[quote]You do not believe separate objects don't really exist because you are a Buddhist, you are a Buddhist because you believe separate objects don't really exist.[/quote]You could say that about any religion's beliefs. Generally, the label is result from the beliefs, but if you have the label, and it's true, then you have the beliefs. [quote]There is a subtle difference.[/quote]There is no real difference. That claim changes nothing. [quote]Buddhism is about creating the mindset from which 'the truth' will arise, whatever that truth is. it has nothing to do with teaching the specific beliefs that follow.[/quote]It has a lot to do with beliefs. You have to have the belief in the core principles of Buddhism to practice it honestly. What exactly do you think Buddhism is? http://www.aboutbuddhism.org/buddhism-beliefs.php/ [quote]No it doesn't. Any Buddhist worth his salt will tell you that in order to reach enlightenment the first thing you do is stop trying to reach it.[/quote] That's rule on how to get to Nirvana. You've simply moved the problem. [quote]The eightfold path exists because it is what the Buddha thought would create the best conditions for enlightenment to arise. People follow it as if it were gospel because people will always find something to follow as if it were gospel.[/quote]Someone following the same principles, but arrived at radically different beliefs would not be considered a Buddhist. http://www.aboutbuddhism.org/what-is-buddhism.htm/ [quote]You're going to claim 'no true Scotsman' fallacy on me now, but lots of people mistakenly believe Buddhism is all about reading the scriptures or teaching the Buddha or the wheel of life or reincarnation, when these are all frills and pomp and extra canon to the main event, which is about creating a person who can see the world without the filters his mind puts in front of him. That's it.[/quote] See above. Buddhism inherently comes with beliefs, some more subtle than others. Even your form of Buddhism as some sort of alternate philosophical equivalent to the scientific method, which I would disagree with in the first place. Even in that form, you would still have a belief in inherent delusions that can be dispelled by meditation and such. That is already some metaphysical belief. And like I said. If I used those practices and found that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is the ultimate truth of reality, I would not be called a Buddhist.

[quote]Someone following the same principles, but arrived at radically different beliefs would not be considered a Buddhist.[/quote]Tell that to the radical Buddhists setting themselves on fire and massacring Muslims in Tibet.

I don't think you got the point.

No I don't think you get the point. Any person of any creed can be a Buddhist. Those who are Buddhists may share certain beliefs but they may not. To a mind obsessed with definitions then you will only see the Buddhists as those living in monasteries and wearing robes or generally blabbing about reincarnation and how everything is connected and about all these fables and stories that make no sense - the people who are not labeled by other things - but those people may be just going through the motions and rituals like so many other religious people do. Them being [i]called[/i] a Buddhist has nothing to do with it. I will concede that Buddhism has a 'brand' in the way it is seen and sold, just like Christianity or Islam or any major belief system, and if you want to use that as how you define them then so be it. I am making a distinction which in my opinion is beyond this branding and if you don't accept that then so be it as well. However, I must insist that 'stopping from trying to reach nirvana' is not a rule to reach nirvana, because by explicitly following it you are trying to reach nirvana and therefore won't. A rule implies you can follow it to reach an intended outcome. This is not something you follow, nor is it something you don't follow. How many people in the world haven't even heard it, who have therefore implicitly followed it, and not reached nirvana? Reaching nirvana is something that happens pretty much by accident. You don't work towards it as a Christian works towards being favoured by God; it's more akin to accidentally tripping over in the street. There may be things you can do to make it more likely, like not tying your shoelaces and letting them flap about your feet, but you may not trip over that way at all, or you may trip over without untying them. It can happen to anyone, regardless of their intentions or inclinations. You can't specifically engineer an accident, else it isn't an accident. It is therefore more of an observation than a rule.