@igm,
Hmmm. When is a religion not a religion? As I see it the more a "religion" takes its mythological metaphors literally it is a "popular religion". the less it takes them literally it is a philosophy. At its heart the two great Eastern "religions" are more like what we consider philosophies to be (perhaps we can all them religious philosophies, or philosophical religions--words).
On the other hand, I like the definition of religion as referring to the re-connection (re-ligare or re-legio?) of Man with God, Brahma, Ultimate Reality, etc.--ligare or legio may be from the same root as that of our connective tissue, ligament--
The Zen version of Buddhism (or the Vedanta version of Hinduism), however, will direct us to the realization that we need not connect ourselves to the Ultimate, only to realize that we have never been apart from It. Tat Tvam Asi.