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New to Buddhism - Lots of questions
Hello,
I am reading "In my own words - H.H. The Dalai Lama" as my introduction to Buddhism but I find I have alot of questions.
1. Why isnt it ok to believe in a God as the creator of all life? As in, god created the initial spark of life and then evolution and time took it to where we are now? Buddhism seems to say "there is no god life can only come from life and time is infinite" But cant we say "time and life began with god" and then continue being buddhist from there without any issue?
2. It seems to me like the Buddha is almost considered a God? Other readings I have read suggest that we must make offerings to him and take refuge in him etc? I understand that the Buddha was the original teacher and we owe much to him and we should respect and look up to his teachings, but isnt thinknig to much about the teacher instead of the teachings against the point? What I mean is, instead of there being Three nobel jewels we take refuge in, we just keep the three nobel jewels but take refuge only in The Teachings and the Community instead of the Buddha.
I'll wait to discuss these before I ask some more!
Thanks!
I am reading "In my own words - H.H. The Dalai Lama" as my introduction to Buddhism but I find I have alot of questions.
1. Why isnt it ok to believe in a God as the creator of all life? As in, god created the initial spark of life and then evolution and time took it to where we are now? Buddhism seems to say "there is no god life can only come from life and time is infinite" But cant we say "time and life began with god" and then continue being buddhist from there without any issue?
2. It seems to me like the Buddha is almost considered a God? Other readings I have read suggest that we must make offerings to him and take refuge in him etc? I understand that the Buddha was the original teacher and we owe much to him and we should respect and look up to his teachings, but isnt thinknig to much about the teacher instead of the teachings against the point? What I mean is, instead of there being Three nobel jewels we take refuge in, we just keep the three nobel jewels but take refuge only in The Teachings and the Community instead of the Buddha.
I'll wait to discuss these before I ask some more!
Thanks!
0
Comments
1) Who says you can't believe in god to be a buddhist? Many people believe in a god whilst still being buddhists.
What you might be referring to is the teaching of dependent origination http://www.buddhanet.net/funbud12.htm which states that things are because of something else or many things, coming together in the right environment. If one believes that the universe was created by a god, most buddhists would ask "who created god?".
But buddhists come in many shape and sizes. Some believe in god
Buddha also taught that a god cannot help us end our suffering (or give us salvation) only we can do that ourselves.
He also said that speculation over the existance of a god is fruitless http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html
2) In some countries, in small villages in the country side, buddha is seen as a god, but this is because they misunderstand the teachings of the buddha.
When we take refuge and bow to the buddha (in front of statues), this may seem strange to a westerner, especially one who is skeptical. We have many different statues of buddha, but we don't really know what he looks like. The markings (32 marks of an enlightened being http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_characteristics_of_the_Buddha) on the statue; his hair, his eyes, the lines across his neck, his robes, his hand gestures, and seated position:- all have meaning. The statue of the buddha is not only our teacher, but our ideal, our goal. We are taught that all can become just like the buddha, so in that sense, the statue is our mirror, or our goal.
We take refuge in the buddha because he is our root teacher. He found the way and taught us. For that we are truly grateful. And for that, we bow to the ground.
http://www.dharmadrum.org/master/master.aspx?cid=C_00000049
Nios
Excellent questions, diego ... you're really thinking about this. My response is to pass on what is taught by my teacher, a Tibetan monk from the Dalai Lama's monastery:
God? Buddhism doesn't so much say there isn't a God as they say it doesn't matter ... we are here, and we can only obtain release by our own efforts. No one else can do that for us. As for creation, Buddhists don't are concerned with what to do about "now", and how to now what the future will hold.
Is the Buddha a God? Our teacher says no. But Tibetan Buddhism has all the trappings of a religion, yet with a chewy core of Buddhism in the center (like a Tootsie Roll pop). I am uncomfortable with the deification of Buddha and all the various emanations, but I because I have not experienced these emanations does not mean they don't exist ... Doesn't mean they do exist, either. Some people need to take a stance that there are no higher powers, neither Buddha nor God. Some people need to pay homage to a higher power. To me it all seems a paradox, and since Buddhism endeavours to make us stop trying to grasp and pin things down, and accept paradoxes, I guess I accept that I have no answer.
I don't think it matters, as long as people find that they become kinder, wiser, and less reactive (being offended, angry, greedy, etc) ... because wherever you find behavior change, there you also find that learning has occurred.
1. Buddhism is a path of the cultivation of the wisdom to freedom from dukkha. The question of God isn't relevant to this path and the Buddha declared it unanswerable, so the Buddha took no position. You are of course free to believe whatever you want, as a Buddhist, but I would empasize the word believe. Generally in Buddhism we aim to let go of beliefs and not hold speculation as truth. Also some definitions of God simply contradict the teaching of impermanence- and there's always the question of "and what was before God?" - but these are questions for you to explore yourself.
2. I've never taken formal refuge. Taking refuge is an internal dedication to the practice of the teachings and a respect for the dhamma and to the Buddha. I personally keep an alter but it's symbolic and I see it purely as part of practice; the offerings are of gratitude and to all beings; it's a practice to cultivate compassion and a constant reminder throughout the day.
I might suggest Theravada or Zen to you instead although there are plenty of excellent Tibetan teachings... They might just not all be for you.
Why would you suggest this to me? I am very curious about the difference between the disciplines.
I hope you never run out of them.
I think in time your mind will settle on these issues:) Dont fret about them too much yet.
Mat
Refuge in the buddha is taken because its important to believe enlightenment is possible. Its like having an older brother who became successful and got out of the ghetto or something. You see someone could do it.
My teacher is in the Tibetan tradition and she is friendly with her students many of whom believe in God. So I think Mundus had a bad experience with something that is not generally true of Tibetan Buddhism.
Mtns
The real absolute is just spros bral (beyond concepts). It can't be spoken of. It's not x, not not-x, not both, not neither. Anything else you may hear about "lack of inherent existence", "emptiness", "God exists", "God does not exist", etc - it's all just a skilful means, a concept- or proxy-emptiness to get to that real spros bral absolute.
Because if Buddha believed in a supreme God he wouldn't have became a renunciate and preach the dissolution of craving as a ways to liberation. He would just make sacrifices to the Gods. Historically these two are opposites.
Today it would make perfect sense to mix them both together if you want to.
Refuge means setting your life in the right direction. It means you accept the triple gem as a means to find liberation from suffering.
As for the Buddha being a God he does have special qualities, but those are attainable by everybody.
The Buddha and the teachings are inseparable. He is the embodiment of the path and the example to be followed.
2. The Buddha was just a man, born of conditions as we all are, that discovered the reasons why we suffer on the very deepest level of the mind. His teachings trump modern psychology. He wasn't a God or anything like that, just a very compassionate and very intelligent man that discovered the truth for himself and taught others to help them realize the same. A lot of people think of the Buddha as the "perfect" man, but that's just mass respect.