[tired&retired]

Buddhism is far different than you or your friends expect.

Buddha never claimed to be a God, nor is Buddhism claiming to be a religion. Virtually every Buddhist teacher I ever met taught knowledge and techniques. They then said, “Take what you have been given and apply it to your chosen path.”

[driftdiver]

Definition of RELIGION 1 a : the state of a religious b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance 2: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices 3: archaic : scrupulous conformity : conscientiousness 4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith From the link I provided previously - "When the Buddha was teaching in the paradise of Tushita, which is a realm where the devas (gods) reside and also a sambhogakaya realm, the sound of his previous motivation reminded him that it was necessary to take birth in our world and teach the dharma. "

[muawiyah]

In a number of places in Western India it's pretty easy to show up at a jain temple and think it's Buddhist ~ because they use the same statuary.

However, they have 24 founding gurus ~ and go back in time a lot further than Buddhism.

You can learn about THAT relationship by going to http://www.jainworld.com/ (and other Jain sites). They are not a huge group, they predate Buddhism, and have elements that sound distinctly Western rather than Eastern.

For example, they believe it is possible to develop moral precepts which are correct without also believing that there is necessarily a god behind those precepts (although there maybe a god there, it is not necessary).

I think that can be simplified to this ~ about 2500 years ago the Jains figured out how to have a SECULAR VIEWPOINT.

You'll want to pay attention to SKYCLAD vs. WHITECLAD Jains. They are different.