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{{Short description|
{{Buddhism}}
{{Criticism of Christianity sidebar}}
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== Doctrine ==
=== Karma ===
{{See also|Karma#Free will and destiny|Karma in Buddhism#Karma theory and social justice}}
Buddhist karma and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|karmic reincarnation]] are feared to potentially lead to [[fatalism]] and [[victim blaming]]. [[Paul Edwards (philosopher)|Paul Edwards]] says that karma does not provide a guide to action. Whitley Kaufman, in his recent book, cross-examines that there is a very tense relationship between karma and [[free will]], and that if karma existed, then evil would not exist, because all victims of evil just [[Just-world hypothesis|get "deserved"]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burley |first1=Mikel |author1-link=Mikel Burley |title=Karma, Morality, and Evil |journal=[[Philosophy Compass]] |date=June 2014 |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=415–430 |doi=10.1111/phc3.12138 |access-date=19 April 2024 |url=https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phc3.12138}}</ref> Sallie B. King writes that karma often leads to [[Ableism|stigmatization of the disabled]] and people of lower social status (e.g., [[Dalits]] in India), especially for the disabled, as the Buddha's own words in the ''Cūlakammavibhanga Sutta'' are used to justify the stigmatization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Flanagan |first1=Owen |author1-link=Owen Flanagan |title=A Mirror Is for Reflection: Understanding Buddhist Ethics |date=22 June 2017 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-049979-2 |pages=168–171 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/6290 |access-date=14 May 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
Whitley Kaufman offers five criticisms of karma:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaufman |first1=Whitley R. P. |title=Karma, Rebirth, and the Problem of Evil |journal=[[Philosophy East and West]] |date=2005 |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=15–32 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4487934 |access-date=19 April 2024 |issn=0031-8221}}</ref>
# The Memory Problem: People have never found reliable evidence for the existence of [[reincarnation]], and therefore people have no way of knowing the specifics of the evils they have done in their past lives, and naturally they cannot atone for them, which brings the whole theory closer to the theory of vengeance.
# The Proportionality Problem: It is difficult to determine the evaluative relationship between a person's good and bad behavior.
# The Infinite Regress Problem: Karma leads to the problem of [[infinite regression]], where one cannot know where the [[Unmoved mover|first karma]] came from.
# The Problem of Explaining Death: Since death is often viewed as the greatest evil in Buddhism, but everyone inevitably experiences death, this may weaken the rigor of the karma discourse.
# The Free Will Problem: Karma's existence is somewhat contrary to free will.
=== Miracles ===
{{See also|Miracles of Gautama Buddha|Faith healing#Buddhism}}
Buddhist texts contain a range of paranormal phenomena, such as the [[Buddha]]'s mysterious origins, and some Buddhists claim that the Buddha himself [[levitation (paranormal)|levitated]] while [[Buddhist meditation|meditating]]. Scottish philosopher [[David Hume]], in ''[[An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding]]'', was skeptical of all religious miracles and advocated treating them in the same light.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rockwood |first1=Nathan |title=Locke and Hume on competing miracles |journal=[[Religious Studies (journal)|Religious Studies]] |date=December 2023 |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=603–617 |doi=10.1017/S0034412522000464 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/religious-studies/article/locke-and-hume-on-competing-miracles/D02A70BB0CF603D3F573F9CF65473BDA |access-date=21 April 2024 |language=en |issn=0034-4125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Companion to Miracles |date=2011 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-89986-4 |pages=11–12 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-companion-to-miracles/1889C4092939C92F3F4DE3C14981CE50}}</ref>
== Sectarianism in Buddhism ==
Buddhist scholars use terms such as "[[Pre-sectarian Buddhism|early Buddhism]]" to describe Buddhism before the early religious schisms. About a hundred years after the death of the Buddha, the Buddhist community began to conduct gatherings such as "[[Buddhist councils|councils]]" to resolve the divisions that existed at that time. However, a series of schisms still occurred, leading to the birth of many [[schools of Buddhism]], and Buddhists sometimes use very pejorative terms to characterize other schools that do not share their beliefs.<ref>{{cite book |author1-last=Gray |author1-first=David B. |editor1-last=Powers |editor1-first=John |chapter=Buddhist Sectarianism |title=The Buddhist World |date=2016 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[London]]; [[New York (City)|New York]] |isbn=9781315688114 |access-date=29 July 2024 |doi=10.4324/9781315688114 |pages=368-370 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315688114/buddhist-world-john-powers }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Baruah |first1=Bibhuti |title=Buddhist sects and sectarianism |date=2000 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |location=[[New Delhi]] |isbn=978-81-7625-152-5 |pages=39-42 |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_s1PZAMD13SMC |access-date=29 July 2024}}</ref>
== Women in Buddhism ==
{{See also|Women in Buddhism}}
Women are often depicted in traditional Buddhist texts as deceitful and lustful. The
== Criticism by other religions ==
=== Taoism ===
{{See also|Buddhism and Eastern religions#Taoism}}
Since the fall of the [[Han dynasty]], Chinese [[Taoism]] and [[Chinese Buddhism|Buddhism]] have accused each other of copying their texts. Since at least 166, Taoism had been propagating the idea that [[Laozi]] or one of his disciples went to India to become the Buddha in order to subdue the barbarians in the west. The Buddhists also fought back, and these debates continued until about the middle of the 9th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Auerback |first1=Micah L. |title=A storied sage: canon and creation in the making of a Japanese Buddha |date=2016 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago (Ill.) London |isbn=9780226286419 |pages=120–125 |url=https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/14387}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Raz |first1=Gil |title='Conversion of the Barbarians' [Huahu] Discourse as Proto Han Nationalism |journal=[[The Medieval History Journal]] |date=October 2014 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=255–294 |doi=10.1177/0971945814545862 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0971945814545862 |access-date=23 April 2024 |language=en |issn=0971-9458}}</ref>
=== Shinto ===
{{See also|Buddhism and Eastern religions#Shinto}}
[[Hirata Atsutane]], a Shinto fanatic and Japanese [[Kokugaku]] theorist, wrote a biography of the Buddha from a critical perspective. Atsutane's book was subsequently banned by the [[shogunate]], but it was still widely disseminated among Japanese intellectuals and caused considerable embarrassment to the Buddhist community in Japan.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Auerback |first1=Micah L. |title=A storied sage: canon and creation in the making of a Japanese Buddha |date=2016 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |location=Chicago (Ill.) London |isbn=9780226286419 |pages=135–160 |url=https://academic.oup.com/chicago-scholarship-online/book/14387}}</ref>
== See also ==
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* [[Secular Buddhism]]
* [[Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism]]
* [[Naraka (Buddhism)]]
* [[Nichirenism]]
* [[Buddhism and violence]]
* [[Post-canonical Buddhist texts]]
== Notes ==
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{{Criticism of religion}}
{{Religion and politics}}
{{Authority control}}
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