Comforting lies about Buddhism is that it is not a religion.

Comforting lie about Buddhism is that it is not a religion.

The eastern people, like Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Burmese, will not argue about status of Buddhism as a religion. They all know it is a religion. However, some Western people, like people from Europe or the United States, are different. Some believe that Buddhism is not a religion, but just a way of life.

These people had been Christian, and it is a theist religion. They think that to be Buddhist is to be Atheist, and Atheism is not a religion.

First, Buddhism is not perfectly atheism, but polytheism. Buddhists believed that if you were a good person, or always did Bhavana, or conscious at the time you died, you would be born in heaven as God or Goddess.

Chinese culture created the significance of these gods and goddesses. If you have a chance to go to Chinese temples, you will see a lot of statues of these gods. People worship them. However, if you do not have a chance, you can see them in various Chinese movies. The culture is similar in Myanmar and Thailand. We have a lot of shrines around many places in our country. These shrines were built for gods. Sometimes, Buddhists call these gods, like, dewa, devada, or deit. There is also the ranking of these gods. The higher gods will have more ability to shrink their size. They can stay by using small space, like the pin or needle.

Not only polytheism being, Buddhism is also a religion in other aspects. As same as other religions, there are heaven, earth and hell. The day Buddha went back to earth from heaven, all these territories were opened and the creatures in them can see one another. This is one of the famous supernatural events in Buddha’s biography. Normal religions always consist of various supernatural events and beliefs about afterlife.

Need the reference of this weird event about heaven, earth, and hell, and also the reference of this size shrinking superpower. It is a part of Buddha’s biography. You can see it by using the following reference.
Khuddaka Nikāya, Dhammapada, Buddhavaggo No. 14, Yamaka pāṭihāriya No. 149
In Thai, อรรถกถา ขุททกนิกาย คาถาธรรมบท พุทธวรรคที่ ๑๔ เรื่องยมกปาฏิหาริย์ (๑๔๙)

The ignorants would say that Buddha didn’t say this or Buddha didn’t teach that. If you are one of these, please go to check Tripiṭaka, books of Buddhism, before yelling at me.