Is Buddhism animistic

Answer 1

Buddhism does not believe in a "creator God" like in the west, but more of a creative energy force in the universe. It is accepting of all other religions, believing that each person can find his/her own path to salvation with effort and honesty in seeking. The goal is enlightenment or illumination regarding the nature of life and the universe. In the west, this enlightenment is often called "The light of God", and is illustrated by a halo in art (this person has been enlightened), and was repeated in the stories of both Paul (struck down by the light in broad daylight, was blinded for three days), and Luke (enlightened while meditating at an altar). In Buddhism, enlightenment is found through meditation, which is a process of clearing and stilling the mind, and opposed to prayer ("talking to God"), it is more about listening, so you empty your 'mental vessel of all of your own thoughts and images first so it is stilled, and you can then listen, hopefully reach enlightenment Buddhist teach nonviolence and will not even defend themselves, and refuse to fight in or support any war. It was Buddhists that burned themselves alive in protest of the Vietnam War, preferring peace and any political system rather than having to kill to assert their will over others. Believing in reincarnation, a Buddhist will be kind to others, share food and possessions, be non-materialists, bow to and bless others, all in the aim of "building good karma" and lessening the number of reincarnations necessary to achieve "perfection" as a human being and end the cycle of incarnations - a concept that doesn't sound too different in reality from the Western concept of "hell", where the imperfect or evil supposedly spend eternity. But no, there is nothing animistic about Buddhism, other than what Christianity teaches, "his eye is on the sparrow", and "if you have done it for the least of these..", meaning treat all living creatures with respect and kindness as all are part of the creation, and none are any less important than oneself. As a historical note, by the time of Jesus, Buddhism had spread from India to China and Japan to the east, and to Greece in the west, and having created the concept of monasteries where the spiritual could retreat safely from the secular world for religious pursuits, they had built monasteries throughout this area before Jesus' time. Therefore the concept of love and kindness, mutual respect, nonviolence and living and thinking proper (righteous) thoughts had already been spread to Israel, Greece, and Rome. In fact, an early Buddhist quote (650 BC) is "Do not commit any act to others that one would not have committed to oneself", which was changed into the 'Golden Rule' by Christians.

Answer 2

It entirely depends on the branch of Buddhism and the underlying culture.