"HOW IS BUDDHISM IS DIFFERENT FROM THE WESTERN RELIGIONS?" - BEST ANSWER

Most religions in the world fall under the categorical umbrella of monotheism or polytheism due to their unchangeable doctrine and the super natural beings who created the cosmos or harbor the might to save their souls. Buddhism falls under neither. Instead, it illuminates the mysteries of our existence through the law of karma as well as pratityasamutpada or interdependent origination. It is certainly not an ethnocentric tradition and cannot be used as a basis of class or cast, consecrated by the words of the highest Devine. It is an egalitarian spiritual system that regards all human beings as equal to each other, all have Buddha nature. It also should not be rendered as the building blocks for cultural and national identity. Those who practice Buddhism are Buddhist regardless of their race, gender, or location; be it in little hut community in the Amazonian jungle or tent in Sahara desert. - Anam Thubten Rinpoche