Buddhism is a religion despite the negative attitude of some in the West, who espouse that since it has no god, it is atheistic and, therefore, cannot be a religion. A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices that unite into one single moral community. A. N. Whitehead fortified this definition by saying, Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness. Buddhism satisfies these definitions by guiding the individual in self-reliance and introspection rather than entreaty to an unseen god or spirit. It is hoped that the nine essays in this book depict situations where a set of symbolic forms and acts relate man to the ultimate condition of his existence. The essays in this book have been written between the years of 1998 and 2000 while Albert Shansky, the author, was executive vice president of the International Institute of Field-Being at Fairfield University.

Buddhism is a religion despite the negative attitude of some in the West, who espouse that since it has no god, it is atheistic and, therefore, cannot be a religion. A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices that unite into one single moral community. A. N. Whitehead fortified this definition by saying, Religion is what the individual does with his own solitariness. Buddhism satisfies these definitions by guiding the individual in self-reliance and introspection rather than entreaty to an unseen god or spirit.It is hoped that the nine essays in this book depict situations where a set of symbolic forms and acts relate man to the ultimate condition of his existence.The essays in this book have been written between the years of 1998 and 2000 while Albert Shansky, the author, was executive vice president of the International Institute of Field-Being at Fairfield University.