, and belief cannot be equated with Buddhism.

So, is Buddhism a philosophy? Not exactly. There are different categories of philosophy, such as western philosophy and eastern philosophy. Although some of them are similar to Buddhism, they are not up to the level of Buddhism, so Buddhism is different from philosophy.

Is Buddhism a science? Although some viewpoints in Buddhism are the same as those in science, they cannot be equated.

Is Buddhism idealism? Many people think that religion is idealism, but it should be aimed at western religions. Western philosophers are mostly idealists, so they also classify western religions as idealism. But Buddhism is completely different from idealism, so Buddhism is not idealism.

There are four major sects of Buddhism, among which the Confucian classics and all sects have no idealistic arguments at all, and the middle view of Mahayana has no idealistic claims. The enlightened school to which Mahayana belongs contains many different sects, only a few of which are similar to idealism.

For example, some viewpoints advocated by the British empirical idealist Becker are similar to those of Wei Zhizong. He said: "Circumstances are made by the mind, and laws are made by the mind." In the first chapter of Philosophical Problems-"Phenomena and Reality", Russell also analyzed Becker's point of view and found it quite difficult to completely overthrow Becker's proposition. Nevertheless, these idealistic views simply can't reach the depth discussed by Buddhist only-knowing Sect.

Besides, idealism and Buddhism have nothing in common.

In fact, whether it is materialism, Christianity, ancient Indian religion or other religions, there are parts similar to Buddhism. However, these examples only show that they are similar, which does not mean that they are indistinguishable as a whole. Therefore, even if there are some similarities, Buddhism should not be regarded as idealism, because the two are fundamentally different. If we put aside small similarities, from a macro point of view, the differences between them will be even greater. It can be proved that the view that religion is regarded as idealism is purely from the west, and Buddhism is completely inconsistent with it.

For example, Month Calledbodhisattva's "On Entering China" is the best classic representing Mahayana Buddhism, which holds that: from the secular truth, both spirit and material exist; From the perspective of justice, both matter and spirit do not exist and are empty, not to say that matter is empty and spirit is not empty. Month Calledbodhisattva further said that these are the views of Sakyamuni Buddha, because the Buddha discussed the spirit and material of secular truth in "All Houses", and at the same time rejected the spirit and material when talking about "Prajna Paramita". In other words, if it is considered true, both are true; On the other hand, both sides should be blamed. This is Month Calledbodhisattva's point of view.

Tantra Nyingmaba's views are represented by pure and respectable people. He believes that the outside world is not the heart, but the illusion of the heart.

I also know a little about idealism. Buddhism is far from idealism, so it doesn't conform to the view that Buddhism is idealism at all. In fact, no one really thinks Buddhism is idealism, only religion is idealism, because western religions do.

To sum up, Buddhism is not idealism, because it does not think that spirit is primary; Of course, Buddhism is not materialism, because it does not think that matter is primary.

Is Buddhism a religion?

The word "religion" comes from the west. If the English word religion itself is used to explain, Buddhism cannot be regarded as a religion, because the meaning of religion includes the meaning of acknowledging the existence of God. Some people in the west don't think Buddhism is a religion because Buddhism doesn't recognize the existence of the creator. In the past, some Buddhist monks and Dade also held the same view, saying that Buddhism is not a religion. I don't think Buddhism is a "religion" defined by westerners, because Buddhism never recognizes the existence of God.

In that case, what is Buddhism?

Second, the definition of Buddhism

The true meaning of Buddhism is Buddhism. Because Buddhism is actually a discipline handed down by Sakyamuni Buddha; Or it can be said that Buddhism is a way for ordinary people to reach the realm of Buddhism through learning. So Buddhism is Buddhism.

The definition of Buddhism in Buddhist scriptures is two words: "teaching" and "proof". Religion was preached by Sakyamuni Buddha himself, or with the blessing and permission of Sakyamuni Buddha, and then written by various bodhisattvas, such as "Danzhuer" and "Ganzhuer" in Tibetan Buddhism; Syndrome refers to personal practice, including three parts: abstinence, determination, Zen and wisdom. In other words, the word teaching certificate represents the whole dharma; In addition, there are two more important words that can also summarize all the definitions of Buddhism, that is, "wisdom" and "sadness". Today we will talk about Buddhism from two aspects: wisdom and sorrow.

All the contents of Buddhism, including Mahayana, Hinayana and Tantric Buddhism, can be summarized by wisdom and sorrow. Wisdom and sadness are the essence of the whole Buddhism. Practice means cultivating wisdom and compassion at the same time. Learning Buddhism means learning wisdom and compassion.

So, burn incense, kowtow, chant and so on. Learn Buddhism? It is part of learning Buddhism, but it is not the main content.

What is Buddha? Is the groggy Buddha painted by Thangkari really a Buddha?

That is an ungrateful Buddha. Mahayana Buddhism believes that the incarnation and confession of the Buddha are the images that the Buddha showed separately in order to transform ten ordinary bodhisattvas. In order to communicate with ordinary people, the Buddha must show his incarnation. Although every living being has Tathagata to hide, because there is no enlightenment, the Buddha's dharma body has no effect on us. If you want to realize the Tao and take the road of liberation, you must rely on the guidance of incarnation to report to the Buddha. However, neither the incarnation nor the reported Buddha is a true Buddha, only the Dharma Body is a true Buddha. The so-called Fafo refers to wisdom and sorrow.

We should learn Buddhism, wisdom and compassion. The so-called becoming a Buddha refers to all the wisdom and compassion shown by the Tathagata after all the greed, ignorance and troubles are exhausted. Other than that, there is no other meaning.

Pandita, a monk in Nimba, once said: The unchanging definition of Buddhism is wisdom and sorrow. Besides, there is no other explanation that can fully express the connotation of Buddhism.

He also believes that there are many ways to learn Buddhism, and any method will do. For example, pure land Buddhism is one of the methods, and Zen meditation is also one of the methods, but we can't think that other methods are not considered as learning Buddha except chanting Buddha. In the same way, monks keep the precepts of becoming monks and family members keep the precepts of staying at home. These are two ways. We can't think that only the precept of becoming a monk is the real precept, or that keeping precepts at home can't become a Buddha; Tantric Buddhism has enlightened practice, but this is not the only way to become a Buddha. You can become a Buddha without enlightenment. These are just methods, and some methods are dispensable. Buddhism does not limit which method must be used. The only constant essence is wisdom and sorrow. If there is no way to cultivate wisdom and compassion, it cannot be a dharma. Although this is Panditha's argument, it is the consensus of all powerful people.

In a word, if we express Buddhism from two aspects: wisdom and sorrow, we can completely summarize the whole picture of Buddhism.

If someone asks: What is Buddhism? You can answer: Buddhism is wisdom and sorrow.

What is learning Buddha? Is to learn wisdom and compassion.

(1) Wisdom

The so-called "wisdom" refers to the wisdom of Buddha, which is different from the wisdom of the world, but has something in common. For example, the Buddha's description of the world of concubines-that is, the universe that people in the world say-or his views on all kinds of things in the world are the same as those of ordinary people, but there are also great differences, but in any case, what the Buddha said has some truth.

For example, when describing the macro world, the Buddha mentioned the existence of Mount Sumi and four continents, which is different from some people's worldview, because these things can't be found in ordinary people's eyes.

Although I have already talked about why the Buddha is described like this before, compared with the ancients, if we can understand this truth, it will be more profound for us living in modern times. Because the ancient people had limited understanding of the formation and structure of the universe, Buddhists at that time would not think further about this issue, so they did not rush to explain it. But in today's world, the cosmology based on modern science and technology, especially the cognition of the macro world, has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and many of them are different from Buddhism. In order not to let the world misunderstand Buddhism, it is necessary to explain again:

The primary goal of the Buddha's lecture is to convey the meaning of the three dharma seals to everyone who listens to the dharma. If you can't explain the truth of the three laws and seals clearly, you will lose the meaning of preaching.

Why is Sanfa Seal so important? The doctrine proves this. When the Buddha was alive, his disciples once asked him: After the death of the Buddha, if there were heretics who forged Buddhist scriptures, how could you tell the difference between the true dharma and the false dharma? The Buddha replied: any sutra can be incorporated into Buddhism as long as it contains the truth of the three dharma seals, otherwise it is not Buddhism. Summing up the outline and grasping the main points are the most important things for the Buddha, which is also the reason why the Buddha attached great importance to the three dharma seals when spreading Buddhism.

When Sakyamuni Buddha was alive, among the audience of Sakyamuni's teaching method, there were all kinds of sentient beings with different backgrounds-pagans, Brahmins, heaven and man, nonhuman and so on. Among them, many listeners, mainly Brahmins, hold a world view that is inconsistent with reality.

Buddha knows very well that if he doesn't refute them in time, it will inevitably arouse their antipathy and threaten the cause of promoting Buddhism. In order to correspond to the audience, Sakyamuni Buddha took some ingenious conveniences-although he knew those views were wrong, he did not overthrow them. As long as you can preach the truth that all things are impermanent, all things are bitter, and all things are self-denying, you don't have to care whether other views are correct. Because only by reaching the three dharma seals can we get rid of reincarnation. Others, such as the world outlook, have nothing to do with liberation.

It is precisely because the Buddha did not correct their other views that he preserved the world view at that time. When the audience's base changes, the Buddha will refute their original world view or other views in time and establish a world view corresponding to their base. These are all skillful and convenient for the Buddha to preach. It is for this reason that there will be a world view different from the modern one in the classics.

This explanation is not used to prevaricate, but 1000 years ago, in order to deal with the query that the contents of Buddhist scriptures are inconsistent with contemporary scientific conclusions. Because people at that time did not have the knowledge of the universe that modern people knew, there was no need to explain it. This shows that the Buddha used these ingenious methods to regulate all beings, which is a far-sighted performance.

The Buddha himself once said that in order to suit the tastes of different audiences, he talked about many inconsistent arguments when talking about Buddhism, but the only constant truth is emptiness. For example, from the perspective of secular truth, all the lines in the Sanfa Seal are impermanent and are truth; But from the point of view of taking justice, it is not an absolute truth. Only without my laws is the absolute truth.

In fact, even if Buddhism's description of the macro world is different from modern people's cognition, it can't prove that Buddhism's point of view is wrong. Because the so-called modern people's cognition of the world can only be said to be the world that humans living on the earth can observe with the naked eye or instruments, and no one can assume that this is the only cosmic truth.

Buddhism believes that when six sentient beings look at the same glass of water, they will have six different performances; When six sentient beings look at the world, they will see six different worlds. This is the concept of multiple universes.

I have talked a lot about the micro-world before, and now I will just mention it briefly. Along the way, from classical physics to relativity to quantum physics, these scientific views are getting closer and closer to the Buddhist argument. The founder of quantum physics also believes that since the argument of quantum physics was put forward, human cognition of the material world has taken a big step in the direction of oriental civilization such as Buddhism. I mention this point because I want to point out the similarities between science and Buddhist wisdom.

The difference between the two is an argument that only Buddha can put forward. No matter whether it is modern science or philosophy, even if it has developed for thousands of years, it will never reach the realm of Buddhism-space, light and all laws are Buddhist altars, originally pure and so on. All thinking and logic, all wisdom and even magical power in the world can't perceive this realm of Buddha, which is the performance of Buddha's wisdom above all knowledge.

On the other hand, the "wisdom" of wisdom and sorrow can be simply explained as the wisdom to prove Wukong's nature. There are many meanings to prove Wukong: to realize that there is no self in human beings, to realize the emptiness of the middle view of Xianzong, and to realize the emptiness and light; From the tantric point of view, there is no difference between emptiness and light, which also covers dzogchen's point of view.

In all the documents and ideas handed down in the world, there is no such term as emptiness. Even if there is, it is only a blank left by the decomposition of matter into inseparable particles. Now some people are not even sure about this, but still insist on preserving the existence of energy-energy is also a matter. Because, if energy does not exist, then all matter will be created out of nothing. For many people, this is an unacceptable conclusion. Therefore, they can't even reach the level of showing the Sect.

As I said before, in the micro-world, the views of science and Buddha are slightly similar, but this is not the realm of Buddha. Although some scholars in China 70 or 80 years ago, whether monks or family members, used Einstein's theory of mass-energy conversion to explain emptiness, it is not very appropriate, because this explanation is actually a broken view: after mass is converted into energy, mass disappears-what originally existed becomes emptiness, but this is not really emptiness.

The emptiness mentioned by the Buddha does not need to go through this transformation process. According to the law of conservation of energy, it is impossible to admit that there is nothing. Even if it is admitted, these deductions are definitely not in line with the emptiness of Buddhism. In fact, the real emptiness is not that matter becomes emptiness, but that both matter and emptiness are emptiness, and the existence of material phenomena is emptiness at the same time. This is what the Buddha called emptiness.

Although modern physicists' understanding of the material world is quite close to that of Buddhism, there is still a world of difference between the wisdom of modern people and Buddhism in terms of spirit and emptiness.

The best result that can be achieved with the wisdom of people in the world is to make life better at best, such as the material civilization brought about by the development of science and technology. However, some people think that technology brings not a better life, but a more complicated and dangerous life, which is not unreasonable.

Relatively speaking, the result that can be achieved through the wisdom of the Buddha is to free every living being from samsara. This is not just a written theory, but a true fact. As long as you are willing to practice in a rational way, everyone can experience the result personally.

These are the "wisdom" of Buddhism.

(2) sadness

The so-called "sadness" is great sorrow. Compassion is the essence of Mahayana Buddhism, because all Mahayana initiation begins with compassion. If you lose your compassion, you can't call it Mahayana Buddhism at all.

Buddha's great compassion is an opinion, which does not exist in all thoughts in the world. Although China's traditional culture advocates ethics, while western culture advocates charity and social welfare, the Buddha's ideas of equality with others, exchange with others, belittling others and unconditional dedication of Mahayana Bodhisattva are unique all over the world.

If you want to elaborate on compassion, you can start from two aspects:

1, secular compassion

For example, when the Buddha was learning Taoism, he resolutely gave up his life just to fill the stomach of a hungry lion; For another example, if someone in this room is forced to jump from the tenth floor and die, then the behavior that conforms to the true meaning of Mahayana Buddhism is that everyone in the room voluntarily expresses their willingness to be the jumper. This is not just lip service, but a heartfelt thought: "If you jump, it will hurt. Let me bear the pain instead of others! "

Giving, humiliation and other behaviors are all great sorrows in the world. The true meaning of Buddhism is not only to be so heartfelt, but also to have practical actions; We should not only engage in charitable activities, such as disaster relief, distributing clothes, caring for the sick and wounded, etc. In order to solve the temporary pain of all beings, but for the liberation of all beings, we are willing to pay all the costs, including life.

On the other hand, we can't give up charity in the world just because charity can only solve the temporary suffering of all beings. As Mahayana, charitable activities in the society should of course be involved.

There is a story in the precepts: a monk was seriously ill and bedridden. Because there was no one to take care of him, he defecated on the bed. You can imagine the filthy scene.

One day, Sakyamuni Buddha came to the monk's residence with Ananda. Seeing the arrival of the Buddha, the monk was very scared. However, the Buddha comforted him in a low voice and asked him to bring his dirty clothes and wash them himself. Since the Buddha can do this, it is unnecessary for us to be disciples of the Buddha. However, this is not really sad. True compassion is that you can make a decision to sacrifice yourself for others in do or die and put it into practice. Although this point has also been mentioned in some other thoughts or theories, their sympathy is one-sided and narrow; Buddha's compassion is aimed at all sentient beings, not just at humans or Buddhists.

2. Transcendental compassion

Broader and greater compassion is not only to feed and warm all beings. Although these things should be done, they are not the point. The most important thing is to let all beings understand the truth of reincarnation and the way to get rid of it. Let all beings know the truth of reincarnation first, and then teach them how to get rid of it. This is the Buddha's greatest mercy.

Why? For example, even if a patient is well cared for until he recovers, can this prevent him from getting sick again? I can't. All we can solve is the problem of getting sick this time. We can't help him with the pain he will go through in his next life. Any form of property distribution can only temporarily solve the poverty and food and clothing problems of others, not a long-term solution. Only by letting all sentient beings know the truth of birth, aging, illness and death, and guiding them to practice, can they completely and permanently solve all their pains. Therefore, this is the real interest of all sentient beings and the true degree of liberation.

Only compassion like Buddha can be regarded as great compassion. Compassion in other worlds can only be described as "sadness", not "greatness", because compassion is closely related to the wisdom of Buddha, and bodhicitta is also a great compassion.

As we all know, although other religions have done a lot of charity, they have also provoked many wars in the name of saving the world. Therefore, it is debatable whether this is absolute compassion. Relatively speaking, Buddhism never meant to conquer or surrender. The Buddha also said that he didn't care about the victory of the war between people. The victory he emphasized was a victory achieved through reconciliation and self-continuation.

In fact, great compassion has many different meanings:

The Buddha once said, "Let me tell you the way to get rid of it. Do you want to get rid of it, look at yourself. " In other words, the fate of every living being is in our own hands, not arranged by the Buddha. The attitude shown by this statement is not like the "savior" or "creator" worshipped by other religions. Who can go to heaven and who should go to hell is up to them. Therefore, compassion also contains the meaning of freedom, tolerance, equality and equality of Buddhism.

(3) the cultivation of wisdom and worry.

So, how to cultivate wisdom and sorrow?

In fact, the Bodhisattva's Six Paramitas method does not go beyond the meaning of wisdom and sorrow: giving, keeping precepts and enduring humiliation are great sorrows; Meditation and wisdom are wisdom; Diligence is the help of wisdom and sorrow. It is a simple statement to define the meaning of Buddhism with the word wisdom and sorrow, and its profound connotation is six paramita.

Since the essence of Buddhism is wisdom and compassion, is there any way to cover all 84 thousand teaching methods in one building? The answer is yes, and the way is to cultivate wisdom and sorrow.

Some people will ask: cultivating great compassion requires careful and profound thinking, while proving Wukong's wisdom does not require any distractions. Since it is so contradictory, how can we practice in one building at the same time?

For beginners, we must first cultivate bodhicitta and accept the precepts of Bodhisattva. Once we accept the precepts, the bodhicitta precepts already exist in our inheritance. On this basis, we can further practice emptiness.

When entering the empty state, there is no obvious thinking of "May all beings be freed from the suffering of samsara", and it can also be said that there is no obvious compassion. However, because the body of the previously received Bodhisattva amulet already exists in your heart, when you carefully enter the emptiness realm, the Bodhisattva amulet will also enter the emptiness. You know, the bodhisattva amulet is not a substance, but a state of mind. Although there is no obvious idea in my mind when I enter the realm of emptiness, the Bodhisattva amulet exists. Therefore, mind and bodhisattva amulet can enter the realm of emptiness regardless of each other. At this time, the bodhisattva amulet is emptiness, and emptiness is the bodhisattva amulet, which is both wisdom and sorrow.

The so-called double luck means that when we stop at proving Wukong's nature, the heart is not only the wisdom to prove Wukong's nature, but also the same as the bodhisattva's amulet. If you can practice like this, all the essence of Mahayana Buddhism has been included, and there is nothing to practice!

This is a beginner's exercise that is both wise and sad. If you can practice in this way, you can completely restore the essence of the Buddha's 84,000 Dharmas only on one cushion, in one position, or at the same time.

There is no need to elaborate on the specific practice of bodhicitta and emptiness here, as long as the two practices are combined.

Of course, before compassion, there must be centrifugation. If you don't feel the pain of reincarnation, you can't have compassion for all beings, because the source of compassion is the pain of all beings. Without compassion, bodhicitta could not be born. Another condition of centrifugation is to seek liberation. When you see that all beings are suffering, you make a wish to be free. But on second thought, if you can't free yourself first, how can you free all beings? In this way, the two conditions of centrifugation are met.

Centrifugation is the foundation of bodhicitta. With bodhicitta, you can accept the bodhisattva amulet and be accepted by yourself. After accepting the precepts of Bodhisattva, you begin to practice emptiness. When bodhicitta is combined with emptiness, it is both wisdom and sorrow. With this insight, the essence of all Mahayana teaching methods is easy to understand.

Centrifuge and bodhicitta should be cultivated one by one, and finally enter the realm of emptiness. In this way, the centrifugal and bodhi mind cultivated in front will become Kong Zhi.

The empty wisdom mentioned here is not like Hinayana who has no self-concept. It contains great compassion, in which there is enlightened wisdom. These thoughts and practices, which combine wisdom and sorrow, contain all the meanings of Buddhism. Although it is so simple to say, it is not so easy to do.

The birth of centrifugation depends on the rarity of individuals and the impermanence of death. The conditions for the birth of bodhicitta are the accumulation of resources (Xiumancharo) and the purity of karma (Xiuvajrayana). Obviously, no matter which method you choose to learn Buddhism, you can't do without the practice of adding lines and inner lines, which is why I have always emphasized adding lines.

Now we all know that the true meaning of Buddhism is wisdom and sadness. From now on, we must learn these two words when we study Buddhism, and we must practice these two words. Besides, there is nothing to learn and practice!

Blogger's Note: Bodhisattva Commandments

Commandments of Mahayana Bodhisattva. It is also called Mahayana Commandment, Buddhist Commandment, Deng Fang Commandment and Thousand Buddhas Commandment. On the contrary, the Hinayana precept is called Hinayana precept. The content of Bodhisattva's precepts is three kinds of pure precepts, namely, observing the law and observing the good law, and forgiving all sentient beings, that is, all three Buddhist teachings, namely observing the law and observing the good law and observing the audience, are gathered together as forbidden precepts to be observed. According to Brahma Sutra, there are five benefits of being protected by Bodhisattva: (1) Ten Buddhas want to protect. At the end of his life, he was happy. (3) Make friends with the Bodhisattva where you were born. (4) Convergence of merits and achievements. (5) Sexual abstinence of present and future generations is complete.

Bodhisattva precepts cover seven precepts, which are superior to all precepts. Therefore, all Buddhist disciples of Bodhisattva, whether they are monks or at home, can be embraced. Bodhisattva amulet is the source of all buddhas, the foundation of bodhisattvas and the foundation of all buddhas.

1. Obey the rules and regulations: multiply all the rules and regulations to cut off all evils.

2. Practice good precepts: always practice all good deeds and practice all good deeds.

3. Take the ring of all beings: also known as Rao Yizhi's love ring. All sentient beings are sentient beings.

Among the three precepts, taking the degree of law-abiding as the precept, we can be good at law-abiding, that is, we can always keep good laws for the benefit of all beings. The so-called Bodhisattva statutes have ten heavy and forty-eight light precepts:

1. Ten Commandments: killing, stealing, fornication, lying, drinking, saying four things, self-praising him, repenting him, not repenting, slandering the three treasures, etc. These ten commandments are the most serious abuse of Mahayana commandments. If Mahayana Bodhisattva commits this law, it will constitute the crime of Boroi.

2. Forty-eight light precepts: Compared with the ten commandments, forty-eight light precepts belong to the crime of obscenity, including 48 precepts such as disrespecting teachers and friends, drinking and eating meat.

Although the Bodhisattva precepts include ten precepts and forty-eight precepts, their basic spirit is to develop bodhicitta and take bodhicitta as the precept body. If you forget Bodhisattva, it will violate the fundamental spirit of Bodhisattva.