Buddhism is in no way rooted in the secular any more than the teaching of Buddhism is intended to appeal to the common person (P., puthujjana). According to the Buddha the good farmer doesn't sow the bad soil first but only last.
If these words sound strange it is only because the huge majority of people are only used to thinking in a, worldly, secularized way. This also means that a great majority of people cannot think outside of their secular box.
Left on their own the huge majority of people will regress to a life of meeting their most basic, raw biological needs than any kind of higher need or calling. Historically, all established religions are popularized by the world of the aristocracy who then impose the religion on the common people.
If we were to envision a purely secular religion, in many respects, it might resemble Marxism which sanctifies materialism but also nihilism. This is really a life of blind servitude and duty to the state which seeks to further a collectivist mentality that canโt see beyond the mundane veil.
The history of Buddhism in the West has been an effort to view it as a secular religion. Those who have popularized Buddhism have turned it into an external practice through the promotion of sitting meditation and adherence to certain rituals and codes of conduct.
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