In its original form buddhism is not a religion, but it eventually turned into one. You can see that, that people prey to buddha statues etc. Buddhism asks what is the inner self that never changes and then step by step eliminates everything that is under the law of change.
Stoicism I have not a good foundation to discuss it.
If your definition of religion is “human system which attempts to confront and understand/master the unknown, spiritual, and metaphysical principles of reality” then I think Buddhism and Taoism can fit quite nicely (even Science looks more and more like a religion through this lens). But if your definition is more along the lines of “top-down hierarchy from God down to his agents down to his priests down to us”, then I could see how the eastern religions and western religions seem irreconcilable
Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophical approach to life similar to Stoicism?
In its original form buddhism is not a religion, but it eventually turned into one. You can see that, that people prey to buddha statues etc. Buddhism asks what is the inner self that never changes and then step by step eliminates everything that is under the law of change. Stoicism I have not a good foundation to discuss it.
If your definition of religion is “human system which attempts to confront and understand/master the unknown, spiritual, and metaphysical principles of reality” then I think Buddhism and Taoism can fit quite nicely (even Science looks more and more like a religion through this lens). But if your definition is more along the lines of “top-down hierarchy from God down to his agents down to his priests down to us”, then I could see how the eastern religions and western religions seem irreconcilable