Secular Sangha: A Secular Buddhist Group discussion

Use this thread to discuss what you think "Buddhism" is.

I'll try to give a one sentence definition that encapsulates everything I've read on the subject:

Buddhism is a framework to cultivate "nibbana" and "metta" through various practices and understandings, such practicing mindfulness and better understanding the impermanence of Being.

Buddhism is a way of life. When you live by Buddhas's wisdom, adopting it to your every day life, you are at peace with yourself and the rest of the world.

Many wrongly believe that Buddhism is pessimistic. But I have not come across my life anything more optimistic. Buddhism alone gave me the equanimity to face many downfalls I have had in my life.

While what I have said above makes our daily lives happy and content, the ultimatum of Buddhist philosophy is to attain the mental state of "Nibbana" by understanding the impermanence of the "self" and " world".

Piyangie wrote: "While what I have said above makes our daily lives happy and content, the ultimatum of Buddhist philosophy is to attain the mental state of "Nibbana" by understanding the impermanence of the "self"..."

Well said.

I agree with both of you on Buddhism being a framework or way of life. I would add "a discipline".

While I always thought of Buddhism as a religion, I noticed in The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation that Thich Nhat Hanh seemed to suggest that it was not a religion. He stressed that if you were coming to Buddhism from Christianity or Judaism or Islam to "keep your roots". So if religion is a set of beliefs in a suprahuman entity, and Buddha was an enlightened teacher, I would think that Buddhism is, as suggested, a framework or way of life.