Buddhism is not a religion but a philosophy?

[alexmatthews]

These are the words of Dawkins and Carl Sagan. There is a new book, mrcp ii made easy . It is written by a Buddhist who described the the debate between Carl  Sagan who said that all evolutionary changes are good and the Dalai Lama asked what about death. We have short telomeres and when that is destroyed we die. That is why the clone , dolly had such a short life. I am also impressed that the novel described Buddha not  as a God , but one of the first physicians as he used the same diagnostic process as championed by Osler ( the Professor of Medicine of Oxford , Harvard and Mcgill ). Budhha said that the 1. diagnosis: this world ( samsara ) we live in is characterised by suffering or dissatisfaction, 2. The aetiology are the 3 poisons at the centre of the wheel of life which are the snake, the cock and the pig. The snake characterises our venomous nature with clinging to objects of pleasure which are ephemeral, the cock represents pride ( characterised by BMWs and the Rolex watch despite the fact that every phone has a time on it,3. The prognosis: is good as there is a way out of Platos's cave and we are not chained in it ,4 The cure: is the 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path. Buddha to the Kalamasutra says do not believe what I say but test it like gold ingots and scracht it to see if it is painted lead and only take on the philosophy if it works with you. The novel mrcp ii made easy is found in amazon com under mrcp. The author is a Harvard trained physician who is also a Member of the Royal College of Physicians ( MRCP ) and it is important for him as it may save the lives of patients with HIV and AIDS. In America there is litigation if you use gancyclovir instead of the safer Foscarnet. Gancyclovir causes rhegmatous retinal detachment which third world physicians are unaware of and people suffer blindness for the CMV retinitis which is reversible if treated early. I was impressd that he wrote about the use of the FMRI long before SALT. The stories are interwoven with interesting medical facts . They are all true and the author gains nothing from it. Some of the (case histories ) stories will make you cry and others will make you laugh. The author is a Harvard trained physician who is also a Member of the Royal College of Physicians London ( MRCP ) and a Royal physician. Buy it as you are saving the lives of those with HIV and AIDS . My family loves it as each story is like a series from House MD. I wonder if the author does the breaking and enteing himself or his proteges do it . Boittom line, Buddhism should be approached wiht cynicism and skepticism. It is a philosophy and not a religion as it is a philosophy following the arguments of Epicurus.

[Whitney]

Same copy past posted on Atheist Think Tank just moments ago.

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Not to distract from your point (which I hope you plan to come back to discuss)...but Can you provide sources for the following statements:

These are the words of Dawkins and Carl Sagan.

Carl  Sagan who said that all evolutionary changes are good

^Especially this one.  This simply isn not an accurate statement and I think Sagan would have known better than to word it that way.

Also while Buddhism is a religion (consensus agrees) it's just that many Western practitioners treat it like a philosophy  leaving aside the aspects which make it a religion http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism8.htm

[Thumpalumpacus]

All salads -- even word salad -- should be served with dressing.  To do otherwise is uncivilized.