Buddhism, Zen, .Religion, Philosophy or Nothing.

      For as long as I have practiced Buddhism there seems to be this ongoing argument about whether or not Buddhism and or Zen is a religion or a philosophy. In the last 30 years I have listened to Dharma talks given by Zen practitioners, Tibetan monks, and read dozens of articles and blogs and chat room posts on the subject of whether or not Buddhism and/or Zen is a religion or a philosophy. This question seems to prey upon the Western mind like some sort of rash that needs to be scratched and just won't go away. Frankly I've never been quite sure why so many of my fellow practitioners seem to be obsessed with declaring Buddhism in general and Zen in particular either a religion or a philosophy. It seems like in most Westerners minds a philosophy is more pristine, lacking in the contamination of superstition and outdated beliefs. Religion as a concept seems to be repugnant to many of the people in the 21st century who find their way to Zen in particular. Perhaps this is why so many Western thinkers feel free to rip off sections of the teachings, like mindfulness,  run out of the room with it clutched to their bosoms laughing maniacally and saying to themselves I've got the real center of this now I don't need all that baggage of the last 3000 years of Buddhism.  While others like to stir it in with their own brand of mysticism, usually having rebranded it, they begin to sell it on the street corner as some fresh new idea that just popped into their head because of their spiritual advancement and expertise.

    And so the argument rages as it has  almost from the very beginning of Buddhism,  there are many schools of Buddhism and there have been even more in the past,  and the reason for this is that everyone  has a different Buddhism and this is exactly  what the Buddha knew  was going to be the truth of what he had taught .  Paraphrasing his last words  to his followers  "I've given you everything I've got,  I'm old and I'm worn out,  and now it's up to you to work out your own salvation.  That's a paraphrase but more or less  his advice to the people that loved him  and followed him for years,  right before he died .

     Buddha never asked anyone to believe his teachings in fact   he was like a good salesman he said here try my product  it works  for you  then that's the truth  about Buddhism . Remembering of course  that Buddhism is an idea  more or less  developed  in the thousands of years since he died.  but still he had the forethought  to realize  that everyone  in the end  would have to find the truth on their own.

    The most commonly known illustration of this  is the day that the Buddha was  approached by some villagers  known as  the Kalamas.    Some of the villagers came to him and said that we've had these different teachers and different monks teaching  and each one of them tries to tear the other ones teachings down,  they all try to pull the other  teachers   teachings  apart  to show that their  false teachings .  I'm reminded of the time that Dogen  was approached about the validity of a certain Sutra  it seems like there were two versions floating around  one slightly longer than the other .  as a well-respected scholar of Buddhism he was asked which was the real version  of this Sutra , 's response was,  paraphrasing again ,  if a Zen master can enlighten you with a stick that makes it  the real stick.

    Buddha's response to the Kalamas was something like this :

“Do not believe in anything simply  because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it  is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because  it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything  merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in  traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But  after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with  reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then  accept it and live up to it."

      I've heard even the Dalai Lama  referred to Buddhism  as a nontheistic religion  and if you've ever practiced  with the Tibetans  you certainly can't miss the religious aspects of their teachings .  I've heard arguments  ad nausea  that Zen is different  is a different creature  all together  apples and oranges.   when you ask a Zen master is Zen is a religion or philosophy  you will probably give you a stern look  and tell you that Zen  is a way of being . That it is a state of mind.  One might even say that the Zen master would tell you that either you  or Zen is a tool  is up to you to figure out which . 

     Of course this obsessive need  to categorize  the practice of Zen   and  the middle way of Buddhism  is not an  irrational  desire,. after all we all like to know what that we  are doing.   That being said,  I would like to come back to the point  that Buddha made that  you have to work out your own salvation,  many people make  Zen and Buddhism a religion , and many people will fight you to the death,  verbally of course,  claiming it's a philosophy  which is of course much more reputable than religion.  I sometimes think  that the need  for religion  is genetic,  a safety mechanism  built into the human psyche  in order to cushion the fact  that we're all going to die and none of us has a clue  as to what happens  to the individual after that .  I think everyone feels helpless  and frustrated  by the fact that we have this wonderful sentient  mind and in just a few years  it appears it will simply  evaporate like a mist on a warm day . This is part of the Puzzle of being alive and knowing that someday soon you won't be. The end result of course of this puzzle is more often than not a deeply seated fear followed by an almost overwhelming need to believe in something that tells us this is not  so.

      At this point I would like to point out that Zen as a practice was created by people   who  considered  themselves to be Buddhist, and that Buddha himself  was a Hindu Holy man. He had a firm view of the nature of the universe and the world we live in.  Like most Hindus he took his world view as a given not speculation but  as a simple matter of fact.  In the 21st century especially among Westerners and particularly among  many  western  Zen practitioners  this worldview has either been rejected or  they are completely ignorant of it.  To put this as clearly as possible, or at least as clearly as possible for me, Buddha believed that all humans reside in the state of existence called samsara. The official definition of samsara that has developed over the  millennia is something like this:

       
     

                Saṃsāra (Sanskrit, Pali; also samsara) is a Buddhist term that literally means "continuous movement" and is commonly translated as "cyclic existence", "cycle of existence", etc. Within Buddhism, samsara is defined as the continual repetitive cycle of birth and death that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. Specifically, samsara refers to the process of cycling through one rebirth after another within the six realms of existence,  where each realm can be understood as either a physical realm or a psychological state characterized by a particular type of suffering. Samsara arises out of avidya (ignorance) and is characterized by dukkha (suffering, anxiety, and dissatisfaction). In the Buddhist view, liberation from samsara is possible by following the Buddhist path.

         Some Buddhist simply call this a continuous cycle of  death and rebirth , and of course Westerners like to refer to this  by the handy name of reincarnation and Zen practitioners  just call it  rebirth,  if they call it anything at all . But the main point here   is that we are all  deluded  tricked by her own mind  into filtering out the real world  as it truly exists.   Buddhist teachings  basically say  that the world is filled with suffering  and that suffering  is caused by our own delusions .   My humble opinion  is that this obsessive need to classify  Buddhism and or Zen  is a wonderful example of what the Buddha was talking about.  

 

          Historically Buddhist cosmology typically identifies six realms of existence: gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hells.These realms can be understood both as psychological states and as aspects of Buddhist cosmology. we as modern Westerners of course cannot accept the possibility of this because were all scientific and stuff  and this is just obviously  primitive superstition .  I could point out  that modern scientists  have conjectured  that the multi-verse is composed  of every  possible alternative  universe.  they also say that 75% of the universe is made out of something we can't see  smell touch or feel  called dark matter  and dark energy. but of course they're not superstitious  because they are scientist .   And of course scientist cannot believe in rebirth   despite the fact  that they do believe in the conservation of both energy  and matter and information,  which just happens to be one of the fundamental truths that Buddha said  rose in his mind when he woke up.  Back in the day   Buddha summarized three great truths,  which Einstein laid later put into a formula.  matter and energy of the same thing  nothing is ever lost and you just happen to be made out of matter and energy  and that ego you call you  that mind that you think with and the DNA that supports it is basically  information.  Buddha taught  that everything was one ,  that everything was in constant flux  and that  nothing was ever lost. but of course he didn't have a mathematical formula  to back up his awakening  it was an experience  and an observation   an epiphany a  if you  well .  We of course as modern people  can't believe in a bunch of superstitious claptrap,  but we can believe the same thing if a group of physicists tells us it's true . 

        I once heard a very elderly Tibetan monk comment that he didn't understand why people would bother with Buddhism if they didn't believe in rebirth and karma.  At the time that seemed like a very refreshing statement since most of the people in the room didn't believe in either.  And I would point out that karma is basically the law of cause and effect " Another very scientific concept That Westerners all believe in  and take for granted  in all their daily lives and comings and goings."    Karma simply applies the law of cause and effect to the information that's gathered together and organized into you. Even the brightest  western people refuse to extend Cause-and-effect to their personal existence and place in the universe. It seems it would never occur to them that maybe the thing we call morality Is a natural law that pertains to them even if there is no Santa Claus or God enforcing it. Perhaps the modern Westerner should consider the fact that maybe the Things we call good and the things we call evil,  the things we call right and the things we call wrong might in fact reflect reality as it pertains to sentient beings.

    I myself have never been afraid of the word  spirituality After all I can always say that  my spiritual essence exists somewhere in the microtubules of my  brain  on a quantum level and feel really scientific. Nor am I afraid of the word religion despite the fact that more damage more harm and more mass murder has  been that done in the name of religion than probably any other concept in history.  My  Zen teacher told me many years ago that his Zen and my Zen were not the same Zen and never would be.  When he told me that, I thought he was bragging that he was enlightened and I never would be. It took me a while to realize what he was actually saying to me and that it was true.

      There's one thing that I'm absolutely sure of, and one thing only: Reality doesn't give a rats rear end what I think it is. My only task in Zen, and Buddhism for that matter ,  is to root out that little rascal we call reality and see things as they really are.  And if I ever accomplish that  then and only then I will be Awake.  Buddha said this would make me suffer less, The fewer delusions the less you suffer and frankly I believe this is true.

       I gave up  Vajrayāna  Buddhism And came to Zen because I've finally realized that some people may be able to think their way two awakening but I just didn't think I could. Bodhidharma  the father of Zen  taught that there were two  paths to awakening,  Through reason Or through practice. Look it up! I'm sure there are those that think he only taught that one could awaken by staring at the wall. But that is not true.

       Zen is not for everyone, neither is Buddhism, To some people  Zen and or Buddhism is a religion, To others it's a philosophy, to others it's nothing. Buddha knew this was true back when he was walking around India teaching the Dharma.  That's why he said try it and see if it works for you.  Just remember that you live in samsara, whether you like it or not,  and your samsara is going to be different from everyone else's just like your Zen.