Is it possible to be an atheist but still have leanings toward aspects of Buddhism and some of its tenets? Aren't the positives without the supernatural beliefs, even in the Bible, still considered good guidelines for living, even among non-believers?
by 
CuriousFrank
ANSWERS: 12
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you make religion your own, don't get caught up in labels and what other people say you need to believe or not believe. That's the beauty of religion. Structure it how you see fit, as long as you are always trying to help people and improve yourelf, I say you can't go wrong. If someone judges you for pulling specific positives from various religoins, they are too close minded and will never understand the true meaning of faith.
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Very much so! Despite my appearance of being the anti-christ, or at least anti-Christian, I believe the Bible has a few good lessons in it and use a few of it's teachings to guide my life despite...well... let's just say they got SOME things right ;)
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It is possible to be an atheist and have leanings all sorts of ways. There are not Atheist Scriptures, no rule books. And of course Atheists can learn from the wisdom of others - including Jesus of Nazareth, Gautama Buddha and so on. It would be folly to ignore a wise philosophy just because other people associate it with beliefs you do not share. One of the reasons that the major religions have succeeded is because they are based at the core on good ideas. I would say that I am a Humanist more than an Atheist. A Humanist derives his or her ethical philosophy from respect from fellow human beings rather than any particular Scripture. But a Humanist will also learn from the wisdom if his/her fellow humans: none of us standas alone, we all learn from each other.
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I have read that Gautama Buddha himself was an atheist and would have been shocked to find himself deified. C.S.Lewis pointed out that most religions more or less agree on what constitutes good behavior--don't lie, steal, murder, honor your parents, respect constituted authority, especially as it concerns interpersonal relations. So an ethical atheist could very well study religious books to get different viewpoints on ethics and decide which ones he thought were worthy of practicing.
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The Buddhadharma is about awakening and being mindful. As a practitioner becomes more mindful of his or her actions they develop a basic, solid moral code. These codes are timeless even though the judeo christian bible re-iterates many of them. As an aside, the Lord Buddha was not an atheist, he may have had non-theist leanings but he discouraged the practice of wasting one's valuable time pondering thoughts of no use such as unknowables. Are there gods or not? Such thoughts and questions do little or no good for the serious practioner in living a skillful and joyful life. Labels are convenient tools in language, but why waste your time trying to conform to social name tags and definitions. Metta, swabby
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I myself own copies of the Bible and the Koran and yet I am an atheist. They contain some very useful insights into the world, and sit on the same shelf as the rest of the philosophy I own.
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Of course it is possible to be an atheist while following the PHILOSPHY of a certian religion. On a side note though, this does irk me - Buddhism is a PHILOSPHY and not a religion in any sense of the word, except for when people make it into one... Buddah himself said he didn't want to be remebered or revered as a god, for he was just like all of us. And I admit, there are a few - very few - good things in the Bible. These are often the things taught in Sunday School.
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Buddhism os often considered a non-theistic religion, or sometimes not a religion at all. Many sects of Buddhism don't even discuss a god or a higher power.
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that's why people should not "put down" religion. They are all about finding and following the good part of ourselves and others.
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The things with Atheists is they do not believe in a higher power. Doesn't not mean that cannot follow principals from certainly religions. A lot of religions, Buddhism included, have great teachings.
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I certainly believe so.
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It is indeed. Gauttama, himself, was almost certainly an atheist. He would not answer any questions as to whether or not there was any deity. He believed his teachings were folowable without recourse to a deity. You are correct also when you say that Biblical beliefs are good guidelines for living. The problem is, what motivates a person to follow such guidelines, when people are essentially egotistical?
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