I always thought Zen was not a religion.

But after visiting a few monks, the more I learn of Zen, the more religion like it seems.

The Zen teachings of Bodhidharma, and also Huang Po's style of teaching seem very far from a 'religion' as such. They seem pretty bare bones, straight to the point.

Bodhidharma even talks about certain rituals as being of no use, and that most of the Sutras are in Metaphors. But people have taken it literally.

I don't want to go too much into the books, but do you think zen has changed from Bodhidharma's original intention?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Namaste