There's Buddhism the religion, then there's Buddhism the philosophy and life-style. The philosophy is about how we think, awareness and self-awareness, how we behave, how we honor life -- not just human life, not just intelligent life, not just convenient life, but life itself. I think it's interesting and worthwhile.
The religion takes the philosophy and tacks on a whole bunch of beliefs and bullshit. I don't think Gautama Buddha would have cared much for it. I once heard it described as "Hinduism for export."
You might want to try a book by Stephen Batchelor, a noted practitioner of atheistic Buddhism. I read Buddhism Without Beliefs, but he has also written Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture, and several others.
The religion takes the philosophy and tacks on a whole bunch of beliefs and bullshit. I don't think Gautama Buddha would have cared much for it. I once heard it described as "Hinduism for export."
You might want to try a book by Stephen Batchelor, a noted practitioner of atheistic Buddhism. I read Buddhism Without Beliefs, but he has also written Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, The Awakening of the West: The Encounter of Buddhism and Western Culture, and several others.
