Since there are already so many religions in this world. Why is it necessary for us to have another religion called Buddhism? Is there any extraordinary characteristic or contribution or significant feature that Buddhism has which other religions do not have? There is a school of thought which says that all religions are essentially the same There are no significant differences The only difference is in the interpretation and practice After all in the final analysis, all of us end in one place, either heaven or hell That is the common belief of most religions Does Buddhism share this viewpoint? To answer this question we have to examine what is meant by religion 

Different scholars have given different views and opinions of its nature and meaning According to Aldous Huxley religion is, among other things, a system of education, by means of which human beings may train themselves. First to make desirable changes in their own personalities and in society. and second. to heighten consciousness and so establish more adequate relations between themselves and the universe of which they are parts Modern Indian philosophers like or Radhakrishnan, have expounded the theme that religion is not a set of doctrines but that it is experience and religious experience is based on the realization of the 'presence of the divine in man'. H. G. Wells says 'religion is the central part of our education that determines our moral conduct' The German philosopher. Kant. stated that 'religion is the recognition of our moral principles as laws that must not be transgressed.'

The Buddha's message as a religious way of life: "Keeping away from ail evil deeds, cultivation or life by doing good deeds and punfication of mind from mental impurities."

For our purposes, religion may be defined in a very broad sense as a body of moral and philosophical teachings and the acceptance with confidence of such teachings In this sense. Buddhism is a religion. 

Buddhism however does not neatly fit into the general categories outlined earlier because it does not share common features with other existing religions in many ways To consider this matter further let us first of all briefly examine how religion could have come into being. 

After worshipping and praying early men thought they could control the undesirable occurrences and at the same time ensure a degree of protection as reward from these unseen forces or energies To help them better visualize what they were trying to communicate with they gave each force a name and a form - either conceiving it in human or in grotesque non-human form. but always evoking a sense of awe and fear As time went by. They forgot the original significance of these representations and look them for real and eventually accepted them as deities. 

Different cultures translated ideas and concepts into physical form and developed particular r tuals to honour and worship theseimapesasgods Lateraseariyurban settlement began and social control became neiessaiy certain practices were used as the bases to develop moral behaviour and to guide citizens in the correct path to ensure the well being of the community Thus developed concepts such as humanism. Human responsibilities and human values such as honesty. kindness, compassion. patience. tolerance. devotion unity and harmony. To ensure that these qualities would be further enhanced. the leaders instilled fear in the believers. threatening them with punishment by the gods in the life hereafter ii they did not behave in an accepted manner Religion was the result oi the fusion of moral behaviour and belief in the supernatural We will discuss Morality in greater detail later 

What was the rrligious thinking in India at the time? 'God created everybody: god is responsible for everyfhing; god will reward: god can forgive all our sins: and god is rrsponrible for our lives a/ler our death: god will send us to heaven orhe will send us fo hell'

These are the basic ingredients of al religions even today At the same time there were certain other religions also in India which taught that it was necessary for believers to torture their physical bodies. thinking that they could wash away ail their sins during their lifetimes so they could go to heaven after death Another religious group encouraged religious rites and rituals .and ceremonies and animal sacrifices to please their gods This group believed that through these practices they could go to heaven Some others again introduced prayer and worship and asked forgiveness for the sins committed The Buddha did not recognise the efficacy of all these practices 

The world is indebted to the Buddha for the rise of rationalism as a protest against the superstitions of religion If is he who emancipated man from the thraldom oi the priests It is he who first showed the way to free man from the coils of hypocrisy and religious dictatorship. 

During the Buddha's time no religious practice was considered higher than the rites rituals and sacrifice of living beings to the gods: but to the Buddha no practice could be more humiliating or degrading to man A sacrifice is nothing more than bribery: and salvation won by bribery and corruption is not a salvation which any self respecting man would care to get. 

Dharma. Karmu. Nirvnna. Moksha. Niraya, Samsara, Atma are some words which were common to all religious groups during his time But in his teaching the Buddha gave very rational and unique meanings and interpretations to those existing religious terms. 

The Buddha taught the dharma to help us escape the suffer ng caused by existence and to prevent us from degrading human dignity and descending into lower states such as hell. animal. the spirit or ghost or devil realms The dharma introduced by the Buddha holds and supports us and frees us from the misery of these realms It also means that if we follow the methods he advocates we will never get into such unfortunate circumstances as being born blind. crippled. deaf. dumb or rrad So in the Buddha's usage dharma is the advice given to support us in our struggle to be free from suffering and also to upgrade human values Western philosophers describe Buddhism as a noble way of life or as a religion of freedom and reason' . 

The Dharma is not an extraordinary law created by or given by anyone Our body itself is Dharma. Our mind itself is Dharma; the whole universe is Dharma. By understanding the nature of the physical body and the nature of the mind and worldly conditions we realize the Dharma The Buddha taught us to understand the nature of our existence rationally in a realistic way It concerns the life. here and now. of each sentient being and thus interrelatedly oi ail existence Usually when people talk about religion they ask, "What Is your faith?" They use the word "faith." The Buddha was not interested in, the development of "faith" in an absolute sense. although it can be useful in the preliminary stages of one's religious development. The danger of relying on faith alone without analytical knowledge is that it can make us into religious fanatics Those who allow faith to crystallize in their minds cannot see other peoples' point of view because they have already established in their minds that what they believe is alone the truth The Buddha insisted that one must not accept even his own Teachings on the basis of faith alone One must gain knowledge and then develop under;standing through study, discussion. meditation and finally contemplation Knowledge is one thing. understanding a another if there is understanding one can adjust ones life according to changing circumstances based on the knowledge one has We may have met learned people who know many things but are not realistic because their egoism their selfishness, their anger, their hatred do not allow them to gain unbiased mental attitudes and peace of mind When it is necessary to compromise we must know how to compromise When it is necessary to tolerate. we must know how to tolerate When it is necessary to stand firm we must stand firm, with dignity 

"The Buddha can tell you what to do but he can not do the work for you." You have to do the work of salvation yourself The Buddha has clearly stated that no one can do any thing for another for salvation except show the way Therefore we must not depend on god. and not even depend on the Buddha. We must know what are the qualifies. duties. and responsibilities of being a human being He said that if we have committed certain bad karma. we should nor waste precious energy by being frustrated or disappointed in our effort to put it right. 

The first thing to do is to firmly resolve to stop repeating such bad karma by realising the harm it can do The second thing is to cultivate more and more good karma Thirdly we must fry to reduce evil thought. selfishness. hatred. anger jealousy. grudges, and ill-will In this way we can reduce the bad effect of the bad kaima that we commit This is the Buddha method for overcoming the bad effects He did not say we must pray to and worship him and that he would forgive all our sins. 

Purify and impurity of our mind depend on ourselves Neither god. Buddha. nor human being can pollute or purify one's mind I cannot create impurity In your mind. I cannot purify your mind But by taking my word or my action you create either purity or impurity within yourself Outsiders cannot do anything for your mind if your mind is strong enough to resist it That is why knowledge and understanding are important. 

The Buddha taught that what man needs for his happiness is not a religion or a mass of theories but an understanding of the cosmic nature of the universe and its complete operation according to the laws of cause and effect Until this fact is fully understood, man's understanding of life and existence will remain imperfect and faulty.
'The path that the Buddha showed us is believe. the only path humanity must tread If it is to escape disaster". ~ Jawaharlal Nehru 

In this way, he gave due credit to human beings to think freely, by using their common sense He did not introduce a religion to be practised slavishly out of fear and craving for any worldly gain. 

According to the Buddha a beautiful thought and word which is not followed by corresponding action is like a bright flower that has no scent and will bear no fruit. 

The eight fold path introduced by the Buddha is a planned course of inward culture and progress. By merely resorting to external worship. ceremonies and prayers, one can never make progress in righteousness and inner development Mere prayer for salvation. the Buddha says. is like "asking the farther bank or a river to come over so that one may get to the other side without personal effort." 

One of the speakers replied, "Well I believe that god gave his doctrines in the form of a message to one man who then spread it to others. so we mast believe the word of god."

But the student persisted. "How do you know that the people to whom this message was conveyed understood it correctly? Could it not have been distorted and misinterpreted in their minds and then passed on to postenly?"

The Buddha on the other hand never claimed anything like receiving knowledge from outside sources throughout his ministry he always asserted that his listeners were free to question him and challenge his teachings so that they could personally Iraiire the rru:h He said. "Come and see" (Ehipassiku). He did not say "Come and believe." Whenever he spoke anything, it was because he had personally tested the validity of the saying for himself as an ordinary human being He claimed no divinity He understood everything because he knew how he had to suffer during so many previous births for all the bad deeds he had committed through ignorance. He had learned the hard way. He advised his followers through his own experience He had done tremendous service to mankind by practising and observing the great (perfection) PARAMIS over countless lifetimes and finally experienced the supreme bliss We have to ask ourselves which is more reliable. the testimony oi one who speaks from personal experience or that of one who claims to have heard it from someone else who is always invisible.