Happy Wesak Day

Happy Wesak Day to all my Buddhist friends. 


Yes, I am a practicing Buddhist. At least, I try as much as possible.


I had a discussion with two friends recently, on whether Buddhism is a religion, or teaching? 
We were confused, and not sure. 


So, I googled, and found this excerpt from Wikipedia. 
Buddhism (Pali/Sanskrit: बौद्ध धर्म Buddha Dharma) is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pāli/Sanskrit "the awakened one"). 


And, another excerpt from another website cites this:-

• Is Buddhism a Religion?
To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as:

(1) to lead a moral life,
(2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and
(3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

And, we also discussed and also confuse, whether are we Buddhist or Taoist? 
In all our birth certificates, our religion is stated as Buddhist. 


But, we also pray to Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), Tua Pek Kong (I don't know what's the translation should be....). 
And this is Taoist, right? No? Don't know? 


Not that any of this matter.... but I just thought of thinking it out loud.