Religion
In reply to the discussion: Why the Universe Obviously Has a Creator (and Why Some Atheists Refuse to Even Consider It) [View all]YankeyMCC
(8,401 posts)My understand as a Zen student is that labeling all of Buddhism and all the various schools you definitely couldn't use a simple label as atheistic, there are many intermingling with older traditions, like Christianity and European paganism and near east mystic traditions.
That said, there are quotes attributed to Buddha where he essentially said the question of god or no god was really beside the point and not relevant to what he taught in terms of living a spiritual life in the here and now.
And in particular the Zen branch of Buddhism grew out of a practice of meditation that had no relation to gods or the supernatural. And I know the more recent ancestors in my linage also teach that the question of god or no god is not generally relevant to the Zen practice.
And I and many of my sangha members consider ourselves atheistic. Again, one label for all of Zen might not be good but I believe and have heard many teachers of Zen that Atheistic would not be very misleading in a fuller description of Zen practice.