Is Buddhism a Religion?

Undergraduate / Graduate

One often hears it said that "Buddhism is not a religion, but rather a […]," with the ellipsis filled in with expressions including "philosophy," "mind science," "spiritual path," and "therapeutic practice" (among others). What does it mean, though, to say that Buddhism is or is not a "religion"? Why does it matter whether or not it is, and for whom are the stakes significant? And why in the first place does this question tend to arise only with regard to Buddhism? It turns out there is a complex and interesting history behind familiar ideas of Buddhism as somehow exceptional among the world's religions (if it is one…) - a history involving colonialism and empire, power and representation, science and religion, tradition and conversion, and the life of a 2,500-year-old tradition in the modern and postmodern worlds. This course will variously explore the origins and function of the "Buddhism isn't a religion" meme, entertaining, along the way, questions like: What is a "religion" anyway, and who gets to say so? Does it make sense to characterize Buddhist practice as itself "scientific," or to claim that Buddhist thought is basically more compatible with a scientific world view than that of any (other) religion? What might any of the various parties to a discussion of these issues have at stake in the answer's coming out one way or the other?