The Buddha’s Religious Reform

1. Authority
• Buddha preached a religion devoid of authority
1. Breaks away from exclusive authority of the Brahmins, making generally accessible what had previously been reserved for the few.
2. Challenges each individual to do his/her own religious seeking
2. Ritual
• Buddha preached a religion devoid of ritual
• Regarded the Brahmanic rites as superstitious and ineffectual
• Institutionalized rituals were often irrelevant and distracting from primary job of ego-reduction
3. Speculation
• Buddha preached a religion that skirted speculation
• "Greed for views tends not to edification"
• Buddha’s ‘Noble Silence’
4. Tradition
• Buddha preached a religion devoid of tradition
• "Do not go by what is handed down, nor on the authority of your traditional teachings"
5. Grace
• Buddha preached a religion of intense self-effort
• "Here is a path to the end of suffering.  Tread it!"
6. Mystery
• Buddha preached a religion devoid of the supernatural
• Appeal of the supernatural and desire for the miraculous as distractions from the hard, practical task of self-advance