Hindu Lord Vishnu (the Preserver), Narayana, Hari, the Supreme god of Vaishnavism. [This is a beautiful avatar so much so that the Buddha, the Christ, and the dark Lord Krishna (whose name means "black" Kānha, Sanskrit कान्हा, "The dark-complexioned beloved one" 108 Names of Shri Krishna) are said to be avatars and incarnations or emanations of this god. Of course, in the case of the historical Buddha, this can't be quite right. It is a beautiful sentiment, indeed, but the Buddha is not reborn here or elsewhere, is not a "god," and rises beyond the gods.
As for a historical Jesus, maybe, but surely most Christians (or perhaps they should more rightly be labelled Jesuits or Jesevites) would not like to think that their all-powerful, supreme controller, creator of the entire universe were an avatar of a neighboring faith, in spite of the fact that Jesus practiced Hinduism to some extent or was exposed to it in his 18 years of travel in Tibet and India (Nicolas Notovitch). However, the title avatar may well apply to Lord Krishna, the central object of veneration and faith in popular Hinduism today, sometimes rivaling Lord Shiva and the great Goddesses Lakshmi, Sarawati, Parvati, Kali, Ma Durga, and his consort Radha.]
Ishtadeva or Ishtadevata (Sanskrit इष्ट देव(ता), iṣṭa-deva(tā), literally the "cherished divinity" from iṣṭa, "personal, liked, preferred, cherished" and devatā, "deity, divinity, godhead, tutelary deity" or deva, "deity"), is a term used in Hinduism denoting a worshipper's favorite deity [1, 2] or favorite form of the deity if approached from a monotheistic or henotheistic point of view. More
[They sure have been treated as such by sexist and patriarchal monks trying to enhance and preserve their worldly power as abuse-prone clergyman. But these additional rules are NOT historical, as revealed by the scholarship of Ayya Tathālokā Bhikkhunī of California looking into the Theravada BhikkhuniVinaya, were not laid down or approved by the Buddha, and have been shown to be later additions. For instance, on one occasion, the Buddha's mother, the first Buddhist nun in history, comes to the Buddha seeking clarification on some matter or other, which would never have happened IF such additional rules had been laid down by him. The fact that she asks what she does, as documented in a vinaya backstory preserved among the ancient Buddhist texts, proves the Buddha didn't do it. And the fact that monks at later Buddhist councils added such sexist and oppressive stipulations is tantamount to crimes against humanity and the Sangha, maybe even a "defeat" (parajika) offense of a schism between monk and nun communities. Wisdom Quarterly stands firmly on the side of nuns, Natasha, and all future female-embodied persons (because we can all be reborn any gender whether we like it or not) seeking enlightenment and liberation. We have covered this topic many times in the past.]
If Buddhism has no God, who are Buddhists praying to?
(Buddha's Wisdom) 🔍 IF THERE'S NO BUDDHIST GOD, WHO GETS ALL THESE PRAYERS?
The Buddha with gods Sakka and Brahma
Buddhism famously teaches that there is no "creator God." Yet, Buddhist temples across Asia overflow with [what sounds like] prayers, chants, offerings, and devotion.
From bodhisattvas and buddhas to spirits, protectors, and ancestors, this video explores whom Buddhists are actually praying to—if anyone—and why [petitionary] prayer never disappeared from Buddhism.
Discover how Buddhist "prayer" works in the absence of a supreme deity and why this "godless" religion created one of the most elaborate spiritual support systems ever conceived.
[NOTE: Theists are sure there's a God; atheists are sure there is not; agnostics say they do not know and remain on the fence. But nontheists are different. They say, "Whether there is a God or is not a God, we must still concern ourselves with our own enlightenment and liberation/salvation." No one else, not even "God," can do it for us. We must develop calm and insight, study and practice, to awaken from this illusory samsara or Wheel of Suffering and Rebirth.]
DISCOVER:
Why Buddhism rejected [an all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent] creator God but preserved devotion
Why [Mahayana] Buddhism has multiple buddhas instead of one God...and what each one specializes in
The bodhisattvas who postponed enlightenment just to help all living beings (and millions pray to them daily)
The terrifying wrathful protectors (guardian deities) who guard Buddhism with fangs and flames
How Buddhism absorbed local spirits, gods, and ancestors without losing its core philosophy
Why the three Buddhist schools (Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna) solve this paradox differently
How this ancient system still explains modern meditation, ritual, and faith
📿 If this changed understanding of Buddhist devotion, subscribe to Buddha's Wisdom for more deep explorations into Buddhism's most fascinating mysteries and apparent contradictions.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 If Buddhism has no God
01:31 The core confusion: No God yet prayer everywhere
06:50 Chapter 1: The Buddha specialists (Shakyamuni, Amitābha, Medicine Buddha, Guanyin)
14:55 Chapter 2: The Bodhisattva Help Desk—compassion incarnate
21:53 Chapter 3: Protectors, Gods, and spiritual security
27:40 Chapter 4: Where Buddhism meets local spirits and ancestors
34:48 Chapter 5: Human bridges—the power of dead masters
41:48 Chapter 6: Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna Buddhism — three different solutions
50:12 Chapter 7: How all the layers work together
54:45 Chapter 8: Why this still matters today
56:17 What 'prayer' really cultivates
📚 SOURCES AND FURTHER READING:
Primary Buddhist texts:
The Pāli canon (Tipiṭaka) - the Buddha's final words on self-reliance
Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra) - foundation of bodhisattva devotion
Pure Land Sutras (Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtras) - Amitābha Buddha and rebirth in [his western] Pure Land
Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bardo Thödol) - death and intermediate states between lifetimes
Platform Sutra - Zen Buddhism's approach to "sudden enlightenment"
Scholarly resources:
Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor
The Bodhisattva Ideal in Buddhism by Sangharakshita
Mahayana Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations by Paul Williams
Tantric Buddhism in East Asia by Richard Payne
The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism by Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Donald S. Lopez Jr.
Popular Buddhism in Sri Lanka by Michael Ames (folk religion integration)
The Cult of the Book of the Dead in Tibet by Bryan J. Cuevas
Academic articles:
"The Concept of the Bodhisattva in Early Buddhism" - Buddhist Studies Review
"Wrathful Deities in Vajrayana Buddhism" - Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies
"Pure Land Buddhism in China" - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies
Historical context:
The Buddhist Conquest of China by Erik Zürcher (syncretism examples)
Buddhism and Society in Thailand by Tambiah (spirit house integration)
Buddhists will perform the Om Mani Padme chant in the Talent Show unless the Dalai Lama does
WHAT HAPPENED?
More similarities than differences
People gathered in silence from all over Los Angeles, guitars in hand. At 10:00 there was group singing of traditional hymn from the hymnal book with old Quaker and Shaker songs, accompanied by piano and violin. Meanwhile, everyone was setting up the vegan potluck. "Service" convened, which means a silent meditation punctuated by anyone who wants to stand up and say something, moved by "spirit," as it occurs to them. An hour later, there are announcements, joys and sorrows, children coming in to talk about what they've been doing outside or in the schoolroom. Then the socializing started with a storm and a self-serve line of many delicious treats. An hour later, the Talent Show began at the mic: stand up comedy, singing, poetry, guitar, drums, Irish fiddlers, a ballet recital, kids doing the "peace train" accompanied by Cat Stevens' hit song, lots of laughs, fun, and creativity.
Silence, singing, eating, and being peace
The Orange Grove Friends Meeting (OGMM, ogmm.org, Orange Grove Monthly Meeting) is having a spectacular (and very liberal) Quaker Christmas Celebration for all its Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, (Anti-Zionist) Jewish, Muslim, Pantheist, Secular, and Sufi attendees. It's a vegan/vegetarian potluck with caroling (singing beautiful traditional seasonal songs from the hymn book), feasting, friendship, socializing, and a big TALENT SHOW. Sign up with Kindred. It's all FREE.
Quakers and Buddhists have [more than] a few things in common. Most importantly, they share a common humanity and a commitment to creating peace in the world.
Pasadena + Santa Monica are unprogrammed meetings in peaceful silence
They are both enlightenment religions. Both [Founder] George Fox and the Buddha experienced a transformative, liberating awareness through the dedicated practice of quiet contemplation.
My life is an intersection of these religions. I was born a Quaker [referred to as a "Friend"], to Quaker parents with Quaker grandparents and great-grandparents. I attended Friends schools through college. I sat in many meetings for [silent] worship [waiting on the spirit to move me and fellow parishioners]. I have always been proud to be a Quaker.
I found Buddhism later in life, when I was 27 years old. I was looking for a tonic for depression. I found Buddhist philosophy and writing soothing to my condition. I liked that Buddhism talked about meditation as a remedy to suffering.
Even though I had been meditating [listening, sitting in receptive silence, being move by the presence of a Godly Great Spirit] all of my life in Quaker meetings, I had always struggled with how to do it.
As a child, meeting for worship [which for unprogrammed Quakers means no priest, preacher, pastor, or person in charge, just Friends sitting in silence punctuated by anyone who wants to stand up and speak as they are moved to do] was somewhere between difficult and excruciatingly painful.
Quakers get monkey mind?
[Monkey Mind:] To amuse myself, I would count things. I would count people with glasses. I would count ceiling tiles. I would count the seconds on my watch. I would welcome any spoken message that would break up the monotony of the silence. I would welcome the break of meeting so I could talk and run around again.
When I learned to meditate in the Buddhist style, I learned to keep my awareness focused by counting my breaths. I learned to hold my body still while I focused my mind [heart]. I found a specific place to put my hands.
In meditation, I was relieved of the burden of being moved by the Spirit to speak and say something spiritually profound.
Learning Buddhist meditation techniques taught me how to sit in Quaker meeting. Through all those years of Quaker upbringing and Quaker education, I had somehow missed that fundamental teaching.
In my Zen Buddhist practice, I sat many hours of meditation. I did sitting meditation, walking meditation, chanting meditation, bowing meditation, eating meditation [mindfulness], tea-drinking meditation, and listening meditation. I went on a retreat to the Detroit Zen Center and did cooking meditation, cleaning meditation, weeding meditation, and hours and hours of sitting meditation.
All that meditation was not necessarily peaceful or easy as I did it. What I found is that the rest of my days became more peaceful and easier to manage. The meditation worked. It created peace. More: The Zen of Quakerism
Peter Taylor explains his motivation for practicing Zen and Quakerism
(ReligionForBreakfast) For Westerners, Buddhism has a reputation of being an atheistic religion, but is this assessment true? Let's have a look at the facts because truth is often stranger than fiction.
This video was made possible through the support of Grant 1928 from the John Templeton Foundation managed by The Queen’s University of Belfast. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John Templeton Foundation or The Queen’s University of Belfast. Join Patreon community: religionforbreakfast. Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images and Reuters. Thumbnail art by @hotcyder.
Planet Curious, Aug. 4, 2023; Sheldon S., CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Why God is imaginary
(Planet Curious) This video examines various perspectives and arguments that challenge the notion of a divine creator being, a supernatural "God." The speakers are prominent atheists [and materialists] Michael Shermer and Dan Barker.
(Planet Curious) Christopher Hitchens, Why God is imaginary, Part 2
"The Story of God with Morgan Freeman," premiering Sunday, April 3 at 9:00 pm (8:00 pm central time), will take viewers on a trip around the world to explore different cultures and religions on the ultimate quest to uncover the meaning of life, God, and all the questions in between. More + VIDEOS
Quite contradictory views have been expressed in Western literature on the attitude of Buddhism toward the concept of God and gods.
From a study of the discourses (sutras) of the Buddha preserved in the Pali canon [the accepted sacred texts retained in the exclusively-Buddhist Pali language, a cognate of Sanskrit], it will be seen that the idea of a personal deity, a creator god conceived to be eternal and omnipotent, is incompatible with the Buddha’s teachings.
On the other hand, conceptions of an impersonal godhead [a kind of source or Brahman, rather than a personality called Brahma] of any description, such as world-soul, and so on, are excluded by the Buddha’s teaching on anattā, "not-self" or unsubstantiality.
In Buddhist literature, the belief [or teaching, vada] in a creator god (issara nimmāna -vāda) is frequently mentioned and rejected, along with other causes wrongly adduced to explain the origin of the world, as, for instance, world-soul, time, nature, and so on.
God-belief, however, is not placed in the same category as those morally destructive wrong views which deny the karmic results of actions, assume a fortuitous origin of humans and nature, or teach absolute determinism. These views are said to be altogether pernicious, having definite bad results due to their effect on ethical conduct.
Theism, however, is regarded as a kind of karma-teaching in so far as it upholds the moral efficacy of actions. Hence a theist who leads a moral life may, like any one else doing so [such as an atheist], expect a favorable rebirth.
One may possibly even be reborn in a heavenly world that resembles one's own conception of it, though it will not be of eternal duration as we may have expected. If, however, fanaticism induces one to persecute those who do not share our beliefs, this will have grave consequences for one's future destiny. For fanatical attitudes, intolerance, and violence against others all create unwholesome karma leading to moral degeneration and an unhappy rebirth.
Although belief in God does not exclude a favorable rebirth, it is a variety of eternalism, a false affirmation of permanence rooted in the craving for [eternal] existence, and as such an obstacle to final deliverance [complete liberation from all suffering, known as enlightenment (bodhi) andnirvana].
Among the fetters (samyojana) that bind to existence, theism is particularly subject to those of personality-belief, attachment to rites and rituals, and desire for fine-material existence or for a “heaven of the sense sphere,” as the case may be.
As an attempt at explaining the universe, its origin, and a hu man’s situation in t his world, the God-idea was found entirely unconvincing by the Buddhist thinkers of old. Through the centuries, Buddhist philosophers have formulated detailed arguments refuting the doctrine of a creator god. It should be of interest to compare these with the ways in which Western philosophers have refuted the theological proofs of the existence of God.
But for an earnest believer, the God-idea is more than a mere device for explaining external facts like the origin of the world. For one it is an object of faith that can bestow a strong feeling of certainty, not only as to God’s existence “somewhere out there,” but as to God’s consoling presence and closeness to oneself.
This feeling of certainty requires close scrutiny. Such scrutiny will reveal that in most cases the God-idea is only the devotee’s projection of this ideal -- generally a noble one -- and of t hisfervent wish and deeply felt need to believe.
These projections are largelyconditioned by external influences, such as childhood impressions, education, tradition, and social environment. Charged with a strong emotional emphasis, brought to life by a human’s powerful capacity for image-formation, visualization and the creation of myth, they then come to be identified with the images and concepts of whatever religion the devotee follows. In the case of many of the most sincere believers, a searching... More
Last Tuesday Noah Levine paid us a visit at Dharma Punx to announce that Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society is adding an outpatient drug and alcohol recovery center. Anyone interested in getting off or successfully staying off drugs using a Buddhist oriented path to recovery can contact Levine or the center to sign up.
Why resort to a REHAB center that promotes theism when a better alternative exists?
Buddhism is non-theistic, but former Western Buddhist monk Stephen Batchelor (who married a former Buddhist nun), author of Confession of a Buddhist Atheist, is a popular speaker at ATS influencing its outlook on resorting to a better "higher power" than the one one endlessly promoted at ordinary 12-Step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous.
Kevin Griffin, author of A Burning Desire: Dharma, God, and the Path of Recovery, will be hosting a daylong meditation and recovery workshop this month (see below). His approach incorporates Buddhism and the Noble Eightfold Path
Author, punk, and Against the Stream co-founder Noah Levine has an inner-meditator who comes out for all to see. It's the punk ethic: going against the way of the world like the Buddha. That meansrecovery fromaddictions. Meditate and destroy inner-obstacles (WQ).
Some of the biggest voices from the movement headlined this weekend's event because atheism is growing." Thousands of atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and unbelievers turned out in the US capital on Saturday (March 24, 2012) at the National Mall in Washington, DC to celebrate their rejection of the idea of God, gods, superstition, and the unseen. They were there to claim a bigger place for reason, rationality, and science in public discourse.
Buddhists are atheists, right? Wisdom Quarterly No, Buddhists are whatever they want to be. Buddhism is nontheistic, not to be confused with atheism. Theism is faith, belief, certainty, or reliance on some supernatural creator, controller, or savior. Atheism is the unfounded certainty that there is no such thing.
Agnosticism is not being sure or at least not committing so either view. Nontheism, on the other hand, is the position that it does not matter. Whether or not there are gods, that does not really have much bearing on one's attainment of enlightenment (permanent emancipation, liberation, salvation).
But if "salvation" is interpreted simply as rebirth in one of the many space (heavenly, celestial) worlds, such belief may be useful. There are many devas (shining ones, light beings) and brahmas (powerful divinities), as well as a host of other types of living beings -- beneficial, harmful, mixed, and indifferent toward humans.
Female light beings (devis) exist just as male ones (devas) do, but brahmas transcend sexuality; therefore, "God" is neither male nor female, whereas the gods (demigods, alien visitors, lords, rulers) are just like the Greek and Roman pantheons describe them -- mischievous and petty superhumans absorbed in play, pleasure, and vanity. They are better thought of as "angels" and spirits. The word deva is extremely broad in meaning, including unseen beings dwelling in forests, lower superhuman sensual words, and worlds superior to the brahmas as well.
The belief that a creator God brought life, the universe, and everything into existence -- or the idea that some being oversees, decides, and wills all that happens -- is a wrong view (miccha ditthi). However, the belief that everything is due to random chance or that existence ends at death, or that there is no world to come, these too are wrong views. And so it is said, Buddhists may believe what they like or what comforts them. But Buddhism is nontheistic.
Is the Buddha God? No, a buddha (supremely enlightened one) is a teacher. Karmically profitable and karmically unprofitable actions are the willed deeds of a living being, and we ourselves have the power to leave them undone. So good and bad depend on us not God or the gods. We ourselves must make the effort to understand and overcome the three causes of all suffering: craving, aversion, and ignorance.
By ourselves is wrong done; By ourselves we pain endure. By ourselves we cease from ill; By ourselves become we pure. No one can save us but ourselves; No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path, Buddhas only point the way. (Dhammapada 165)
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