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Did Buddha Believe In God?

by munty13 | September 3, 2008 at 06:36 am

2352 views | 9 Recommendations | 14 comments

Did Buddha believe in God - the very same one in-fact which Christians, Muslims, and Judaists pray to for forgiveness (or plead with when the car won't start)? This question is not as outrageous as it at first appears, and especially not after the true nature of God is revealed. Unfortunately for religion, it cannot show us the true nature of God, and unfortunately for us, this is something which we have to discover for ourselves. Buddha understood that a belief system hinders the path of self discovery, so he designed a philosophy which was not encumbered by one. The funny thing is, once we have learnt to let go of all our beliefs we eventually end up confirming the existence of God and its true nature, but now it is neither tied up nor weighed down by the ideals which we once imposed upon it.

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bill hicks

at 06:45 on September 3rd, 2008

If you really get into it, the majority of Chinese until 200 BC believed in the God of Noah. Until 1800 most europeans knew their ancestory lineage back to Noah's sons. The norsemen made their leading men gods when they died and they went all the way back to Noah's son. I am sure Christian missionaries did not tell the norsemen that.

Uwe Paschen

at 06:58 on September 3rd, 2008

bill hicks, you are mistaken here. The Story of Noah is from ancient Persia and was integrated into the Bible or before that into the To. The North Never ever believed in Noah, their God Where Odin, Wotan, Luky, Frieda, and so on. And those that where brave went to Walhala not to Noah nor Noah's Son. The Christian Missionaries where murderer and forced people to convert or be killed.

bill hicks

at 13:06 on September 3rd, 2008

But the about 11 generations prior to Odin (Woden) is Seskef and Seskef was Noah's son Seth. Seskef is also known as Sceaf, Scef, Seskef depending on the document source and translation to English.

Sorry Charlie.

Paul Conneally

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:39 on September 3rd, 2008

blackberry stains

my son brings home a handful

of green acorns

Emilio Lizardo

at 13:16 on September 3rd, 2008

'Buddha has shown us that everything in the Universe is a mind created illusion, but fails to disclose that the only thing which is real is consciousness'

It all depends on which school of Buddhism you are referring to, I am afraid ...

For instance, for the Prasangika Madhyamica, or the 'logical consequentialists,' of the Tibetan Mahayana, even conciousness itself is illusory, in an ultimate sense - for, according to them, once one has trained one's perception to move beyond the world of mere dualistic subject-object appearance, then quite literally there is no longer anything which remains to be percieved ... object has merged with observer ... hence, no object to be percieved ...

In Patanjali's system as well, the highest state of union, or Asamprajnata Samadhi, is a state which is beyond conciousness ...

This is why the consequetialists, for instance, characterize the ultimate reality not in terms of conciousness or awareness of any type, but by merely assigning it the attributes of 'bliss and void' ...

It's weird, I know ...

munty13

at 15:13 on September 3rd, 2008

Hi Emilio. Thanks for the informative reply. The implications of Buddha being a theist are no doubt massive, especially when you compare Buddhism to something like the Christian religion for example. If Buddha and Christ both believe in the same God, how do you go about telling them apart from one another? They are the same dude in different clothes.

mikedunn (not verified)

at 13:36 on September 3rd, 2008

It's the Big 'E' as in einsteins E=MCsquared. iMike

Emilio Lizardo

at 13:54 on September 3rd, 2008

Actually, I only weigh 97 lbs, soaking wet, but I'll still meet you anyplace, anywhere, mikey !!!

And twice on Sunday, too !!

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:40 on September 3rd, 2008

munty13, I like this story. It's not religion, it's not politics, it's the personal effort a person makes to increase the vibrations of this planet in love. Everbody welcome, believe systems are secondary, it's daily action for the good. Buddhist teachings are good to learn self centered balance, however "cause and effect" is not the western hunters mindset.

Rupa Abdi (not verified)

at 22:51 on September 8th, 2008

This world they say is an illusion….a dream. Our thoughts and actions are like threads of a net that we weave around ourselves. A veil has been drawn over our mind’s eye and we live out our lives bound and blind folded. Life, they say, is a play of shadows through which most of us sleep walk.Few have awakened from this sleep and have tried to show light to the rest of humanity. They succeeded only partly, passing away, leaving behind empty forms to be distorted and misused by their followers.Holy books, sacred messages, rites and rituals, they say, are mere shells. The spirit within, having long departed, along with the Messenger. These shells and forms are mere signposts for those who seek the formless…..and only the true seeker, they say, will find the Path.