Buddhism FAQ0 >> 15.Atheism
Buddhism FAQ[]
(Frequently Asked Questions About Buddhism)
15. Is Buddhism totally Atheism; Is it against God?[]
What Others Call As God, It is Called Impersonal Eternal Nirvanic State in Buddhism
Ans : Buddhism is a journey, it is a path of experience, it is a path of becoming one with the whole which includes the transcendental .
The question is like this : A person climbs a mountain peak & reaches top & if he is asked 'Do you believe in the mountain peak?'
Buddha , in the original Pali language is called as 'Bhagava' or 'Bhagavanta' which means God, this is because, after reaching the final Nibbana state, one becomes one with the transcendental ocean of light(& life) which people of other religions call as God.
Buddha in his lectures has definitely called 'Itipo so Bhagava' meaning 'Thats why I am Bhagava/God'
Why? Because the path of Buddha is like this : Every creature is like water in a bottle, if somehow the bottle is opened and its water is poured into ocean, the water loses its identity , now it becomes ocean. Buddhism is the path of doing this, within you. This is as in the state of Nirvana, the total unbinding of taints/defilements from actions , thoughts, emotions & intentions i.e. likings & dislikings of the sensual world's passions lusts, anger, greeds, attachments, pride, jealousy, hate etc. and then discovering a new hidden state of extremely blissful non-transience (also called Akal, Nitya, Moksha, Nirvana).
Another example is that bottle of water going through cycles of evaporation then condensing as rain/snow as rebirths
mentioned in Buddhism and then one day, realizing that it already contains a vast amount of energy E=mc2 and when converting to energy it wont need any more recycles (rebirths) as usual.
Arguments Countering That Buddhism is Atheism :
Maha-samaya Sutta - Assembly of gods/angels to greet Lord Buddha.
Sakkapanha Sutta - Questions asked by Sakra/Indra the King of the gods/angels in a heaven.
Dhammapada181 - Buddha goes to heaven for many months where he is well revered by heavenly beings. There he teaches Dhamma to devas(gods/angels) and brahmas(mahadevas/archangels) who also achieve the samadhi state(trance) , one of them is his own late mother who is now reborn there as devi Santusita.
SN1-version2 - Buddha is visited by various gods/angels for seeking his divine knowledge. Samyutta 1,2 : Devas. Samyutta 4 : Mara the Deathlord (also known as Kamdeva). Samyutta 6 : Brahmas. Samyutta 10 : Yakkas(Yakshas/spirits). Sayutta 11: Sakka(Shakra/Indra)
Vendu Sutta(Vishnu) - Vishnu and Buddha Talk
Siva Sutta(Shiva) - Shiva and Buddha Talk
Atanatiya_Sutta - Here Buddha has taught monks how to seek help of gods(devas/angels) when in in fear of ghosts & demons
Anuruddha_Sutta - Here Ven. Anuruddha tells how one can be reborn as god/angel.
Vimanavatthu - This an entire book about how various people became gods/angels & by what virtue.
Buddhism_FAQ4_Heaven - About heaven in Buddhism.
Buddhism_FAQ9_Hell - Hell
Buddhism_FAQ10_Ghosts - Ghosts
Buddhism_FAQ12_Rebirth - Rebirth
Buddhism_FAQ13_Sexual_Pleasure - Abstinence from Material Pleasure/ celibacy.
Buddhism_FAQ19_Buddha_Speaks - Karma/ Deeds & Their Consequences.
Buddhism_FAQ2_Trance_States - Divine / Spiritual States.
Buddhism_FAQ3_Magical_powers - Spiritual / Magical Powers.
So we see that ghosts, gods/angels, arch-angels/Brahma , virtue, morality, rebirth, celibacy, karma/deeds, divine states & spiritual/ magical powers are mentioned in Buddhism so calling it atheism is wrong.
Then What is Buddhism?
See:
Buddhism_FAQ6_Meditation - Path of Meditation as Stilling of Thoughts & Observing Internal Phenomenon in order to remove taints of worldly passions & hatred. Then rapture and attaining experience of Trance states
Buddhism_FAQ11_Science - By Rejecting traditional Belief Systems, Buddhism Follows Scientific Method of Self Analysis (of self, by self, for finding divine super-self).
As mentioned in the beginning, Buddhism is the path of achieving i.e. experiencing becoming one with the super entity which people call as God , yet it is not a path of fanatic blind belief. Rather it is an investigative religion. Following the path of meditation & morality as taught by Buddha, one can achieve & experience the divine but the divine is always found within self as a ray of light emanating from the infinite Sun of infinite divine energy, the super-self. Finding this, a person is overwhelmed and sees himself/herself as just another part as other people & creatures are. That fills one with great compassion who will now consider the universe as the one great family.
Any person Who Achieves Even the Initial Level of Samadhi(Trance)
Will be Able to See Holy gods/angels
Comparative table[]
Table :
God & Buddhism Comparism
| Religion | Supreme Being/State |
|---|---|
| Buddhism | Nirvanic State;the super state of self |
| Hinduism | Moksha/Ishwara/Aum;the super state of self |
| Jainism | Moksha;the super state of self |
| Christianity | God;Holy Spirit;;Jehovah;Yahweh |
| Judaism | Elohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh, Jehovah and Adonai |
| Islam | Allah |
| Sikhism | Rab,Akal Purakh, Ik Omkar, Satnam, Waheguru, Kirpal |
| Yazidism | Xwedê |
| Zoroastrianism | Ahura Mazda |
| Zulu | Unkulunkulu |
| Yoruba | Olorun/Olodumare |
| Odinani | Chukwu |
| !Kung | Khu, Xu, Xuba, or Huwa |