Ask A Buddhist: Religion or Philosophy?

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By Ven. Thubten Chonyi

Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy?

I’ll refer you to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for this question. I can’t think of a better authority on the topic.

In “Approaching the Buddhist Path,” first volume of a series called The Library of Wisdom of Compassion, co-written by His Holiness and my teacher, Venerable Thubten Chodron, His Holiness writes:

From one perspective, Buddhism is a religion and a spiritual discipline. Because Buddhist precepts and meditation are directly linked to mental training, it is also a science of mind. From another viewpoint, since Buddhism does not accept an external creator, it is not a theistic religion but a philosophy. Depending on how we look at Buddhism, we may describe it as a religion, a science of mind, or a philosophy. We do not need to say it is one and not the others, for Buddhism embraces aspects of all three.

We also see radical materialists who deny the existence of mind as an immaterial phenomenon, as well as religious believers who assert an external creator. We see people who stress logical reasoning and others who emphasize uncritical faith. It seems Buddhism does not fit in any of these categories. In contrast to religions that oppose critical investigation, Buddhism emphasizes that we should be skeptical, even of the Buddha’s words. We have to investigate whether scriptural passages are reliable and true or not. If we find contradictory evidence, including scientific findings, we should follow what can be proven rather than what the Buddha said. The Buddha himself stated that his followers should not accept his teaching out of respect but after investigation and personal experiment. We have the liberty to examine and test the Buddha’s teachings.

On the other hand, while Buddhism shares respect for logic and experimental proof, it doesn’t deny the value of having faith and confidence in spiritually realized beings. Since our five senses are limited in what they are capable of knowing, scientific tools are not amenable to investigating many existent phenomena. So it seems that Buddhism is in between science and theistic religions. In the future, perhaps Buddhism may become a bridge between religion and science, bringing the two closer together.

I heartily recommend reading the entire book, “Approaching the Buddhist Path,” published by Wisdom Publications, to understand his point fully.