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Is Buddha God?

metis

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
Secret Chief said:
Haha, your memory is as bad as mine! - You contributed to my journal thread about him and another book of his: "The Monk and the Philosopher: A Father and Son Discuss the Meaning of Life"
- Secret Chief Buys A Book

:)

(I read Happiness a long time ago. Heaven knows I'm miserable now)
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I actually was wondering about that, but hey, at 77 tomorrow cut me some slack, will ya!!! :p
 
savagewind

savagewind

Veteran Member
Premium Member
paarsurrey said:
Wasn't Buddha an enlightened human being like Jesus, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna etc., I understand, please? Right?

Regards
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Yes, like them. I think they they all might have had permission to do what they did by God, The Spirit!
 
metis

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
IndigoChild5559 said:
Who are they praying to?
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Depending on one's "raft" and personal orientation, they're not praying in the conventional sense of the word but are using contemplative meditation a great deal. What on varies, but the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are often involved. However, Buddhism goes well beyond just these.

Buddhism is VERY compatible with science as it heavily posits objectivity and discernment, plus it very much allows for dissent. You may have heard "If you see the Buddha, kill him". The point is that Old Sid started a process that Buddhists should continue on with even if it means going against what he taught.

If you're interested, here: BuddhaNet's Buddhist Studies: E-Learning Buddhism
 
paarsurrey

paarsurrey

Veteran Member
paarsurrey said: ↑
Spirit was never a G-d, I understand. Right?
savagewind said:
I do not know. The Spirit of Creation is God...in my opinion.
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Methinks , Watchtower magazine and or Pauline-Christianity having anonymous writers of Gospels are wrong, please. Agree?
The truthful G-d is not even a spirit , G-d is the Creator of spirits and no-spirits, meaning the Universe/s and everything int it, one must know, I understand. Understand?

Regards
 
Secret Chief

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
metis said:
Depending on one's "raft" and personal orientation, they're not praying in the conventional sense of the word but are using contemplative meditation a great deal. What on varies, but the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are often involved. However, Buddhism goes well beyond just these.

Buddhism is VERY compatible with science as it heavily posits objectivity and discernment, plus it very much allows for dissent. You may have heard "If you see the Buddha, kill him". The point is that Old Sid started a process that Buddhists should continue on with even if it means going against what he taught.

If you're interested, here: BuddhaNet's Buddhist Studies: E-Learning Buddhism
Click to expand...
I'm going to outsource my posting to you, so I can get on with my life. :D
 
IndigoChild5559

IndigoChild5559

Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
metis said:
Depending on one's "raft" and personal orientation, they're not praying in the conventional sense of the word but are using contemplative meditation a great deal. What on varies, but the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are often involved. However, Buddhism goes well beyond just these.

Buddhism is VERY compatible with science as it heavily posits objectivity and discernment, plus it very much allows for dissent. You may have heard "If you see the Buddha, kill him". The point is that Old Sid started a process that Buddhists should continue on with even if it means going against what he taught.

If you're interested, here: BuddhaNet's Buddhist Studies: E-Learning Buddhism
Click to expand...
I'm just trying to keep things simple. I googled "Do buddhists pray to buddha" and also "do buddhists pray." The results I got said that yes indeed buddhists pray. I couldn't find anything that stated who they are praying to. Hence, my question.
 
firedragon

firedragon

Veteran Member
paarsurrey said:
Wasn't Buddha an enlightened human being like Jesus, Moses, Zoroaster, Krishna etc., I understand, please? Right?

Regards
Click to expand...

Conceptually, not at all. Hypothetically, maybe yess.

Jesus, Moses, Zoroaster, have never been known to have had a 100,000 lives. But the buddha was. Big difference. Krishna is for some Hindus, God supreme. Buddha was never considered God supreme in any of their scripture or concepts.

The differences are immense.
 
firedragon

firedragon

Veteran Member
IndigoChild5559 said:
I'm just trying to keep things simple. I googled "Do buddhists pray to buddha" and also "do buddhists pray." The results I got said that yes indeed buddhists pray. I couldn't find anything that stated who they are praying to. Hence, my question.
Click to expand...

Conceptually Buddhists are not "supposed to pray" because no one is listening to you. There is no big God character listening to your prayer to respond. But that's conceptually.

But a lot of Buddhists do pray. Some even pray to the Buddha and ask for protection. As an example, when they fear they are in danger or scared of a ghost or a lonely place, they will recite a gatha without knowing what it means in their minds praying for the Buddha to come to their aid.

Some Buddhists even pray to a lot of Hindu Gods like Lakshmi, Vinayagar, etc. Its not a Buddhist teaching, but people make prayers to them for prosperity etc.

This should not be mixed up with their chanting. They will chant namo dhassa, bhagavatho, arahatho, samma sambuddhassa. Buddhang saranang gachchaami. Sangang saranang gachchami. Dhammang saranang gachchami. Then the second time, and the third time, saying "Dhethiyang and Thuthiyang pidhammang".

This does not indicate a worship like worshiping a God. This is more like Obeisance. Proskinosis.

But that's chanting. When praying or supplicating, Buddhists do ask for things from the Buddha and even other Gods directly. I believe in fundamental Buddhism this is not in the core teaching. Yet, people do it. Undeniable.
 
paarsurrey

paarsurrey

Veteran Member
firedragon said:
Conceptually Buddhists are not "supposed to pray" because no one is listening to you. There is no big God character listening to your prayer to respond. But that's conceptually.

But a lot of Buddhists do pray. Some even pray to the Buddha and ask for protection. As an example, when they fear they are in danger or scared of a ghost or a lonely place, they will recite a gatha without knowing what it means in their minds praying for the Buddha to come to their aid.

Some Buddhists even pray to a lot of Hindu Gods like Lakshmi, Vinayagar, etc. Its not a Buddhist teaching, but people make prayers to them for prosperity etc.

This should not be mixed up with their chanting. They will chant namo dhassa, bhagavatho, arahatho, samma sambuddhassa. Buddhang saranang gachchaami. Sangang saranang gachchami. Dhammang saranang gachchami. Then the second time, and the third time, saying "Dhethiyang and Thuthiyang pidhammang".

This does not indicate a worship like worshiping a God. This is more like Obeisance. Proskinosis.

But that's chanting. When praying or supplicating, Buddhists do ask for things from the Buddha and even other Gods directly. I believe in fundamental Buddhism this is not in the core teaching. Yet, people do it. Undeniable.
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But one things is definitely sure, methinks, Buddha was not a Skeptic or a "none" meaning that he did not belong to (Western) Atheism/Agnosticism/"Humanism" in western sense, I understand:

In fact Buddha spoke against Skepticism/Agnosticism in very clear terms:
  1. Chapter 46:
    Avoiding the Ten Evils ”Free your mind of ignorance and be anxious to
    learn the truth, especially in the one thing that is needful,
    lest you fall a prey either , to skepticism or to errors.
    Scepticism will make you indifferent and errors will lead
    you astray, so that you shall not find the noble path that
    leads to life eternal.” Verse -13
The Gospel of Buddha
  1. Courtesy our friend Tathagata (#79)
“The Buddha was NOT an Agnostic. It is scripturally false to say he was an Agnostic. He was in fact vehemently opposed to Agnosticism and he called them “evasive eel-wrigglers.” See the Brahmajala Sutta and the Samannaphala Sutta.

Paarsurrey comments :Buddha terms Skepticism/agnosticism/atheism as gone to ignorance or have lost the truthful path; never to find the noble path leading to life eternal.

“The idea is that the person isn’t considering the arguments presented (see Kalama Sutta), but stubbornly adhering to irrational agnosticism out of feelings of fear or hatred.”

Brahmajāla Sutta - Wikipedia

Did I understand Buddha correctly, please? Right?
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Understand?
I must say that one of the 4 horsemen of "nones", namely Christopher Hitchens failed to understand Buddha correctly when he named a chapter on Buddhism, if somebody here has read his book "God is not Great".
Buddha was not a G-d, but he did not deny G-d and a believer of G-d, I envision. Right?

Regards
 
firedragon

firedragon

Veteran Member
paarsurrey said:
But one things is definitely sure, methinks, Buddha was not a Skeptic or a "none" meaning that he did not belong to (Western) Atheism/Agnosticism/"Humanism" in western sense, I understand:

In fact Buddha spoke against Skepticism/Agnosticism in very clear terms:
  1. Chapter 46:
    Avoiding the Ten Evils ”Free your mind of ignorance and be anxious to
    learn the truth, especially in the one thing that is needful,
    lest you fall a prey either , to skepticism or to errors.
    Scepticism will make you indifferent and errors will lead
    you astray, so that you shall not find the noble path that
    leads to life eternal.” Verse -13
The Gospel of Buddha
  1. Courtesy our friend Tathagata (#79)
“The Buddha was NOT an Agnostic. It is scripturally false to say he was an Agnostic. He was in fact vehemently opposed to Agnosticism and he called them “evasive eel-wrigglers.” See the Brahmajala Sutta and the Samannaphala Sutta.

Paarsurrey comments :Buddha terms Skepticism/agnosticism/atheism as gone to ignorance or have lost the truthful path; never to find the noble path leading to life eternal.

“The idea is that the person isn’t considering the arguments presented (see Kalama Sutta), but stubbornly adhering to irrational agnosticism out of feelings of fear or hatred.”

Brahmajāla Sutta - Wikipedia

Did I understand Buddha correctly, please? Right?
Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Understand?
I must say that one of the 4 horsemen of "nones", namely Christopher Hitchens failed to understand Buddha correctly when he named a chapter on Buddhism, if somebody here has read his book "God is not Great".
Buddha was not a G-d, but he did not deny G-d and a believer of G-d, I envision. Right?

Regards
Click to expand...

The Gospel of Buddha is not authentic, it is written by someone in the 19th century.

And Brahmajaala Sutta is not the Tipitaka.

Tell me why you quote them and why you think these are the authentic Buddhist scripture.

Thanks.
 
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