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Is Buddhism atheistic?
- Thread starter Gambit
- Start date
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
Atheist"ic" like, is it a religion that doesn't believe in deities or is a religion which primary focus is not on deities?
What do you mean by atheistic?
Gambit
Well-Known Member
I provided links to both "Buddhism" and "atheism."
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
You're asking a yes or no question and what our opinions are on the subject. I cant read what you're point is by posting definitions. That's like Christians posting scriptures thinking I can some how get their point just by reading the verses.
Doesn't work that way.
What do you mean by atheistic?
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
It also depends on the Vehicle. Mahayana practices has deities (some mixed in with the religion of the country of "origin") while Theravada, I dont see that too much. If Gambit is talking about the focus on Buddhism is without deities, then yes. However, there are deities in Buddhism, and they are pretty important as examples of what The Buddha taught. They aren't like Abrahamics if comparing it to those type of deities. It sounds kind of like Hindu and Paganism, if I'm not mistaken, that the deities are no different (they aren't "authority of the cosmic universe type of thing) than humans in the sense they are all live in this life on whatever plain or realm the said religion believes.
It depends on what Gambit means, though.
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Gambit
Well-Known Member
I went with 'No' as my answer. To me it seems to want to bypass the question in favor of what is practical, the end of suffering.
buddhist
Well-Known Member
I vote "theistic" - at least for early Buddhism.
The common misconception is that Buddha taught against the existence of an (external) creator God. As I understand it, he neither taught it, nor denied it.
Not only are there are deities (devas and Brahmas) in early Buddhism, Buddha also stated that the creator was us - our consciousnesses, our intentions, and our attachments - so that makes us, in a sense, "God", if you wish to see it that way.
The common misconception is that Buddha taught against the existence of an (external) creator God. As I understand it, he neither taught it, nor denied it.
Not only are there are deities (devas and Brahmas) in early Buddhism, Buddha also stated that the creator was us - our consciousnesses, our intentions, and our attachments - so that makes us, in a sense, "God", if you wish to see it that way.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
You have to put commentary to this. Each school has different views. In Japan, they once had Shintism. So if you see on in the Lotus Sutra/Gohonzon (as your link mentions Nichiren Buddhism), it mentions the Sun and Moon deities and other dieties from India and Japan. A lot of them are guardians of children, of the corners of the world, where the Buddha taught, and so forth.
The Lotus Sutra mentions deities, devas, and all other divine and semi-divine beings. They are all on an equal level with human beings and they all are learning from the Buddha's teachings; we are no different.
Schools that have deities are, by definition, not atheist. Buddhism, as a whole, is not atheistic. Deities do not hold the keys to the universe. They are just like us.
Please provide what you're trying to say by your links.
vaguelyhumanoid
Active Member
Buddhism is apatheistic, I think. Belief in gods is viewed as irrelevant to the central question of suffering.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Buddha never talked about a god because he knew that those who are wanting to know the truth would cling to the concept of a god, of course he knew that there was something bigger than all of us, and that we were all One in that, call that whatever, but he refused to call it god, we need to realize that which is in our own way, in our own enlightenment.
Rick O'Shez
Irishman bouncing off walls
Some schools are polytheistic.
What do you think would change about Buddhism's message if the Buddha were a deity as opposed to a man?
Buddha taught that eternalism vs annihilationism is a logical fallacy of false dilemma (among many others) that distracts you from what actually matters.
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn12/sn12.015.wlsh.html
Buddhism largely does not care to give the idea of deity too much importance. One may and probably should take it and leave it as the whim of the moment dictates.
Gambit
Well-Known Member
Buddha is worshipped as the supreme reality (a.k.a. the dharamkaya) in Mahayana Buddhism.
Some people no doubt do so. Your point?
Mahayana is not one single entity. It has wide variations. I'm sure those who adapted Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu had influence in the spreading of some Mahayana schools.