"So, as I said, Kalamas: 'Don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, "This contemplative is our teacher." When you know for yourselves that, "These qualities are unskillful; these qualities are blameworthy; these qualities are criticized by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to harm & to suffering" — then you should abandon them.' Thus was it said. And in reference to this was it said.
"Now, Kalamas, don't go by reports, by legends, by traditions, by scripture, by logical conjecture, by inference, by analogies, by agreement through pondering views, by probability, or by the thought, 'This contemplative is our teacher.' When you know for yourselves that, 'These qualities are skillful; these qualities are blameless; these qualities are praised by the wise; these qualities, when adopted & carried out, lead to welfare & to happiness' — then you should enter & remain in them.
Religion is a 'philosophy' with all the questions left out. — PoeticUniverse
That is not to say that the Buddha is not regarded as an authority, as he most definitely is and was. — Wayfarer
This passage is often quoted as a kind of mandate for rejection of religious authority in Buddhism, — Wayfarer
It could only be meaningfully non-hierarchical and rejecting of authority if practitioners were able to not merely accept or reject but to freely criticize or revise as they saw fit, such as with philosophy. Naturally, all religions, including Buddhism, are highly resistant to critique or reform. — praxis
Platonism is in some ways a religious philosophy or at least values the same kinds of ethics as do many religions. — Wayfarer
Even among scholars of philosophy and religion there is no consensus as far as Buddhism's position is concerned. — Daniel C
Of course, Buddhism doesn’t speak of a divinity in the strict sense, but it deals with some sort of universal power and that amounts to the same. — Congau
Religion, and this absolutely includes Buddhism, has a hierarchical authority structure and is primarily concerned with meaning and social cohesion. — praxis
There is no hierarchical authority in Buddhism that I know of. If there were, I would be able to see such authority here in this largely Buddhist country. There are certainly monks but there is no organization beyond the practical management of a single temple. These temples do not report to a higher authority. They were built by collecting donations. Some local elders manage the premises. — alcontali
Elders > monks > laymen & laywomen? — praxis
With the Buddha being the ultimate authority, of course. — praxis
The Buddhist attitude of ‘take it or leave it’ leaves no room for questioning, critique, or least of all, reform. — praxis
Buddhists do not go to the temple like Christians go to church. — alcontali
In super-duper simplistic terms I tend to shovel them onto opposing poles - religions ‘believe’ and philosophies ‘doubt’. — I like sushi
I think you might be in Thailand. — Wayfarer
apanese Pure Land services are very like church services, complete with hymns, which imitate the Christian style, and sermons ('dharma talks') along with sutra recitation (which is regulated to the minutest details in intonation and pronunciation.) — Wayfarer
You have to be ‘religious’ to treat a text as irrefutable; but the clearer distinction would be that dogmatism is about unquestioned obedience to some ‘sacred’ work. If someone is reading the bible or the book of the dead as an absolute guide of how to live life they’re dogmatic; usually encumbered with the threat of death or torture in some afterlife. Philosophies can embrace such, but they are not necessarily embraced because of religious beliefs. — I like sushi
Imagine if, in addition to that philosophical tradition, you also had some people who took Plato as some kind of a holy figure who had solved philosophy and venerated his words and created rituals surrounding him. — Pfhorrest
, I meant that ‘religious ceremonies’ were originally a very obvious means of passing down knowledge from generation to generation prior to the written symbols — I like sushi
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