Buddhism is not a religion because ‘belief’ in the Buddha’s teachings is not blind belief, blind faith, and far from superstition. Shakyamuni Buddha taught us not to blindly believe what he tells us, he wants us to try the teachings and prove them for ourselves. The Buddha wants us to know, not merely believe. The Buddha’s teachings flow from his own experience of the way to understand the true face of life and the universe, and show us a path of our own to taste the truth for ourselves. This is much like a good friend telling us of his trip to Europe, the sights he has seen, and the way to go there and see for ourselves. The Buddha uses a perfectly scientific way of showing us reality in its true form.
阿羅德．約瑟．湯恩比（1889-1975）是英國著名歷史學家。他畢業於牛津大學，任倫敦大學的希臘語和歷史學教授。曾代表英國政府，參加兩次世界大戰後的和平會議。他發表過約三千篇論文著作，主要學術貢獻是十二冊的巨著《歷史研究》（A Study of History），從社會文明發展的角度來研究歷史。他認為，社會文明的衰落源於無法勝任道德與宗教的挑戰，而非物質與環境的挑戰。
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