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Revision as of 18:26, 5 July 2006 by Maleabroad (talk | contribs) (added new link to "See also section")(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Buddhism is generally regarded as a non-theistic religion. Gautama Buddha set an important trend in nontheism in Buddhism, by usually refusing to answer questions about whether God existed.
Although it does teach the existence of “gods” (devas), these are merely heavenly beings who temporarily dwell in celestial worlds of great happiness. Such beings, however, are not eternal in that incarnational form and are subject to death and eventual rebirth into lower realms of existence.
However, a distinction needs to be drawn between the seemingly non-deistic and non-theistic teachings of the Buddha in the Pāli Canon and the “agamas”, and the mystically-hued ideas attributed to the Buddha in some Mahayana sutras and Tantras, where expression is given to an apparent Ultimate Ground of all things - the immanent, omniscient and transcendent Reality of the Awakened Mind.
While Buddhism does not deny the existence of supernatural beings (e.g., the devas, of which many are discussed in Buddhist scripture), it does not ascribe power for creation, salvation or judgment to them. Like humans, they are regarded as having the power to affect worldly events and so some Buddhist schools associate with them via ritual. All supernatural beings, as living entities, are a part of the six-part reincarnation cycle.
While certain Buddhists (particularly in the modern West) hold to an interpretation of Buddhism that admits nothing of either the supernatural or divinity, this interpretation is far from universal and most certainly represents a different way of viewing Buddhism than has been the majority case throughout Buddhist history.
In nontheistic views, realms and gods are viewed with a liberal dose of metaphor, as tools to understand aspects of Mind.
The God idea in early Buddhism
The Buddha of the Pāli suttas (scriptures) dismisses as “foolish talk”, as “ridiculous, mere words, a vain and empty thing” (Digha-Nikaya No. 13, Tevijja Sutta) the notion that Brahmins (the priestly caste), who according to the Buddha have not in fact seen Brahma face to face, can teach others how to achieve union with what they themselves have never beheld. This is not a denial of the existence of Brahma, however, but merely intended (by the Buddha) to indicate the folly of those religious teachers who would lead others to what they themselves do not personally know.
Yet Brahma himself (see Brahmajala Sutta), for example, while not denied by the Buddha, is in no way viewed by him as a sovereign, all-knowing, all-powerful Creator God. Brahma (in common with all other devas) is subject to change, final decline and death, just as are all other sentient beings in samsara (the plane of continual and continuous reincarnation and suffering). Instead of belief in such a would-be Creator God as Brahma (a benign heavenly being who is in reality not yet free from self-delusion and the processes of rebirth), the wise are encouraged to practise the Dharma (spiritual truth) of the Buddha, in which right vision, right thinking, right speaking, right acting, right living, right effort, right attentive awareness, and right meditative absorption are paramount and are said to bring spiritual Liberation. The “God idea” forms no part of the “Pāli” (or “agama”) Buddha’s doctrine of release from suffering - although some see in the “deathless realm of Nirvana” a hint of an impersonal, transcendental Absolute.
Mahayana and tantric mystical doctrines
The situation takes on a different complexion in Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism. Here one encounters the notion of the Buddhas as kinds of cosmic wizards or magicians, as the creators of, and rulers over, “Buddha fields” (Buddha Paradises – whole world systems of spiritual exaltation and instruction). Although there are countless Buddhas, their essence is one - that of "Tathata" ("suchness" or "that-ness") - , and it is in this sense that the Buddha proclaims himself as "Tathagata" and exalts himself in theistic terms beyond all other "gods" when he declares:
"I am the god above the gods, superior to all the gods; no god is like me - how could there be a higher?" (Lalitavistara Sutra).
There are also many examples in the Pāli Canon, where the Buddha shows his magical superiority over the Brahma class of gods. So this was already present in the Pāli scriptures/ agamas.
His realm (“dhatu”), of which he is the "Holy King" (Nirvana Sutra), is further said to inhere in all beings. This indwelling, indestructible, incomprehensible, divine sphere or essence is called the “Buddha-dhatu” (Buddha-sphere, Buddha-nature, Buddha-realm) or “Tathagatagarbha” in such sutras as the “Mahaparinirvana Sutra” and the “Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa”. Further, the idea of an eternal, all-pervading, all-knowing, immaculate, uncreated and deathless Ground of Being (the dharmadhatu, inherently linked to the sattvadhatu, the realm of beings), which is the Awakened Mind (bodhicitta) or Dharmakaya (“body of Truth”) of the Buddha himself, is promulgated in such texts. In the Mahavairocana Sutra, this essence of the one ultimate Buddha, named Vairocana, is symbolised by the letter “A”, which is said to reside in the hearts of all beings and of which Buddha Vairocana declares:
“ is placed in the heart location: it is Lord and Master of all, and it pervades entirely all the animate and inanimate. ‘A’ is the highest life-energy …” (The Maha-Vairocana-Abhisambodhi Tantra, p. 331).
This great Vairocana Buddha is called: “the Bhagavat , Master of the Dharma, the Sage who is completely perfect, who is all-pervasive, who encompasses all world systems, who is All-Knowing, the Lord Vairocana” (p. 355).
The Tantric text, The Sarva-Tathagata-Tattva-Samgraha, eulogises the supreme Buddha Vairocana in the following theistic paeons:
“He is universal Goodness, beneficial, destroyer , the great Lord of Happiness, sky womb, Great Luminosity … the great All-perceiving Lord … He is without beginning or end … Vishnu … Protector of the world, the sky, the earth … The elements, the good benefactor of beings, All things … the Blessed Rest, Eternal … The Self of all the Buddhas … Pre-eminent over all, and master of the world.”
Similar God-like descriptions are encountered in the All-Creating King Tantra (Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra), where the universal Mind of Awakening (personified as “Samantabhadra Buddha” - the “All-Good”) declares of himself:
“I am the core of all that exists. I am the seed of all that exists. I am the cause of all that exists. I am the trunk of all that exists. I am the foundation of all that exists. I am the root of existence. I am ‘the core’ because I contain all phenomena. I am ‘the seed’ because I give birth to everything. I am ‘the cause’ because all comes from me. I am ‘the trunk’ because the ramifications of every event sprout from me. I am ‘the foundation’ because all abides in me. I am called ‘the root’ because I am everything.” (The Supreme Source, p. 157).
Thus Buddhism spans a grand arch from evident non-theism to mystically hued mentalist pantheism. There is also in Mahayana Buddhism, the concept of an Ādibuddha. This being is the primordial, self-existent, self-created Buddha who some believe that the whole of creation stems from. Some Mahayana devotees of a certain bodhisattva may also elevate this enlightened being to the status of godhood or deity as a mark of devotion. For example, the Japanese buddha Amida of the Pure Land school of Buddhism is a popular choice of deity. Adherents of this system believe that a certain chant of faith intoned daily will result in devotees of Amida at death entering Jodo (the Pure Land), a beautiful paradise peopled by angels and lesser buddhas singing next to lakes of ambrosia and sweet, sweet flowers. The awesome beauty of this heavenly paradise is beyond description and the souls of the dead may remain there as long as they wish until they are ready to reincarnate again. Pure Land Buddhism is a very popular form of the religion in Japan. Another elevated bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara is named Chenrezig (spyan.ras.gzigs) in the Tibetan tradition and embodies compassion and wisdom. His powers of intercession are said to be unlimited and a thousand arms on dis devotional statues reach out in all directions to aid and protect her followers from all harm. Other Buddhists (in the modern West) see the above Samantabhadra Buddha quote as radically subjective psychology, while still others will insist that the words mean what they say and do communicate the sense of an actual sustaining Buddhic force or spiritual essence behind and within all phenomena.
See also
- Buddha as an Avatara of Vishnu
- Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra
- Brahmajala Sutta
- Mahaparinirvana Sutra
- Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa
- Buddha-nature
- Faith in Buddhism
- God
- Tathagatagarbha
- trikaya
- Nontheism in Buddhism
Literature
- The Supreme Source, C. Norbu, A. Clemente (Snow Lion Publications, New York 1999)
- The Maha-Vairocana-Abhisambodhi Tantra, tr. by Stephen Hodge (Routledge Curzon, London 2003)
- The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra, tr. by Kosho Yamamoto, ed. and revised by Dr. Tony Page (Nirvana Publications, London 1999-2000)
External links
- Christian FAQs by Ryuei
- Emptiness & God - A Buddhist Perspective by E-Sangha
- Buddha Teachings
- A Study of Buddhism in Contrast to Christianity