do you think buddhist deserve to called atheist?

Question

and tell me why you say like that

ahh,some people say yes,some people say no.so which one is true?

if you want convince me telling the truth,show me source

Answer 1

What constitutes a group of people as being a Religion is a belief in a Creator God, and Buddhism has no belief in a Creator God;therefore in all actuality Buddhism is honestly a Philosophy of Life, not a Religion.

Not trying to convert you, Buddhists do not convert, only answer questions for those who ask.

*Please very Patiently read this. Thank You.

"The source is at the end."

But do Buddhists believe that a God created everything and manipulate human lives? No, we do not. There are several reasons for this. Modern sociologists and psychologists, believe that religious ideas and especially the Creator-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 ~ Dhammapada 188"

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 a God that gives 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 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 supports 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/faith but with rational understanding.

*The second reason the Buddhists do not believe in a Creator-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. For centuries, men have prayed to God for protection from war, from natural calamities and disease. Yet till today, these prayers remain unanswered. This is not surprising. Even less surprising is that so many different religions having spent so many centuries trying to prove the existence of their God there remains no real, substantial or irrefutable evidence.*

*The third reason the Buddhists do not believe in a Creator-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 there is no reason nor any other reasonable basis to 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 reasoing, logic, and self-understanding.*

But so many people believe in some form of a Creator God, so it must be true. Right?

Not so. "There was a time when everyone believed that the world was flat, but they were all wrong. The number of people who believe in an idea is no measure of the truth or falsehood of that idea. The only way we can tell whether an idea is true or not is by looking at the facts and examining the evidence. If people continue to believe in God, they do so through faith, and faith is simply holding on to a belief when reason, logic and the evidence says otherwise."

Each human being is precious and important, as all have the potential to develop the qualities of a Buddha or our true perfected human nature. Human beings can outgrow ignorance and irrationality and see things clearly as they really are. Hatred, anger, impatience, resentments, jealousy can be replaced by love, patience, generosity and kindness. All this is within the grasp of each person if they make the right skillful effort and are guided and supported by The Noble Eightfold Path, and encouraged by fellow Buddhists and inspired by the example/teachings of Siddhartha (The Buddha).

So if Buddhists do not believe in God, is it an atheistic religion?

Buddhism is an atheistic religion only because it rejects the theistic and primitive concept of a Creator-God. Instead, Buddhists have as their highest ideal the state of Nirvana. The Buddha calls it the highest bliss. It is a state beyond all conceptual thought and is described by the Buddha as the Unborn, the Uncreated.

*Buddhism teaches that the focus of our attention should not be an imaginary God and pointless speculation about what such a God did in the past and what he will do in the future. Instead, Buddhism is immensely more pragmatic. It teaches to focus our attention on ourselves, - to determine what is the cause of our dissatisfactions, sorrows and pain and to find a way to liberate ourselves from these, and to teach others - who ask, how to liberate themselves as well. These teachings are encapsulated in the Four Noble Truths, and The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism.

Hope this helps you to understand why Buddhists are Atheists.

SOURCE: [Click below if you wish]

http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/what_about_god.htm

P.S. - Again, not trying to convert you, but if you wish to understand in detail what The Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism is, please view the question I answered for someone right before answering your question.

Thank You for giving me the opportunity to provide an answer to your excellent question
And Have a Great Week, & Weekend.

Answer 2

Well, that depends on what you mean by "theistic", which is the whole problem with the question. For example, Einstein is frequently thought to be theistic, because of his mention of God, but he had a profoundly different notion of God than what most Judeo-Christian-Islamic people have. In this sense, modern Buddhists heed an "higher power", but it's not necessarily a sentient being with human emotions and particular interest in our personal habits. For this reason, Buddhism is usually termed "non-theistic", because the prevailing convention of what it means to be theistic is to believe in a God that has done all the ridiculous things he has done in the Bible. Anyone who aspires to believe in a very different kind of a God is labelled an "atheist", and that's not realy fair to them, and in particular to Buddhists.

Addendum: Read Samadhi's very good answer

Answer 3

Only if they ARE atheist. I know some who only follow Buddhism as a lifestyle and believe in no gods at all. I know others who believe in Buddhist gods, so they arent atheists. Then I know some who are lifestyle Buddhists but believe in a god from another religion, so theyre not atheists either

Answer 4

No, this would be completely inaccurate. An atheist doesn't believe in any god or higher power at all, whereas a Buddhist clearly admits to a higher power, including Buddha and myriad boddhisattvas.
You could perhaps, define a Buddhist as a pagan, because the dictionary defines a pagan as anyone who does not believe in the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim version of God.

Answer 5

Maybe, depending on how you want to look at it. True Buddhists are taught to not believe in a certain "God" or a certain "relic" or a certain "person," period. They are supposed to learn the different teachings of life that life has to offer. And from this they're supposed to detach themselves from worldly possessions. By wanting or clinging on to things in life they will never attain "enlightenment." You basically have to not want or feel for anything at all. By doing this, they believe that they truly understand how life really is, and there is no longer and suffering.

Answer 6

Some are, some aren't. Buddha said that he couldn't tell us if there was a god or not, so some Buddhists believe in a higher power, and some don't.

Answer 7

A-theist means "without god"

Buddhists do not believe in a god - therefore they are atheists

Atheist is not the insult Christians on this site are trying to make it.

The Dalai Lama is NOT a god - nor has he ever claimed to be one.

Buddha is NOT a god - he is respected and revered as a teacher.

.

Answer 8

I think it depends on what else they believe. Buddhism has no effect on your belief or lack of belief in Gods. It is incompatable with Christian, Jewish or Muslim style faiths though.

Edit to Jeniphurb, They make a special point not to worship Buddha, and to point out that Buddha was just another human who found a way to reduce suffering. This is much different than worship.

Answer 9

Agnostics can be Buddhists as well. If anything there are some Buddhists who are Atheists as they don't believe in any higher power or god.

Answer 10

Buddhists may more accurately be called "non-theists," I think, because they have no definite position on the existence of God and God doesn't necessarily enter into their form of belief.

Atheists believe absolutely that there is no God.