... in contrast to ours, is to bring about in us an experience of our identity with that void which is no void, what the Buddhists call sunyata. It is beyond naming, beyond imagining. So that any name or image that pretends to to be the name or image of the ultimate divine thing is a false name and image; it is a mere idol. The goal of these religions is to help us realize that being which is transcendent of definiton is our own being.

You can take anything and regard it in that dimension of its mystery. You can take any object, put a ring around it, and regard it not in the system of relationships as serving a purpose, as made of certain substances, but just in its mystery as being; the mystery of the being of this book in your hands is identical with the mystery of the being of the universe. So any stick or stone can be taken as a basis for mystery, for contemplation. The goal then of these religions is to bring about a realization of this identity of yourself with that which comes as an experience.

Of course, our religions do not strive for the experience of identity with the ulitmate divine; in fact, that experience is the prime heresy in the West. Our religions intend to create a relationship, the relationship of that which is not God to that which is God. And this relationship is achieved through participation in what is taken to be God's chosen society, or the founded church. In the Christian tradition, Christ is true God and true Man; we relate to him as man, and he thereby brings us into relationship with God the Father.

In the East, everybody is true God and true Man. And the whole goal of the religion is to realize that divinity in yourself. So here we have an intention that is very different from anything we conceive of in our religious traditions. When you have heard the sound of God, this sound of the divine in all things, it is absolutely everywhere-- you are facinated by that. And this properly, in the Orient, is the sphere of art."

Joseph Campbell
Myths of Light: Eastern Metaphors of the Eternal
pgs 71-72



"The realms of the gods and demons-- heaven, purgatory, hell-- are of the substance of dreams. Myth, in this view, is the dream of the world. If we accept gods as objective realities, then they are the counterpart of your dream-- this is a very important point-- dream and myth are of the same logic. This is a point that we are getting in our mondern psychology, both in the pioneering work of Freud and Jung and in the contemporary writers such as Eric Fromm. And since the subject and object seem to be separate but are not separate in the dream, so the god that seems to be ouside of you in myth (or religion if you prefer) is not different from you. You and your god are one. Now we are moving to something very interesting. All the heavens and gods are within you and are idenitical with aspects of your own consciousness on the dream level."

Myths of Light
pg 70


edited to fix typos. I was transcribing from my book.

far eastern religions are more of a philosophy and way of living, instead of false ideology.

Quoted: far eastern religions are more of a philosophy and way of living, instead of false ideology.

Part of thier appeal.  It is a way of life generally and does not breed bigeotry, hypocrasy, or require worship of a false idol.  I study traditional Ju Jutsu and Judo, and the ideals of Bushido or Budo show through in traditions and practice.

Quoted: far eastern religions are more of a philosophy and way of living, instead of false ideology.

I think you might mean "false idolatry." But I could be wrong about that.

Buddhism, which was born of Hinduism, does indeed have the associated mythology, even with the images and stories of the Buddha himself. The difference is that there is no "worship" required to practice. The Buddha isn't worshiped at all, but is merely used as something on which to focus; a place at which to start. Buddhists follow the example of Buddha; they try to get where he went. Christians aren't trying to do what Christ did. They don't think they can (which, by the way, is the only thing stopping them). They externalize their divinity, where as Buddhists seek to find the divine in themselves.

Oriental religions are the shiznit.

I've never had a Buddhist on my doorstep trying to shove literature into my hands, or telling me I can't get to heaven without them.

All religions could take a lesson there. One of the principles on which Buddhism is founded is "Balance", which is the most healthy of human and spiritual practices.....and the one most religions don't teach or advise.