It is possible to trundle along as a practitioner seeing your engagement with Buddhism simply as a way of life, but inevitably there will come a time when you are confronted with the fact that Buddhism is a religion – especially if vows are taken. This is the time when the view of practice becomes inconvenient. Although your understanding of view and method clearly indicates how you should act, your self-protectiveness wants to act in a different way. You want to indulge in recrimination, justification, prejudice, bigotry, irritation, peevishness, ignorance; you want to allow yourself to be overwhelmed, paranoid, jealous, annoyed … or whatever. If your practice is simply a way of life then you can squirm your way out of view; you can allow your own philosophy to take precedent over the demands of your religion. It is a choice whether you allow Buddhism to be a religion or a philosophy. As a religion you have to allow Buddhism to be larger than you, and its view to be all-encompassing.
page 32, Illusory Advice, Ngakma Nor’dzin & Ngakpa ’ö-Dzin, Aro Books Worldwide, 2016, ISBN: 978-1-898185-37-6
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