The core difference between Islam and Buddhism

John Shepherd is absolutely right in his universal condemnation of religion, and I could not agree more.

However, people do need something in which to believe – some secure fulfilment of the mind that lifts them out of their mundane reality. They also find security in belonging to a group or institution. Football fills this same need, but instead of one god there are dozens of them earning multimillion-dollar salaries. Christianity has certainly lost out to football, while Islam has grown. The simple reason for this is that, while Christianity is a relatively harmless belief, Islam is an aggressive political ideology.

Unlike football and Islam, which are about aggressive conquest, Christianity fails to stir the emotions. The fanaticism shown by Islamists is not dissimilar to that of fired-up fans opposing the “enemy” in shirts of different colours or mowing down opposing forces in a video game.

However, it is absolute nonsense to state that “true religion” concerns consciousness (awareness), from which emerges a flexible, spontaneous humanity, easily able to change and adapt to any situation and unattached to the past and its bogus “fast-food solutions”. But it is equally nonsensical to assert that “the art of consciousness is religion”. Religion closes the mind to reality. It is a blind belief without substance that induces bigotry and self-righteousness.

The art of consciousness is found in true Buddhism, not in religion. Buddhism has no allegiance to a god or supernatural being, but rather is firmly based in reality. It is not a belief and therefore encourages openness of mind. For that very reason it is highly unlikely to attract those bubbling with testosterone in need of an adrenaline fix. They would never look in a mirror of self-assessment.

JC Wilcox