Why I am Not a Buddhist

Sorry, but I've officially left Buddhism.

I left Buddhism not very long ago – it was November 2009 when I started identifying myself as an atheist. Why did I leave, you ask? Isn’t Buddhism nothing more than a philosophy of life? Isn’t Buddhism atheistic/agnostic? I hoped it was so, but in reality, it isn’t. Buddhism is a religion in Malaysia, and is full of superstition. To my Buddhists friends and all those who respect this religion, I apologize, but there certainly are reasons why I de-converted.

What Buddhism is in my society.

While Westerners generally think of Buddhism as philosophical and metaphorical, it is viewed as literally in some ways. Quite a number of Malaysia Buddhists (and possibly other Southeast Asian societies), the Buddha is viewed as god-like, hell and heaven are believed to be literally true, the existences of ghosts are accepted without question and so on. Avoiding association with such beliefs is one of the reasons I left Buddhism. Also note that when I speak of Buddhism, I mean Mahayana Buddhism, which is the one practised the most in Malaysia.

Similarities Between Buddhism and Theistic Religions

The Pure Land of Bliss – Buddhist Version of Heaven

It is taught in Buddhism that life is suffering, and to escape it, one needs to attain nirvana, or enlightment. I’m perfectly at ease with this view, but there is another Buddhism school that teaches differently – Pure Land Buddhism, which is a Mahayana sect. It teaches that Nirvana is increasingly hard to attain, and by chanting the Amitābha Sutra, and constantly devoting to the Buddha, one can get to the Pure Land of Bliss, which is a stepping stone to attaining Nirvana.

So what is there in this realm? Well firstly, suffering ceases to exist in the Pure Land, and there is only bliss. It is a realm rich and prosperous, comfortable and delightful, fertile and rich, and it is crowded with Bodhisattvas, Devas (deities) and humans. No evil beings like asuras, ghosts, hell-beings, and animals (gasp) exist. Expect crystal clear water, golden sands, overwhelming numbers of lotus flowers, trees of jade, warm lights, cotton-soft terrain, beautiful birds singing melodious notes (Wasn’t animals banned? Paradox!), and the chanting of sutras stretching towards all corners of space. Sounds like a great place to go.

Wait a minute, doesn't that sound like praying to Jesus/Allah/Yahweh and getting salvation? And doesn’t the Pure Land of Bliss sound eerily like Heaven as depicted in Christianity/Judaism/Islam? Take a look, is it not identical to the Jannah as depicted in Islam?

One day in paradise is considered equal to a thousand days on earth. Palaces are made from bricks of gold, silver, pearls, among other things. Traditions also note the presence of horses and camels of "dazzling whiteness", along with other creatures. Large trees are described, mountains made of musk, between which rivers flow in valleys of pearl and ruby. – Encyclopaedia of Islam

While many may protest that the Pure Land of Bliss is not meant to be a  paradise, but rather a stop on the way to enlightment, the principle is still there. It’s exactly the tactic used by almost every religion to create mass appeal, in which great bliss is promised to the one who believes in a particular divine being/religion. In Abrahamic religions, it's the escape from hell to Heaven. For Pure Land Buddhism, it's escape from "suffering" in the real world to a perfect land of bliss. Even Buddhist teachings identify this belief as a faith.

The Pure Land of Bliss: Similar tactics are employed by other religions to gain followers.

Prayer Towards Deities

Go into almost any Buddhist temple here, and you will find altars and offerings to the Buddha, Bodhisattvas, and other gods. People here kneel down in prayers to the Kuan Yin bodhisattva, the Laughing Buddha, the Four Guardian Kings, the Jade Emperor, and other supernatural deities, hoping that the deities will give them luck, prosperity, safety, etc. Yes, you hear me right. In Malaysia, Buddhism is predominantly polytheistic.

Of course, a lot of you may say: “No! Buddhism is atheistic, as it doesn’t accept the view of a god”. Yes, Buddhists don’t believe in a Creator-God. But Malaysian Buddhists believe the existence of the Buddha/Bodhisattvas/Devas as divine beings, and that they can interfere in our daily lives by blessing us luck. They are more like Hindu deities in this sense, and Buddhism can still be classified as polytheistic.

Viewing of Sexual Acts as Dirty

The Abrahamic religions are frequently criticised as being critical towards sex, but guess what - the Buddhist teachings in Malaysia does this as well. It is said that women are “dirty”, masturbation causes diseases and disorders, and homosexuals are considered as abnormal and in one book – viewed as the cause of AIDs. I realise that this isn’t true Buddhism, but here in Malaysia, it is preached as such.

Reincarnation - Where's the scientific evidence?

Buddhism teaches that all beings have an eternal soul, as opposed to a finite body. When we die, we are reincarnated into another body. The exact realms in which we will be born into is determined by our karma. Despite the wishful belief of reincarnation, there is little (if any) scientific evidence for it, and I choose not to uphold this belief. I will explain the problems of the soul in my following posts in detail, but for now, let’s just say that the brain is the core of consciousness, not the soul, and that we cannot survive materialistic death.

Karma - It's simply superstition.

Karma, or known as “报应 (bao ying)” in Chinese, is core to Buddhism. Karma, in its most basic form is simply cause-and-effect, in which no one can deny in its existence. But for Malaysian Buddhists, it goes one step further.

Here, karma takes a supernatural meaning. It is all to familiar to hear: “You’re going to hell for lying”, “Curse people and you will be reborn with a crooked mouth”, “Look down upon people and you shall be reborn as a ghost”, “If you do bad deeds, accidents will fall upon you” etc. Karma in this context moves way beyond casual determinism. It’s like a omniscient, omnipotent force, constantly monitoring what you do, and blessing you with prosperity or cursing you with accidents and deformations if you do “bad” things. I know that’s not the best analogy, but the word “karma” is quite different from the deterministic cause-and-effect model.

Evolution – Not Compatible with the Six Realms of Existence

The Six Realms of Existence is the one of the core beliefs of Buddhism. There are the realm of the Devas, which are blissful; Asuras, which are more blessed than humans but full of rage, anger, and jealously towards the Devas; the realm of Homo sapiens sapiens; the realm of the Animalia kingdom; the realm of Hungry Ghosts, where they are always hungry and suffering, with a fire-like sensation burning in their throats; and Hell, where “bad souls” get punished for what seems like an eternity through fire, metal birds pecking, dismembering, metal snakes going through one eye and coming out of another, and in the case of the Uninterrupted Hell, it lasts for 3.39738624*10¹⁸ years long. Alright, I’m getting off-topic.

A main problem I have is the distinction between humans and animals. Yes, we have evolved advanced thinking abilities in contrast to other members, so we are different from most animals in that way. But from when, I ask, are we to be considered human? Homo sapiens? Homo hablis? Australopithecus? Ardipithecus? What about Neanderthals, who co-evolved with Cro-magnon? The fact that Homo sapiens have only existed in the last few ten thousand years when life existed for billions of years makes the sudden distinction between the 2 realms even more illogical. And I’m not going into why bacteria, plants, and other living organisms were left out.

Conclusion

In this post, I summarized the main reasons why I left Buddhism. Well I agree with a lot of Buddhist teachings, these problems were too large for me to ignore, and I decided that being non-religious was the way to go. This list isn’t exhaustive, and will be subject to update. If I had any misconceptions on Buddhism, please correct me. Thanks.