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I like Buddhist philosophy and call myself a Buddhist and at the same time consider myself agnostic or atheist. Does this seem incongruous?

Mdrabenstein 3 Apr 28
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21 comments

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4

Of course Buddhism is the only religion without a god. Correct me if I’m wrong but It essentially encourages critical thinking as monks respond with questions to help the seeker find the answer to their own question. There is no higher being dictating to you what is right and wrong - certainly not in the way the others religions do.

4

Nah I think buddhism is more of a way of life or philosophy.

4

Given that Buddhism is a non-theistic relgion, or more properly, a discipline, I don't see an incongruity. My first wife was a practicing Buddhist having converted to Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal after journeying on the Hippie Trail across Europe, Turkey, and Afghanistan (long before the current disasters.) She also lived in Taiwan and took up Zen. Neither the Four Noble Truths or the Eight-Fold Path have anything to do with any deities, which allowed Buddhism to co-exist with existing belief systems, such as Tibetan Bon or Japanese Shinto.

4

Absolutely not. This is who I am too

3

Nope. Sounds just right.

Just got back from satsang at my local Dharma center. Ours is a Tibetan-based "mind-only" path, with Dzogchen on the side: no gods, no mystical woo--just ultimate reality and relative reality, and the "seeingness and knowingness" to "see how things are." Some talk of karma and reincarnation and Tathagatas and "multi-dimensional, multi-consciousness beings" can seem at first blush like mystical woo--but when you get really deep into it you can see that it doesn't have to be.

One of my favorite sayings of the Shakyamuni:

What do I not teach? That which is fascinating to discuss, divides people against one another, and does not lead to liberation from suffering.

What do I teach? Only that which is sufficient for liberation from suffering.

Gods, the "afterlife", heaven and hell, eternity, the "Self"--not important. Distractions, really. What matters is seeing how mind works, so you can go beyond suffering.

3

Absolutely not Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion

Can't spell

2

Nope, sounds right to me.

2

Not to me. Budhism is a philosophy in my opinion...I don't think Budha professed to be god. But I don't think Jesus if he existed did either..

2

Buddhism is not a theistic faith, so it is not incongruous.

2

No. If you type in Google 'atheist Buddhists or agnostic Buddhists' you'll see it's a thing.

Just because google says "it's a thing" doesn't mean it's a thing.

There are even atheist practitioners and PREACHERS of Jewwwism and Xianity.

Google that!

If someone claims to be atheist, that indeed makes it “a thing”. By definition...

2

Nope. I like Alan Watts on this subject

1

In my opinion for whatever it's worth it does not sound like you are a Buddhist so much as you have adopted some (most) of their philosophy. I often disagree with others on the meaning of Agnostic but I was of the mind set that it meant "I really do not have a clue what the heck is going on but I am open to possibilities". I have adopted philosophies from Natives mostly, some Buddhism but their lifestyles seems too self constraining for me, Mormonism (they have an excellent social services program and visit members home monthly), I contribute 10% of my income to actual people or projects so basically I tithe so that is why I consider myself to be agnostic. I am not religious because to me that means rituals must be performed by members which to me is just another way of losing my own personal identity which is what agnostic means to me.
Agnostic (Websters): : a person who holds the view that any ultimate reality (such as God) is unknown and probably unknowable; broadly : one who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god

1

You should probably call yourself a Zen Buddhist as this is a philosophy/belief system that is beyond religion
[zen-buddhism.net]
No worshiping or praying to higher powers, jus the best bits of Buddhism

1

The buddha said he was glad he wasn't born a woman, and said “It is better for you to have put your manhood in the mouth of a venomous snake or a pit of burning charcoal than a woman.”, Female buddhist monks have loads more rules to follow than men (one of which is a duty "not to arouse men". And hermaphrodites, transsexuals, eunuchs, cross-dressers, and effeminate gay men can't be ordained as monks. Just can't seem to escape that misogyny & homophobia, can we? And don't forget, sex is bad.

Let's think for ourselves.

I don’t believe they think sex is bad, it’s desire for sex. From what’s I remember I think young monks are encouraged to have children at the beginning of their life then encouraged to detach from that desire, which is quite different to saying sex is bad. 🙂

@JonnyBoy - Could you explain to me the difference between desire for sex & sex? Oh, wait, you mean like an Incel, right?

@GoldenDoll not sure what incel is but the desire to have a house is very different to actually having a house.

@JonnyBoy Involutarity Celibates - the new angry young men who aren't getting any - the killing spree in Canada?

There are some 3500 Buddhist sects.

The Buddhism I once practiced held that all people, races, genders and other humans, have an equal shot at achieving Buddhahood...

Even Puritans were sex hounds.

You have to be careful when you generalize about something so varied as religion...

1

I recently came across a term called syncretism. You should look it up. From my understanding, atheism says that there is no supernatural power called God. I believe it is a negation of the God of the monotheistic religions. Buddhism started in India where the prevalent philosophy was that there exists an indifferent premordial being called Aatman that is the cause of everything in the universe and the highest purpose of life is to unite the soul with the the Aatman (also called brahman). So, there were different schools of thought on how to do it, such as self - abnegation. Buddha preached his philosophy as a way of liberation or reunification of the soul with Aatman (nibbana). Buddha denied the teachings of Vedas and other religions/philosophies. He did not deny monotheism or atheism. So, there might be some incongruity but not inconsistency.

1

As I understand it buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion, if that helps at all.

1

Not to me. I’ve been a non-believer since childhood, but have spent time in Buddhism and Paganism(not to worship nature/gods, but the concept of a natural energy).

0

From what I understand about Buddhism, it is a primarily philosophy. The religious aspects and dogmas were added in later which gave priests more control over followers.

If a person just practices Buddhist philosophy as a way life without the religious or dogmatic aspects, then being an atheist as well has no real contradictions.

0

As long as you aren’t burying homoesexual apostates alive and leaving burnt offerings out for Santa - seems okay to me.

*Yahweh

0

There is a podcast and books on Secular Buddhism that I've understood quite well, as an atheist, so I believe that Agnosticism and Buddhism go very well together.

0

Agnostic and Buddhist makes some sense, accepting the unknown, allowing yourself to settle in it is a big part of Buddhism from what I understand, and I can relate...I don't think you can be Buddhist and atheist though ?

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