Is Atheism compatible with Buddhism?

[Phaedra]

I think of Buddhism as more of a philosophy than a religion.

[Shell B]

I don't mean to be contrary, but Buddhism is definitely a religion. It fits most definitions of religion.

[Rev. Rye]

Well, I have a book by a man called Stephen Batchelor called Buddhism Without Beliefs.
He's effectively managed to create a variation of Buddhism that does away with doctrines of reincarnation and karma, and has effectively limited it to the four noble truths and meditation.

Come to think of it, I've read some other books about Buddhism (mostly by Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron) and much of it works even without accepting the doctrine of reincarnation.

Even before the Buddhist boom, Arthur Schopenhauer had combined Buddhist and Hindu Vedanta thought with Kantian philosophy.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Would someone who believed there was no God be able to justify a belief in unicorns?

No,that's why there are relatively few hard atheists. No atheist I know personally is arrogant enough or stupid enough to assert "there is no god" or"I believe there is no god" .That attracts the burden of proof


I,and most atheists here assert only "I do not believe in God(s) due to lack of credible evidence". We make no claims so have no burden of proof.We need prove/disprove nothing.

[The Grand Nudger]

There has been a current of atheism in most eastern religions since the birth of those religions themselves. If you take issue with the supernatural as well, then your choices are much more limited with regards to window shopping religion.

[Phaedra]

I don't mean to be contrary, but Buddhism is definitely a religion. It fits most definitions of religion.

Yeah. I get that.

[imanalice]

I dated a Buddhist briefly, and it's not something I'd want to mix.

Theoretically speaking there may be morals that are consistent, but I'm sure atheists can agree morally on some subjects with all religions. This dude was constantly telling me I was doomed for my choices in life. Plus, he meditated after every time he... uhhh, nevermind tmi. They're definitely two different worlds.

[Anomalocaris]

I dated a buddhist as well. Strictly speaking, atheism is neither a-religionism, nor naturalistic rationalism. So atheist can adopt any religion that does not depend on suppositions of any deity per se. Schools of buddhism i observes, as my former girl friend take pain to point out, does not rely on explicit supposition of any deity. So in theory atheism should be compatible with these schools Buddhism, whether one calls it religion or not, that eschews direct reliance on any supposition of deity.

But based on my observation, even though buddhism does not require insistence on any specific deity, it tends to promote a squishy, indulgent mindset that encourages individual followers to eschew rigorous and critical thinking, and embrace a sophistry-ing mindset that causes the individual toembrace and rely upon his own notion of deity, which tends to conform to what is subtly promoted by institutions buddhism. I have a particular sad story of a close acquaintance of my former girl friend who, in her dying days, lamented why the Amita Buddha did not come to take her to nirvana. So in this sense, while Buddhism does not necessarily teach anything the atheist might object to, it does create packs of devotees who individually would, as direct effect of buddhism, meet with the disapproval of atheists.

BUT, I think while the theology of the schools of Buddhism I observed with my ex does not direct demand suppositions of deity, it does promote amongst it's followers an uncritical willingness to indulge in any personal moral and intellectual weakness that can be assuaged by a faith in some deity. So some atheists might be buddhists, most have good cause to turn up their noses at Buddhism.

[Justtristo]

No,that's why there are relatively few hard atheists. No atheist I know personally is arrogant enough or stupid enough to assert "there is no god" or"I believe there is no god" .That attracts the burden of proof

I personally have my "hard atheist" moments. Also I believe I met a "hard atheist" in real life, he also had the habit of trying to 'deconverting' people. Interesting enough his sister was on "fire" for Jesus Christ.

---

I dated a buddhist as well. Strictly speaking, atheism is neither a-religionism, nor naturalistic rationalism. So atheist can adopt any religion that does not depend on suppositions of any deity per se. Schools of buddhism i observes, as my former girl friend take pain to point out, does not rely on explicit supposition of any deity. So in theory atheism should be compatible with these schools Buddhism, whether one calls it religion or not, that eschews direct reliance on any supposition of deity.

But based on my observation, even though buddhism does not require insistence on any specific deity, it tends to promote a squishy, indulgent mindset that encourages individual followers to eschew rigorous and critical thinking, and embrace a sophistry-ing mindset that causes the individual to embrace and rely upon his own notion of deity, which tends to conform to what is subtly promoted by institutions buddhism. I have a particular sad story of a close acquaintance of my former girl friend who, in her dying days, lamented why the Amita Buddha did not come to take her to nirvana. So in this sense, while Buddhism does not necessarily teach anything the atheist might object to, it does create packs of devotees who individually would, as direct effect of Buddhism, meet with the disapproval of atheists.

BUT, I think while the theology of the schools of Buddhism I observed with my ex does not direct demand suppositions of deity, it does promote amongst it's followers an uncritical willingness to indulge in any personal moral and intellectual weakness that can be assuaged by a faith in some deity. So some atheists might be Buddhists, most have good cause to turn up their noses at Buddhism.

I would agree fully with you about what Buddhists at least among westerners subscribe to and their general mindset. As I see a lot of Buddhist teaching stripped of their woo component aren't particularly bad and it has helped me quite a lot.

[Faith No More]

I have read a couple of books by Thich Nhat Hanh also, and if I remember right he specifically states that god is not necessary. It's been awhile since I've read them, but if he didn't state it explicitly, it was definitely implied. I believe there are certain flavors of Buddhism that believe in a god, but as a whole an atheist can simultaneously be a Buddhist.

On a side note, if you take away the spiritual side of Buddhism I believe its principles are highly practical, at least as far as I've gotten into it.