Is / Are 'God' & Buddha (Bodhi: Enlightenment) the same?

Question

ichthus: many do. There was considered to be a virtually limitless number of unseen beings in the universe, even at the time of the Buddha. Seers with certain gifts, can be aware of them.

dmarie: there are bigger kahunas than others. :-)

n9wff: If Jesus was God made man; could not the Buddha be Dharma made man?

Could not the throne be figurative?

John B: Wasn't Jesus?

NWB: The Buddha's meant to've had many extraordinary powers...

Didn't Jesus reveal that God is Love?

Tigger: No 'permanent' self; but have you heard of 'Suchness'?

He'd once said: "He who sees the Dharma, sees me; he who sees me sees the Dharma".

An effective equation of Himself with (the quality of) Enlightenment.

Skepsis: Interesting take. :-)

V/S: Abhi~n~naa? Lokavidu? :-)

Asymmetric room: Can the one way, have different labels? ;-)

Thank You: Phil, IAR, Shakti. :-)

Jon C, SW, Xavier: Thanks again.

Catalyst, JB, AC, Yoda, Gnostic, Kiranraj: Learning all the time... :-)

Answer 1

Enlightenment is Buddhas nature. As God creates. God and Buddha are the same, enlightenment and creation are the same.

Answer 2

Gnostic teaching is as far as I can tell from what I’ve discovered of the Buddha the Buddhism of the West and based on Christianity. God is an idea, a concept. Millions have died for or because of this idea. The term God has come to mean a large Zeus like figure in most minds. We see it in unenlightened religions where they worship the “Divine King.” The God of Christ isn’t this “Divine King” we sometimes sound like it is but we in fact perceive the Dharma in a different way. I believe that when you merge into the oneness of reality the Dharma would be what Christ called the Father with one exception, the Father is easier accessed in Gnostic practice because the unity and oneness is experienced as love for love pulls all things together. Knowing that by learning unconditional love we can appreciate easier. Sadly the Gnostics were a threat to Western politics and almost everything about them destroyed. This occurred because humans weren’t ready yet. The Buddha established traditions that have endured and been refined through the centuries. Those who recover the Gnostic concepts are wise to learn as much as possible from our big brothers the Buddhist.
Is Buddha God?
No more than Jesus was.
They are alike but of different cultures.
To perceive the Dharma or the Father requires enlightenment. To see it all would be overwhelming from either perspective but I’m not sure they aren’t the same view with different words.
Jesus gave praise to the Father and Buddha gave respect to Dharma. Jesus never said he was God he said he was one with the Father but all praise goes to the Father.
Buddha never said he was God but he attained enlightenment.

Peace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh-1JVctSOY
♥Blessed Be♥
♥=∞

Answer 3

Agnostics claim that it is not possible to have absolute or certain knowledge of the existence or nonexistence of God or gods. Agnosticism involves some form of skepticism.
Some agnostics behave as atheists and non-religious people and some are theists who identify themselves first as agnostics and second as followers of a particular religion. Buddhists are agnostic people. Atheists believe in the laws of logic, while agnostics do not. The same, atheists have a fear of believing in God because believers see God as a One who makes the world logic; there is here some paradox. Some enlightened people (some Buddhists – Buddha = enlightenment) become 'God' and contribute to the world's amelioration; God does not.
Simple Buddhists believers chant their mantras facing towards Buddhas statues, which are supposed to serve as concentration purposes. Mantras are intended to deliver the mind from illusion and material inclinations.

"The phenomena of life can be compared to a dream, a ghost, an air bubble, a shadow, glittering dew, and the flash of lightning – and must be contemplated as such."
Buddha
c. 563-483 BCE, Indian Prince, Mystic, Founder of Buddhism

"Trying to find a Buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It’s not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can’t grab it. Beyond mind you’ll never see a Buddha. The Buddha is a product of the mind. Why look for a Buddha beyond this mind? Buddhas of the past and future only talk about this mind. The mind is the Buddha, and the Buddha is the mind. Beyond the mind there’s no Buddha and beyond the Buddha there’s no mind. If you think there is a Buddha beyond the mind’, where is he? There’s no Buddha beyond the mind, so why envision one? You can’t know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself. As long as you’re enthralled by a lifeless form, you’re not free. If you don’t believe me, deceiving yourself won’t help. It’s not the Buddha’s fault. People, though, are deluded. They’re unaware that their own mind is the Buddha. Otherwise they wouldn’t look for a Buddha outside the mind."

The Zen Teachings Of Bodhidharma Translated by Red Pine, 1987

Answer 4

We are too old to know the meaning of life. When we are children, we don't question the meaning behind anything, until we are about 4 and then begin to ask the most human of all questions: why? It is when we first begin to ask "Why?" that we inherit the human legacy, or the ability to question everything. (Which includes ourselves and the universe we live in.) We as older people do not acheive any true sort of enlightenment, for we always ask the question "Why?" Children are not I am not touting ignorance, but innocence. We notice that young children are brutally honest and very perceptive of many things, proving they are not ignorant. But they are neither completely aware of the meaning behind what they say, nor have they mastered their own languages yet. Notice that small children of about 3 are essentially much happier than older children of about 9 or 10. But one might say, the 3-year-old's brain is still developing, whereas the 9 or 10-year-old's is much more intelligent. And then this brings up the question "Why?" again. Why are they "smarter"? How do we know for sure? Are there obvious differences in their "knowledge levels"? Human enlightenment is impossible, as enlightenment is not based on knowing things~

Answer 5

Those who talk about "God" usually mean an omniscient being separate from the physical universe. For Buddhists and Hindus, enlightenment means coming to the self-realization of the fundamental, comprehensive consciousness that underlies all existence. One realizes one actually is "God", although they usually don't say it that way. It's less like attaining something than truly waking up and seeing correctly. One sees that there is only undifferentiated existence and that all discrete divisions are illusion. The Buddha did not develop supernatural powers, he merely shed a false understanding of reality. One can still live and act in the world, obeying its physical laws, yet one is aware that it is merely a simulation. And when the body "dies", only the simulation ends for the enlightened "individual". To call that "God" is to redefine the term.

Answer 6

Buddha did not answer questions pertaining to god!

But he did not deny the existence of god's

Buddha did not deny the existence of GOD’s…but their permanence was…The GOD’s were merely beings, involved in incessant change, who by GOOD merit had acquired their high rank of existence and who would loose it when their merit was exhausted! Buddha himself, according to the legends of his previous births several times became Sakka (Indra) and even Brahma!

A being can become a Buddha only if it completes the ten perfections (dasaparamita)

Enlightenment comes through meditation and hence becomes a buddha

for more info see the buddha & god article @

www.incrediblebuddha.com

Answer 7

Jon ....well said.
I also do not have any idea. But I have to field this one since it has been a fascination of mine. \\
The Buddha is a title given to one who is awakened or enlightened. Enlightened to the fact that we are 'one' with the source. It applies us ordinary humans.
God is the source of all...right? So to answer this I must say that they are not the same. As Jon said from here on it become weird. (because we are using words). Knowing that you are 'one' with this universe and being the universe has to be separate. The deity we named 'God' exists far from us, and way above us (omnipotent). We have since the dawn of civilization defined it as such. Buddha the enlightened one, who is a common mortal, says 'we are one wake up to this fact'. We manifest this 'oneness' or this 'source' in our present form. Yet we continue to suffer and writhe in our misery. Why? Because we fail to believe that we too can be 'awakened'. BUT YOU SEE we are just using CONCEPTS. As Jon correctly put it, we are lost in words. Let's just say that when we finally do awaken, none of this would matter, we will all laugh about how naive we were then. (hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years from now)
Sorry to be a bit convoluted, I am sure you will have a better answer than me.

Thank you for your question

Answer 8

No, although Jesus and Buddha had similar teachings, and both were at one point, on Earth, they're not the same. Jesus is the only leader/teacher that died as a sacrifice.

Although people say they both lead to the same god, or nirvana, it says in John 14:6 that Jesus is the ONLY WAY to heaven. That no other gods can get you to heaven, or God.

Answer 9

Not even close to being the same. God likely never existed but Buddha actually did. As a real live person. Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual leader who is widely thought to be the founder of Buddhism and is commonly referred to as Buddha.

Answer 10

The Buddha isn't an omnipotent creator type being. Bodhisattva is someone with an "awakened mind" whose primary motivation is compassion for all sentient beings... sounds a lot like the concept of "god" however omnipotence, and the claims made thereof, rule out the ability to compare both.

_()_