This is confusing because i cant find the answer. Could someone please explain this to me.
I know that they tend NOT TO even think about a higher being because they feel it is not going to do them any good because they must learn how to be good people etc. But if they do not think about it, does it mean they do not believe in it? or that they do, but its not really import and to pray to god? Im so confused please help! Thanks x
The canonical Buddhist texts include gods and demigods, but the question is whether or not gods are assumed to be real, or if the gods are there as pedagogical tools. When the gods do occur in the canon, they appear as foils or recipients of the Buddha's teaching or that of his followers.
Buddhist cosmology, following the tradition of the Buddha in the canon, posits 33 heavens, each with its own band of gods and demigods. The Buddhist understanding of those gods, though is that they are also caught in the round of Samara. In fact, in Digha Nikaya 1, the Buddha goes into great detail about the gods passing away and being reborn in a lower realm (such as a lower heaven or even as humans). True to the Buddha's form, the gods' presence in this discourse is a pedagogical tool used in a larger teaching on 64 kinds of wrong view.
Traditionally, Buddhism has rejected atheism on the grounds that atheism carries nihilistic connotations, and Buddhism is certainly not nihilistic (The Buddha roundly and soundly condemned nihilism in Digha Nikaya 1). However, atheism in the 21st century does not mean what it did even a century ago.
Any statement we can make about gods is speculation, and speculation does not lead us to the end of suffering. So speculating about whether or not there is a god, or whether there is an afterlife, those are things that we do not know, and any view about them traps us further. We are taught as Buddhists that when causes and conditions arise, phenomena arise; and when they cease, phenomena cease. We are taught the importance of Kama and rebirth because the Eightfold Path requires a strong ethical component, and understanding that our actions have consequences even beyond our lives should motivate us to do what is right and good.
With all this said, practice of the Noble Eightfold Path does not require one to posit a god of any sort. And in the end, for Buddhists, it is the practice that is important, and right view is what starts it all off. As the Buddha formulated right view, gods are simply not important. So from my perspective, the question of god or gods in Buddhism is largely meaningless. I would say that Buddhism is neither theistic nor atheistic. It is non-theistic.
Buddhists hold that all we can now comes from experience. God is a speculative, metaphysical concept. Thus it can not be accepted by Buddhism.
Strictly, Buddhists (like empiricists) are agnostic because experience is never a closed book.
If by God you mean a creator or personal Savior like the Christian God, then no Buddhist school, not even Tibetan, accepts the existence of God.
Do some Buddhists worship Buddha? As a practical fact, sure, just as some Catholics can be said to worship saints. But as a matter of doctrine, all Buddhist schools say that Gautama was a man, not a god.
If you want to drive to Houston Texas, you will need a road map. Using the road map to get to Texas doesn't depend on whether or not you believe in God. Both those who believe in God and those who don't will get there if they use the road map properly.
If you want to attain enlightenment, you will need a road map (the teachings of Buddhism). Using the road map to get to Nirvana doesn't depend on whether or not you believe in God. Both those who believe ... aw, you catch my drift.
This is what they mean when they say that the issue of whether or not God exists is not relevant to Buddhism. It is important to remember that Nirvana is not Heaven ... it is a state of mind that can be achieved while you live in your body.
Buddhists do not deny the existence of gods, but whether one prays to the god(s) or not depends on which sects of Buddhism one is following. However, Buddhists reject the idea that the universe and everything inside it was/is created and controlled by one supreme god.
Buddhism = No god? Or god?
