Please only comment on existing ones to explain something specific. Upvote my comments on the post if they apply to you. Upvote comments on comments to acknowledge them (ie even if they don’t apply to you). Ive noticed polls can get clogged with more detailed explanations, so I think having my comments be designated as the only poll options to insure the accuracy of the poll. Please don’t downvote things that don’t apply to you.
Yes, I’m atheist, but spiritual in another way (this includes atheist Buddhists, pagans, and more idiosyncratic ways)
This. Even though Buddhism still has some idealist deviations of thought, it’s still a useful and in some aspects a scientific inquiry of the mind
Exactly, I find the Buddhist worldview valuable, but I still find contradictions with idealist aspects of it. (I elaborated recently)
Madhyamaka Buddhism, which is an inquiry school that deals with essence and emptiness, is uncannily similar to Hegelian Philosophy. A Buddhist comrade has been studying this and will be producing a paper contrasting Marxism to this school in the coming years. I wish I could explain more
Very interesting, I’d like to know more about it if you happen to know anything later!
Would Taoism fall under this? Idk. Maybe not so much about spirituality as it is mindfulness and having an inner peace?
Yes, as long as there are no gods it’s atheist. Any reading you’d like to share on the subject?
Atheist Buddhists are included in Secular Buddhism. the non-western transmissions of Buddhism (basically everything but Secular Buddhism) are neither theist or atheist: they really don’t concern themselves with a god, but there are dakinis, devas, bodhisattvas and such in many tenants, which are considered supernatural but are within the illusory world of samsara just the same. Guan Yin for example is considered a god to some and a bodhisattva to others. Pure Land Buddhism can be regarded as a theistic religion in my opinion, it adopts heavily from Christianity.
Because of these considerations, I haven’t voted because I don’t feel there’s an appropriate category for me as a Mahayana Buddhist. The closest Buddhism seems to come to me is Apatheism, but outside of Secular Buddhism there is significant spiritual practice such as ritual and prayer, as well as phenomena such as rebirth/reincarnation.