Are Buddhists atheists?

Question

Im Buddist and I belive there are many gods but not as a creators, or with any power to change what is happening on earth.

Answer 1

Buddhism is about ethics and life. They can have many Gods or no Gods, Buddhism neither confirms nor denies the existence of God.

Answer 2

It's kind of the wrong question in a way. When people asked the Buddha 'Is there a God?' He simply didn't answer because the question is unanswerable.
One Zen master told me, 'There isn't a God - but there's not no God either'. In other words, our intellects can't get a grip on the reality of God / no God.
So, as Buddhists, we tend not to concern ourselves with what are, really, unanswerable questions but to get on with the business of living in the now. Meditating and trying to follow the Noble Eightfold Path.
Sorry to be obscure but I think that the only way to comprehend these deep questions is through many hours of meditation. The intellect can't do it.
Buddhism is something that you DO. Not something you believe.
Jon C

Answer 3

buddists believe the a God can never become enlighted.

So they believe in Gods, just not in a way of worship.

They are happy with Christian though, this is because they see christ as a message of peace.

As far as creation goes...

There was once a time when Siddhārtha Gautama (the founder of buddhism) was asked the question "how did we get here"

Siddhārtha Gautama answered "if you were shot with an arrow, would you pull it out or ask what posion was in it first"

The man replied "pull it out"

The idea behind this story is it's not important how we got here just that we have to survive it by following the four noble truths and the noble eightfold path.

Hope that helps

Answer 4

Define god.

But the generally accepted definition of an atheist is someone who doesn't believe in God. If you believe in "gods," depending on what that means, you would not qualify as an atheist.

If you mean a "god" who has no power at all, then I think you need to find a new word to suggest the quality of being you're talking about, because god - even with a small "g" - has a pretty well accepted meaning.

Answer 5

Buddhism should be used in the way Buddha intended it to be used: all its teachings and beliefs should be used as tools to get to the same experience as the Buddha. Gods and goddesses are part of the tools. Buddha never said anything about god or the afterlife because he knew that whatever he said would be conceptual. Only direct experience will give someone the answers.

Answer 6

A lot of them are. Others are not.

If you believe in a god or gods, you are not an atheist.

If you do not believe in a god or gods, then you are an atheist, regardless of whatever other beliefs you may have.

Some atheists will use the word "god" to describe the organization of the universe, natural laws, and such... in that sense, I think the use of that word is little more than confusion.

Answer 7

No I don't think Buddhists are atheists.

Many people have read Buddhist text but are not Buddhist in any way other than as a philosophy. Buddhism is more than an intellectual pursuit. And Buddhist do believe in the Divine force and they do believe in Divine beings. Technically that is not an atheist.

Answer 8

Yup. No creator god, and Buddhist "gods" are just another realm of incarnation that anyone can become at any point.

Answer 9

no. you just don't believe the same gods that other people do.
who knows what the one true religion is anyways? until we die, we might never know.

I admire Buddhists very much, but am not one.

Answer 10

The word Theist means Believer of God, and Atheist is used like Atypical meaning anti-typical so Atheist is anti believer of god, so Buddhists are Atheist
There are several reasons for this. The Buddha, like modern sociologists and psychologists, believed that religious ideas and especially the god idea have their origin in fear. The Buddha says:
"Gripped by fear men go to the sacred mountains,
sacred groves, sacred trees and shrines".

Primitive man found himself in a dangerous and hostile world, the fear of wild animals, of not being able to find enough food, of injury or disease, and of natural phenomena like thunder, lightning and volcanoes was constantly with him. Finding no security, he created the idea of gods in order to give him comfort in good times, courage in times of danger and consolation when things went wrong. To this day, you will notice that people become more religious at times of crises, you will hear them say that the belief in a god or gods gives them the strength they need to deal with life. You will hear them explain that they believe in a particular god because they prayed in time of need and their prayer was answered. All this seems to support the Buddha’s teaching that the god-idea is a response to fear and frustration. The Buddha taught us to try to understand our fears, to lessen our desires and to calmly and courageously accept the things we cannot change. He replaced fear, not with irrational belief but with rational understanding.

The second reason the Buddha did not believe in a god is because there does not seem to be any evidence to support this idea. There are numerous religions, all claiming that they alone have god’s words preserved in their holy book, that they alone understand god’s nature, that their god exists and that the gods of other religions do not. Some claim that god is masculine, some that she is feminine and others that it is neuter. They are all satisfied that there is ample evidence to prove the existence of their god but they laugh in disbelief at the evidence other religions use to prove the existence of another god. It is not surprising that with so many different religions spending so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their gods that still no real, concrete, substantial or irrefutable evidence has been found. Buddhists suspend judgement until such evidence is forthcoming.

The third reason the Buddha did not believe in a god is that the belief is not necessary. Some claim that the belief in a god is necessary in order to explain the origin on the universe. But this is not so. Science has very convincingly explained how the universe came into being without having to introduce the god-idea. Some claim that belief in god is necessary to have a happy, meaningful life. Again we can see that this is not so. There are millions of atheists and free-thinkers, not to mention many Buddhists, who live useful, happy and meaningful lives without belief in a god. Some claim that belief in god’s power is necessary because humans, being weak, do not have the strength to help themselves. Once again, the evidence indicates the opposite. One often hears of people who have overcome great disabilities and handicaps, enormous odds and difficulties, through their own inner resources, through their own efforts and without belief in a god. Some claim that god is necessary in order to give man salvation. But this argument only holds good if you accept the theological concept of salvation and Buddhists do not accept such a concept. Based on his own experience, the Buddha saw that each human being had the capacity to purify the mind, develop infinite love and compassion and perfect understanding. He shifted attention from the heavens to the heart and encouraged us to find solutions to our problems through self-understanding.