Question for Buddhists? Do you believe in a God?

Question

Do you believe in God ? I have been chatting with a buddhist monk who often talks about God and Gods love. I am very confused; he is Tibetan Buddhist. I thought that Buddhists dont believe in God/Gods

Thanks !!

Answer 1

The whole "beliefs" approach to spiritual life is more a Western path and style. It's not really the same emphasis or focus for a tradition like Buddhism. There are different forms of Buddhism, but by and large the focus is on PRACTICES (like meditation) and EXPERIENCES (mindfulness, insight, compassion, enlightened realization, Nirvana).

Buddhists generally are not "against" God, it's just that the requirement to profess a belief in a deity isn't the emphasis. Also, for very many Buddhists, part of their path to enlightened spiritual experience is to question all beliefs and concepts, in order to know and experience directly for themselves what is most true and real.

The contemporary Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, once said, "If you want to call Nirvana, God, I think that is fine." That gives some flavor of the Buddhist approach -- where, again, the central interest is in a direct experience (Nirvana is an experience, not something to just believe).

And that experience is beyond words. So if one appreciates that to experience "God" is to experience something truly beyond words, the goal and value would be to concentrate on reaching that experience, rather than focusing just on the word.
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Answer 2

Well this is a question that's a bit hard to tackle.

The Buddhist religion/philosophy is not God-Centric. The practical concerns of trying to live a better life by disapating suffering and avoiding the Cycle are much more pressing concerns.

With that said, some Buddhists sects do believe in the actually existence of gods as higher beings - but also caught within the Burning House/The Cycle of Reincarnation. Others view them as mental constructs - metaphorical aids to help one toward Enlightenment. Even then, there are those who essentially hold an Apathist stance -

"There may be Gods, there may not....What does that have to do with me?"

In recent years, a sort of "Protestant Buddhism" to use a term i've heard swinging around Academia has popped up in America - Buddhism stripped of its accumulated "indigenious taint" if you will - that offers not only an atheistic conception but wholeheartedly denies the Metaphysical aspects that the Buddha himself believed in such as Dharma and Reincarnation.

Its that form of "do it yourself Buddhism" and Tibetan Buddhism that most Americans seem to be aware of.

Answer 3

I used to be a Christian and believed in the God of Christianity. I no longer do. As some have correctly pointed out here, some sects of Buddhism *do* have beliefs in dieities and afterlifes, including Pure Land and Tibetan Buddhism. But most Buddhists I know -- and I'd venture to say *most* Buddhists in the modern Western world -- don't have a belief in a personal god, though it's certainly not prohibited.

And here's why. Buddhism is not atheistic; it's *non-theistic.* That means you don't necessarily have to reject belief in gods to become a Buddhist. Instead, it means that belief in gods is simply irrelevant to Buddhist teachings.

This is a big part of the reason why people from other religions can practice Buddhism or even become Buddhists -- Buddhism focuses on the here and now, on ending your suffering and becoming enlightened. It doesn't waste time speculating on what may or may not happen after this life.

Whenever he was asked questions about the afterlife, the Buddha simply remained silent. Coming from the Hindu tradition, the Buddha proably believed in the Hindu gods, and we do know that he accepted the idea of reincarnation. But he emphasized that focusing on these things were only distractions on the path to enlightenment. Whatever was out there, or whatever happened after this life, would take care of itself.

Reminds me of one my favorite religious stories -- a quick exchange between a Zen master and his student.

Student: "Master, what happens to us when we die?"
Master: "How should I know?"
Student: "But ... you are an enlightened master!"
Master: "Yes. But I am not a dead one."

:-)

Answer 4

I see being a Buddhist as being a person who thinks for himself. There are many individual beliefs.

If a person calls himself Buddhist, and believes what a "Buddhist" believes, I don't consider him a true Buddhist (because he is following dogma).

Buddhism itself is often a form of dogma for some people. It can be a distraction to ordinary practice. It was for me.

PS-I used to do zazen with a group of people, at a temple. One of the people was a Catholic priest. A real decent guy too.

Answer 5

Buddha said that whether God exists or not is not a question that was important to the truth and practice of Buddhism. There is diversity of belief in Buddhism but no requirement to believe in a deity. In many places Buddhism was absorbed and melded with existing local folk religions. Thus, some Buddhist have a belief in plural deities or several that are different symbolic aspects of one. There are also many Buddhists who are agnostic or atheist.

Answer 6

It depends on the Buddhist and on the sect of Buddhism. Don't forget that Buddhism has strong links to its Hindu origins and as such, some sects may still hold theistic ideals.

One of the biggest concepts in Buddhism is that you should accept nothing on the word of another, but accept that which works for you. For some Buddhists, theism makes sense, for others, theism seems bogus.

Answer 7

Buddhists have been called Non-Theists, in their attitude to Gods.

Answer 8

Buddhist don't believe God as a creator. But buddhis believe there are gods (= devas or angels) who live in heaven. Some tradition believe there are a king of deva who live in heavenly kingdom and rules heaven, earth, and hell.

Thanks !!

Answer 9

No, buddhists don't believe in god or gods.

Answer 10

Buddhists believe in Buddha as their god.