(January 18, 2016 at 4:55 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote:(January 18, 2016 at 12:49 pm)loganonekenobi Wrote: I don't believe the original Buddha wanted to start a religion but naturally the people did.
I'm inclined to believe that the Buddha consciously intended to profit off his teachings. I think he started out looking for enlightenment, but stopped short once people started paying attention to him for his 'method'. The Buddha was a religious charlatan like any other, selling a road to a freedom which doesn't exist. Whether that qualifies as wanting to found a religion or not is debatable, but he definitely prospered from forming a cult, and that cult grew to be a religion.
that might be debatable since, as the story goes, he was already a prince and so stood to inherit profit anyway. His road to freedom does exist but not outside of ones living perception and not without effort. I see this as a far cry from a promise of a heaven. Now don't misunderstand me. I'm pretty sure many others saw the opportunity to profit and did. As in any human made philosophy one must see this and judge for oneself.
To me the large difference is that the Buddhist says "don't take my word for it. see for yourself." The monotheistic says "believe me or burn in hell."
