Monks, that sphere should be realized where the eye (vision) stops and the perception (mental noting) of form fades. That sphere is to be realized where the ear stops and the perception of sound fades... where the nose stops and the perception of aroma fades... where the tongue stops and the perception of flavor fades... where the body stops and the perception of tactile sensation fades... where the intellect stops and the perception of idea/phenomenon fades: That sphere should be realized. — Samyutta Nikaya XXXV.116 Buddhism and belief in God Buddha....Buddhism believes in the existence of neither God nor soul in a theistic sense. It is basically a religion of the mind, which advocates present moment awareness, inner purity, ethical conduct, freedom from the problem of change, impermanence and suffering and reliance upon ones own experience as the sole teacher, rather than an external authority, on the Eightfold path. Unlike other major religions of the world, Buddhism is not centered around the concept of God or an universal supreme being, who is responsible for the creation and dissolution of the world and the existence of sentinel beings. Buddhism does not even support the existence of an eternal and unchanging soul. According to Buddhism the whole existence is in a state of flux and there is nothing that is either permanent or unchanging. Buddhas views on God . The Buddha did not believe in hidden causes but apparent causes that made sense to the mind and the intellect. Karma was a hidden process, but its effects could be felt and experienced by one and all. Hence no supernatural testimony was required to establish its universality or working. Once in a while, he expressed his opinions about creation and the role of God. When Ananthapindika, a wealthy young man met the Buddha at the bamboo groove at Rajagriha, the Buddha made a few statements about the existence of God and the real cause behind the creation of beings in this world. These views are summarized as below: 1. If God is indeed the creator of all living things, then all things here should submit to His power unquestioningly. Like the vessels produced by a potter, they should remain without any individuality of their own. If that is so, how can there be an opportunity for any one to practice virtue? 2. If this world is indeed created by God, then there should be no sorrow or calamity or evil in this world, for all deeds, both pure and impure, must come from Him. 3. If it is not so, then there must be some other cause besides God which is behind Him, in which case He would not be self-existent. 4. It is not convincing that the Absolute has created us, because that which is absolute cannot be a cause. All things here arise from different causes. Then can we can say that the Absolute is the cause of all things alike? If the Absolute is pervading them, then certainly It is not their creator. 5. If we consider the Self as the maker, why did it not make things pleasant? Why and how should it create so much sorrow and suffering for itself? 6. It is neither God nor the self nor some causeless chance which creates us. It is our deeds which produce both good and bad results according to the law of causation. 7. We should therefore abandon the heresy of worshipping God and of praying to him. We should stops all speculation and vain talk about such matters and practice good so that good may result from our good deeds. The Buddha did not encourage speculation on the existence of Isvara, (God) among his disciples. He wanted them to confine themselves to what was within their field of awareness, that is, to understand the causes of suffering and work for its mitigation. He preached that initially each being was a product of ignorance and illusion and subject to suffering, karma and transmigration. He therefore urged his disciples to contemplate upon the Four Noble Truths, practice the Eightfold path, lead a virtuous life by performing good deeds and works towards their final liberation from all becoming and changing.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Apr 2014 05:05:10 +0000
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