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I don't say this flippantly, I would like to know - what is the difference?

I guess that I would suggest a 3rd category of "spiritual path". To me, "religion" and "philosophy" aren't that attractive as topics. :)

Buddhism is something to come back to and help me remember, so I have no idea what I would call it...for me is is a search for the stillness inside me......for my essential self.....the face I had before my mother and father were born

I would have to agree with LsnLrnd!
Jim

Well, yeah... all of your responses make good sense to me.

I like "spiritual path". That's what it is to me.

Thanks for that!

Thanks for the question, VB ~
namaste ~

For me , religion is a dirty word . Joseph Campbell said that man created religion in order to try to manipulate God .Since my discovery of Zen wiped out my desire to study philosophy , I don't think that I would call Buddhism a philosophy either . Personally , Buddhism is a form of mental hygiene . It helps me to keep my head screwed on straight and to place myself properly in relation to the world .

The following is an answer by Zen Master Jian Hu, one of my teachers, now Abbot of Sunnyvale Zen Center in Sunnyvale, CA.

"Buddhism is a religion because it deals with life and death and what lies beyond life and death, and attaining the ultimate truth, and it involves faith and rituals and precepts.

Buddhism is not a religion because it does not talk about a supreme creator, and that once enlightened, the faith/belief is not needed anymore, and that the rituals and precepts are not ultimately necessary but only expedient means.

Buddhism is a philosophy because it deals with all the important issues philosophers deal and struggle with: truth, meaning, life, good and evil, nature of reality.

Buddhism is not a philosophy because it does not speculate, theorize, or argue about terminology.

Buddhism is a practice because without actually doing the meditation and cultivation one cannot attain the experiences and wisdom that Buddha talks about.

Buddhism is not a practice because once we are one with reality no practice is necessary."

"The Buddha says everything is a Buddhist teaching, yet the Buddha has nothing to teach. Therefore it is the supreme teaching." --Diamond Sutra

Yucloud, what a great statement....thank you....

Exactly , Yucloud , it is beyond the traditional pairs of opposites