Defining Features

We can divide all the world religions into two broad camps, the theistic ones, which assert the existence of a creator, and the nontheistic ones, which do not. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism are all examples of theistic religions. Buddhism, Jainism, and one branch of the ancient Indian tradition known as Samkhya are examples of nontheistic religions.

Within the nontheistic religions, we can again make two broad distinctions: there are those that assert the existence of atman, an eternal soul that is unitary, permanent, and unchanging, and those that do not. Buddhism is the sole example of the second division. In fact, the very rejection of an unchanging principle or an eternal soul is one of the main features distinguishing Buddhism from the other nontheistic traditions.

In looking at the ancient Indian spiritual traditions, we can also divide them another way: those that believe in rebirth and reincarnation, and those that do not. Within the former group, we can make another twofold division: those that, in addition to believing in rebirth, also believe in liberation from the cycle of rebirth, and those that do not. Buddhist believe in both rebirth and in the possibility of liberation, which we call moksha in Sanskrit.

Furthermore, among those who do accept the notion of liberation, there are those who understand attainment of liberation as reaching some other external plane of existence, and those who understand the attainment of liberation as the realization of a particular mental or spiritual state. Buddhism understands liberation from rebirth to be an attainment of a certain state of mind.

---His Holiness the Dalai Lama---