Is there ANY GOD in Buddhism ?

Question

Refering to this 3rd paragraph artical,

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ake6nTx9VL1XoCdTUTI4WA3sy6IX?qid=20070605181523AAZLTnC&show=7#profile-info-COTN2QoFaa

stated that

They are…… forcibly trying to convert people to Buddhism and forcing people to kneel down to declare Buddha is our god! Read about it

It's really ignorance write up. Who know nothing about Buddhism and claimed they know.

As far as I know,

There is no GOD in Buddhism.
Buddhism no worship to Buddha, given respect.
Buddhism no pray.
There is no central image ( like Jesus in Christin, Mohamad in Islam )

Anyone has better idea.

.


Holy Missionary

Have you ever read anything about Buddhism ?
If not than stop.
Respect others as I do respect your religion.

.

Jayasri devi dasi

Please do provide more info. I had expereince before like that however end up, wrong assumption between
God and Gotama.

Nivanna is not Heaven
Your mind is ceased until next universe found as energy unit.

I would love to challenge with your claim, eventhough I am not a true Buddhism.

Answer 1

Actually, there were sects of Buddhists which did worship him as a god. This practice goes back almost as far as the practice of Buddhism in the East. Recall that the Buddha was actually from the Middle East. Buddhism reached the East through the passage of the Silk Road. While almost everyone taught that Buddha was simply a messenger of "truth", there were still some who quickly corrupted that view and instead portrayed him as a god. Most likely, this was in response to other religions' claims of their own god incarnate. While very few practioners believed that the Buddha was a god, there is still some evidence that smaller groups did in fact worship him. There may still be some of these groups in existence today, but for the most part, Buddhists today do not believe in this.

Answer 2

In Theravada Buddhism, there is no general belief in gods. In Mahayana, however, there are a number of deities. The reason for this is that, according to Buddhist tradition, when Buddhism arrived at a particular location, the local deities were essentially converted to become protectors of Buddhism. In Tibet, where the goddess Tara is, here known as Jetsun Drolma, she is a bodhisattva, as are the majority of the deities. It is believed that she was created from the tear of Avalokitesvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and thus, she is the essence of compassion. One thing to understand about the deities in Buddhism: they are 'gods', not 'Gods'. They are not generally omnipotent or omniscient. They exist to assist people with their practice, or to assist them in more practical matters. A student, for example, might pray to Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom, for help on a test, while someone who is traveling, (in Tibet, anyway), would pray to Drapchi for a safe journey. Someone with a more spiritual bent might pray to Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambhava), or to Vajrapani for help with their spiritual attainments. It is accurate to say that Buddhism does not recognize a creator deity. The universe has always existed and always will exist, as long as there are sentient beings who have not attained enlightenment. Most of the deities that exist in Buddhism, particularly in Tibet, have been human at some point in time, made a vow to become a bodhisattva and are acting now in the capacity of a bodhisattva, until all are enlightened.

Answer 3

Actually, there is "God" in Buddhism. According to HH the 14th Dalai Lama, all faiths are paths to God, "We are all the image of God." Note he did not say, "We are God." A full understanding of this is, of course, predicated by what we mean by God, and that relation between various faiths - it becomes a complex discussion.

The Buddha was a man, a teacher, not to be worshiped or revered as any sort of deity. He became enlightened and thus attained realization of the 'god-like' nature already existing in all of us.

As for the Buddhists of Sri Lanka that are mentioned - they should not be cast as an example of the whole family of Buddhism, just as the violence of Islamic terrorists, Christian crusaders, or any other negative act by any other group claiming moral, ethnic, etc. superiority over another should be ascribed to the honest and benevolent practioners of that faith as represented.

Answer 4

Technically, Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. There are sects of Buddhism that either believe Buddha was god or other have other deities.

But yes, Buddhism has no god.

Answer 5

The rather odd fact is that there ultimately developed within Buddhism so many forms of religious organization, cultus and belief, such great changes even in the fundamentals of the faith, that one must say Buddhism as a whole is really like Hinduism, a family of religions rather than a religion.

Answer 6

Buddhism is an atheistic religion, with no god. Buddha was an enlightened being, but not a god.

Answer 7

The answer is NO. Buddhists do not believe in a god.

And Tamil Tiger propaganda is about as reliable as Pat Robertson's 700 Club 'News' segment.

Answer 8

In reality Buddha is a shaktyavesha avatar of God (a partial incarnation, as is Jesus. But the Buddhists don't know it. He came to trick the Atheists to accept Him by saying their is no God and that he was an ordinary man. Otherwise they wouldn't have accepted him. He taught them how to merge into oneness(Nirvana) which is actually Gods light energy. It is not our constitutional position so after billions of years in Nirvana they become board and fall back to the earth planet again to get a chance to surrender to serving God again then if one fully surrenders to God at the end of life they can return to the eternal Kingdom to serve God eternally. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupadas books explain this understanding of Lord Buddha. Hardly a Buddhist knows this transcendental knowledge of Lord Buddha.

Answer 9

No gods in Buddhism.

Answer 10

No gods in Buddhism...Buddha was a great teacher....not a god...