Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
User avatar
dragonwarrior
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:03 pm
Location: somewhere

Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by dragonwarrior »

Hi guys, I've just graduated from a Christian high school. In my school, there are 15% of Buddhist students. All of the students must learn the religion lesson for 3 years, which in the end, we had to do the final test. In that test, the teacher asked me: Do you fear of God?
That was a tricky question for me, because I don't believe in God. It's sad to say, but the teacher also mocked Buddhism, when I said Buddhism doesn't teach to fear of God. Am I wrong? So based on my answer, I might got a bad score. :cry: Sometimes I could hardly explain what is 'God' in Buddhism to my friends. And actually, I don't even know whether we have a God. What is the concept of God in Theravadin? So, please explain to me. :thanks:
User avatar
kc2dpt
Posts: 957
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:48 pm

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by kc2dpt »

Winny wrote:Hi guys, I've just graduated from a Christian high school. In my school, there are 15% of Buddhist students. All of the students must learn the religion lesson for 3 years, which in the end, we had to do the final test. In that test, the teacher asked me: Do you fear of God?
That was a tricky question for me, because I don't believe in God. It's sad to say, but the teacher also mocked Buddhism, when I said Buddhism doesn't teach to fear of God. Am I wrong? So based on my answer, I might got a bad score. :cry: Sometimes I could hardly explain what is 'God' in Buddhism to my friends. And actually, I don't even know whether we have a God. What is the concept of God in Theravadin? So, please explain to me. :thanks:
BUddhism teaches that in addition to the human realm and the animal realm there are also other realms. For example there are heaven realms and hell realms. The beings that live in the heaven realms are called devas and we might translate that as "angels" or "gods". These are beings that enjoy great pleasure, kind of like some Christians believe about their heaven. Also, some of these heaven beings are very powerful, kind of like Christian angels or like Greek gods. Buddhism differs from other religions in teaching that while heavenly beings may live for hundreds, thousands, or even millions of years, they are still mortal and will eventually die and be reborn.

There is a scripture in which the Buddha speaks of a deva who mistakenly believes he created the universe. It seems to me therefore that the Buddhist belief regarding the Christian God is that god is a deluded deva who will eventually die and be reborn.

It seems odd to me to ask on a test "Do you fear God?" If you don't then you don't. If the school accepts non-Christians then there can't be a right or wrong answer to such a question. If the question was "Does a Christian fear God?" then you could demonstrate that you learned what they taught you by answering "yes".
- Peter

Be heedful and you will accomplish your goal.
User avatar
karuna_murti
Posts: 30
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:19 am

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by karuna_murti »

There are gods, but they are also subject to death.
If you mean god as prima causa, the single cause of all being, then there is no such thing.
Theravadin have Brahma Baka though, which has wrong view that he is the single cause of other beings. Brahma Baka himself actually is not eternal, and at some point will die too.

Edit.
Ah, I just notice that you come from Indonesia. Don't confuse god with Udana VIII 3 which often told in Indonesia. Udana VIII 3 explain about Nibanna. In our country, the requirement for a religion is have a god. And at some point our elder make God = Nibanna so Buddhism can be accepted legally. Suffice to say that Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (One God) in Buddhism doesn't mean a personal god.
User avatar
Jechbi
Posts: 1268
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:38 am
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Jechbi »

Winny wrote:What is the concept of God in Theravadin?
Take a look at this:
Susan Elbaum Jootla wrote:The Buddha explains that when our world system disintegrates, as it regularly does after extremely long periods of time, the lower sixteen planes are all destroyed. Beings disappear from all planes below the seventeenth, the plane of the Abhassara gods. Whatever beings cannot be born on the seventeenth or a higher brahma plane then must take birth on the lower planes in other remote world systems.

Eventually the world starts to re-form. Then a solitary being passes away from the Abhassara plane and takes rebirth on the plane of Maha Brahma. A palace created by his kamma awaits him there: "There he dwells, mind-made, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory. And he continues thus for a long, long time." After ages pass, he becomes lonely and longs for other beings to join him. It just so happens that shortly after the brahma starts craving for company, other beings from the Abhassara plane, who have exhausted their lifespans there, pass away and are reborn in the palace of Brahma, in companionship with him.

Because these beings seemed to arise in accordance with the first brahma's wish, he becomes convinced that he is the almighty God: "I am the Great Brahma, the Vanquisher... the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Supreme Being." The other brahmas, seeing that he was already present when they took birth in his world, accept his claim and revere him as their creator.

Eventually this misconception of a Creator God spreads to the human plane. One of the other brahmas passes away and is reborn here. He develops concentration and learns to recollect his previous life with Maha Brahma, but none of his lives before that. Recollecting that existence he recalls that Maha Brahma was considered the "father of all that are and are to be... permanent, stable, eternal." As he is unable to remember further back, he believes this to be absolute truth and propounds a theistic doctrine of an omnipotent Creator God.
Rain soddens what is kept wrapped up,
But never soddens what is open;
Uncover, then, what is concealed,
Lest it be soddened by the rain.
User avatar
genkaku
Posts: 416
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 11:14 pm
Location: Northampton, Mass. U.S.A.
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by genkaku »

As far as I have been able to figure out, Buddhism does not teach that there is something or someone "else." If there is something or someone else, that is not Buddhism.

But this position is not just a matter of belief. Belief -- however useful it may be as a starting point -- implies by its nature that there is something or someone else. Because Buddhism does not teach that there is something else, it recommends various practices -- meditation among them -- that will allow the student to actualize beyond doubt what may be spoken with the lips or written on an Internet bulletin board page.

Just my two cents.

Best wishes.
User avatar
Ceisiwr
Posts: 22391
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:36 am
Location: Wales

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Hey


I was supposed to be taking a break from Dhammawheel but i had a quick glance today and seen this topic which relates to something i had just listened to which might be of interest


its a talk by Stephen Batchelor about Buddha, God and buddhanature

Really worth a listen

http://www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/169/?p=1&q=" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The talk itself is just called "god and buddhanature"

Metta
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
User avatar
cooran
Posts: 8503
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:32 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by cooran »

Jechbi wrote:
Winny wrote:What is the concept of God in Theravadin?
Take a look at this:
Susan Elbaum Jootla wrote:The Buddha explains that when our world system disintegrates, as it regularly does after extremely long periods of time, the lower sixteen planes are all destroyed. Beings disappear from all planes below the seventeenth, the plane of the Abhassara gods. Whatever beings cannot be born on the seventeenth or a higher brahma plane then must take birth on the lower planes in other remote world systems.

Eventually the world starts to re-form. Then a solitary being passes away from the Abhassara plane and takes rebirth on the plane of Maha Brahma. A palace created by his kamma awaits him there: "There he dwells, mind-made, feeding on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory. And he continues thus for a long, long time." After ages pass, he becomes lonely and longs for other beings to join him. It just so happens that shortly after the brahma starts craving for company, other beings from the Abhassara plane, who have exhausted their lifespans there, pass away and are reborn in the palace of Brahma, in companionship with him.

Because these beings seemed to arise in accordance with the first brahma's wish, he becomes convinced that he is the almighty God: "I am the Great Brahma, the Vanquisher... the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Supreme Being." The other brahmas, seeing that he was already present when they took birth in his world, accept his claim and revere him as their creator.

Eventually this misconception of a Creator God spreads to the human plane. One of the other brahmas passes away and is reborn here. He develops concentration and learns to recollect his previous life with Maha Brahma, but none of his lives before that. Recollecting that existence he recalls that Maha Brahma was considered the "father of all that are and are to be... permanent, stable, eternal." As he is unable to remember further back, he believes this to be absolute truth and propounds a theistic doctrine of an omnipotent Creator God.
Thanks Jechbi. :smile:

Yes, this is the Theravada understanding from the Buddha's teachings.

metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Ben »

Hi Winny

I hope you did well in your final exams. I think you answered well. However, I am a little disheartened by the actions of your teacher - it would amount to religious discrimination in Australia and punishable by law.
Over the last week I have been thinking about how some people feel that they can mock the Buddha and Buddhism but the same people don't have the courage to mock Mohammad or Islam. But I think that it is our equanimity that is our strength.
Take care

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
retrofuturist
Posts: 27848
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 9:52 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings Ben,
Ben wrote:Over the last week I have been thinking about how some people feel that they can mock the Buddha and Buddhism but the same people don't have the courage to mock Mohammad or Islam. But I think that it is our equanimity that is our strength.
I think it's the perception that we're less likely to launch a jihad against them. 8-)

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
User avatar
jcsuperstar
Posts: 1915
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 5:15 am
Location: alaska
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by jcsuperstar »

most non buddhists ive met seem to think we worship a fat happy guy... so :shrug:
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
User avatar
Kare
Posts: 767
Joined: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:58 am
Location: Norway
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Kare »

Winny wrote:Hi guys, I've just graduated from a Christian high school. In my school, there are 15% of Buddhist students. All of the students must learn the religion lesson for 3 years, which in the end, we had to do the final test. In that test, the teacher asked me: Do you fear of God?
That was a tricky question for me, because I don't believe in God. It's sad to say, but the teacher also mocked Buddhism, when I said Buddhism doesn't teach to fear of God. Am I wrong? So based on my answer, I might got a bad score. :cry: Sometimes I could hardly explain what is 'God' in Buddhism to my friends. And actually, I don't even know whether we have a God. What is the concept of God in Theravadin? So, please explain to me. :thanks:
You have already got several good answers here. If you want to go deeper into this question, I would like to recommend two excellent books:

The first is Helmuth von Glasenapp, "Buddhism - A Non-Theistic Religion", which mainly discusses how Buddhism relates to the Indian gods at the time of the Buddha and later.

The second book is Gunapala Dharmasiri, "A Buddhist Critique of the Christian Concept of God", which, as the title implies, discusses how Buddhism relates to Christian concepts of God.

Both books are a little old, and you probably won't find them in you nearest bookshop. But a library, or a search on the internet, should be able to get them for you.
Mettāya,
Kåre
Individual
Posts: 1970
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2009 2:19 am

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Individual »

Winny wrote:Hi guys, I've just graduated from a Christian high school. In my school, there are 15% of Buddhist students. All of the students must learn the religion lesson for 3 years, which in the end, we had to do the final test. In that test, the teacher asked me: Do you fear of God?
That was a tricky question for me, because I don't believe in God. It's sad to say, but the teacher also mocked Buddhism, when I said Buddhism doesn't teach to fear of God. Am I wrong? So based on my answer, I might got a bad score. :cry: Sometimes I could hardly explain what is 'God' in Buddhism to my friends. And actually, I don't even know whether we have a God. What is the concept of God in Theravadin? So, please explain to me. :thanks:
God is a figment of various imaginations, which can only bring comfort when coupled with wholesome states of mind.
The best things in life aren't things.

The Diamond Sutra
User avatar
DNS
Site Admin
Posts: 17187
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:15 am
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, Estados Unidos de América
Contact:

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by DNS »

retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Ben,
Ben wrote:Over the last week I have been thinking about how some people feel that they can mock the Buddha and Buddhism but the same people don't have the courage to mock Mohammad or Islam. But I think that it is our equanimity that is our strength.
I think it's the perception that we're less likely to launch a jihad against them. 8-)
Speaking of that, there is a pretty good talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi on tolerance and the cartoons of Muhammad and I posted/embedded it over here as a sample of how to embed a video:

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 519#p21519" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
User avatar
Ben
Posts: 18438
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2008 12:49 am
Location: kanamaluka

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by Ben »

TheDhamma wrote:
retrofuturist wrote:Greetings Ben,
Ben wrote:Over the last week I have been thinking about how some people feel that they can mock the Buddha and Buddhism but the same people don't have the courage to mock Mohammad or Islam. But I think that it is our equanimity that is our strength.
I think it's the perception that we're less likely to launch a jihad against them. 8-)
Speaking of that, there is a pretty good talk by Bhikkhu Bodhi on tolerance and the cartoons of Muhammad and I posted/embedded it over here as a sample of how to embed a video:

http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... 519#p21519" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks David
Rather than take this thread further off-topic, I'm going to start another thread on the topic of respect for the triple gem
Kind regards

Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725

Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global ReliefUNHCR

e: [email protected]..
User avatar
dragonwarrior
Posts: 89
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:03 pm
Location: somewhere

Re: Who is GOD in Buddhism?

Post by dragonwarrior »

:clap: :clap: :thumbsup:
Thanks a bunch for answering.. It seems so clear now.
Btw, non-Buddhists in Indonesia really got the wrong perceptions about Buddhism..
They think we are worshiping the Buddha Statue. Gosh :cookoo:
Some of them even think The Buddha is The God..
Anyway, I got 85 for the Christian lesson in the report card. haha pretty shocking coz I thought I might get worse..
Even though the teacher is a very fanatic person, but the new principal is a very tolerant person. :bow:

:namaste:
Post Reply