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6. Which of the following people is more religious and why? a. Person A carries out a lot of religious actions (prayer, visits to religious places, etc.),
but does not follow the religion's principles in his daily life. b. Person B follows the religion's principles in his daily life but does not carry out many
(or any) religious actions.
There are a number of instances in which the Buddha critiques the performance of empty rituals. The Sigalovada Sutta begins with the Buddha coming across a young Brahmin, Sigala, who is worshipping the six directions in accordance with his father's instruction and the Buddha then describes to him the true or more meaningful way in which the directions can be worshipped - by leading an ethical life and worshipping parents (east), teachers (south), wife and children (west), friends (north), servants and employees (nadir) and ascetics and Brahmins (zenith). Obviously the emphasis is on ethical conduct and compassionate action and not on mere religious observance. Having said that, motivation has an extremely important role to play and the Buddha says it is chetana which determines karma. For motivation to be pure, understanding the dharma as well as practice and mind training is essential.
7. If a person has an equal amount of belief in all religions, does that person have faith?
As regards to faith, the Buddhist view has been described above. This question poses a number of problems from a Buddhist perspective and I have tried to address them below. Right view or samma ditthi is the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path. Although this is attained as a result of observing ethical conduct and bhavana or meditation practice, it is placed at the top of the list because it is only with right view that meditation can lead to liberating insight. It is said to operate at two levels: at a mundane level it is a conceptual understanding of the Buddha's teaching. Ultimate right view arises as a result of practice, when it is the experiential dimension of the teachings.
To the extent that Buddhism refutes the notion of a soul or describes all phenomena as a series that continually arise and cease, dependent on causes and conditions, the Buddhist path is essentially one that addresses the fundamental cognitive error man makes when he relates to the world within and outside and assumes these phenomena to be in some way permanent or enduring.
Given such a path, to have 'equal amount of belief in all religions' is not strictly possible, especially if the path described relates to God, any underlying unifying principle or any concept of a soul. It may be pointed out that Buddhism itself has many schools which developed in India and across Asia is found in a bewildering variety of liturgy and practices. Dissemination of Buddhism, particularly to China, also resulted in the assimilation of the Dharma according to local culture. The diversity amongst Buddhist schools - in terms of emphasis on some aspect of the Dharma or a text, the religious practice or the method of meditation - did result in mutual critique but in the end they were unified by their acceptance of the enlightenment of the Buddha and the understanding of
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