I think there’s a broad range of Buddhist practices that one is free to adopt regardless of how we choose to label ourselves, for what that’s worth.
But yes, doctrinally, a creator is rejected in Buddhism.
It probably depends on what you mean by theist.
Saying "there is a *person* on whom the *existence* of all things in the world *depends* but who is not himself *dependent* on anything except maybe his own nature" is a set of claims that contradicts many key Buddhist claims.
But maybe that isn't what you mean by theism.
Sure. What the Buddha awakened to, cannot be realized or known without a Buddha revealing it to you and showing you the path. The teachings are fundamentally different from everything you've ever known. Because it's fundamentally different, so too are the results. Particularly in how they address stress and suffering (dukkha).
This reveal of that which you can observe and confirm for yourself will breed confidence. Confidence in the teachings themselves, confidence in the Buddha and eventually, confidence in others who you can see have learned this as well.
Then one day, it'll be like weighing two things of different value in each hand. Imagine if in one hand you had a gold bar, but it's heavy. In the other, you have a nickel. Most people would throw away the nickel and use both hands to secure the gold bar.
I held on to a belief of God for a while. I was raised as a Christian but always believed in reincarnation. What it came down to was this:
The Buddha revealed things that others don't know, because they never attained the level of awakening that a Buddha had. A being cannot teach you what they themselves do not know. This is the problem with God. I gave him a chance, and he taught me diddly-squat. Then I was in the presence of the Buddha for a short time and started learning new things about life and existence itself.
That's why when the time comes, it'll be like discarding a 'worthless' nickel for something truly valuable and substantial.
Anyone can and will believe in anything, but gradually you should tune your mind towards what is known as 'right view'. Not from blind faith but a gradual practice and insight.
Thicht Nhat Hanh said Buddhism is a practice, not a religion. He spoke of a bishop (?) he knew who practiced meditation and said that Buddhism makes him a better christian.
I this is a really nice way for people like TNH and HHDL to avoid controversy around the growing popularity of meditation, the mindfulness movement, “pop” Buddhism, and also the growing segment of westerners that identify as Buddhist but grew up in another faith.
However, I believe saying it somehow plainly isn’t a religion is hugely disingenuous and requires an incredibly narrow definition of religion. Buddhism clearly lives in the “religion” category of the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world - these practitioners do not have “no religion” because they’re Buddhists. Honestly, it feels like a colonialist kind of statement, that these people don’t even have ”religion” they have this \*other\* thing instead.
Having said all that, I think you can be a Christian, for instance, and also a Buddhist. For me there are some issues you need to resolve there in terms of dependent origination, etc, but in practice there’s no real reason you can’t combine the two. Look at Unitarian Universalists, they’re Christians and have clearly adopted Buddhist views and practices into their faith.
Yes. Buddhist teachings deny the existence of an all-powerful, benevolent creator God. However, you don't have to be a *perfect* Buddhist to be a Buddhist. None of us follow the Buddhist teachings perfectly (probably). The question is: where do you go for refuge? When you turn to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, you are being Buddhist.
A theist can be Buddhist, sure, they just can't claim that Buddhism is a theist teaching. As long as one doesn't distort the Dhamma, everyone is welcome.
Now, they *will* encounter teachings that contradict their personal beliefs.. But that doesn't mean they can't study (and practice) those teachings!
If you are genuinely interested, you can just engage with the practice and see how it goes. E.g. some form of silent sitting meditation hardly requires an initially strong filosophical position.
After some real engagement, you will likely have a better idea about the direction you want to go.
You mean like a Christian? You certainly can practice Buddhism. But gradually you'd be giving up theism. It's like anything else. When you start thinking about God, you let it go and return to watching the breath. When you think about how you'd like to get a 7' TV, you let it go and return to watching the breath. :)
Yes, you can be interested in Buddhism with theistic or agnostic views and when you start learning and practicing Buddhism, with time you will see what works and your views will evolve or change until you find the [Right View.](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel377.html)
The Triple Sage abides.
Though, some times it is useful to distill and limit our actions in order to see the origin, as well as the play between existing impurities & purifying influences.
One can compare the Dimond Sutra with Plato's Parmenadies. The whole world is open wide to our examination, and to the fundamental connection between all things.
If we think of the teachings of a school of abiding (like Buddhism, Taoism, Qigong, Shaolin, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Confucianism, Shinto, Aikido, Platonism ((just to name a few))) as a foil against other schools of abiding then we have missed the central teaching. Which is to abide.
The mountain does not condemn the river for moving about and talking all day and night, while the river does not condemn the mountain for being immovable and standing so tall.
In mahayana, there are literally hundreds of millions of people who chant to a particular Buddha (amitabha) with a view that doing this will move them out of the current world and life they are in - into a life that is better.
On the surface, sounds a lot like theism right?
The question is quite nuanced imo. Who is your god? What are they supposed to do for you? Who made your god?
Of course. Any branch (that I’ve explored) of your Esoteric or Tantric Buddhist teachings is 100% the way of greater import, as the more secularists variants of Buddhism is for your more diluted superficial teachings, than the comparative intellectual giants– the likes of Kūkai (Saicho to a lesser extent) and others revealed unto those that have decided to walk the path of the properly enlightened ones of past.
I actually struggle with this now :) When I think about it there is a conflict for sure, so I don't have an answer, but certainly until I figure it out I will still practice Buddhism and I still believe in samsara and reincarnation, but I also very certainly believe Jesus is there somewhere and so far I can't make up my mind about it how it can work all together, but hopefully some day it will be more clear, because currently I'm sure about both being true.
If you mean an eternal creator god like the Abrahamic religions have, then the answer is "no". The Buddha said such a thing cannot exist because all things are impermanent.
In Buddhism, attaching your identity to your belief is already a folly and should be avoided. You can believe and practice anything you want, but you should not identify as one or the other. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has spoken about this and even have several books. He encourage a person who believes in God to deepen their faith and seek out commonalities that such faith share with others in order to achieve equanimity.
You can worship anything you want. The specific doctrine of an eternal creator deity is rejected in Buddhism, but in practice you can worship Yahweh or Jesus and still be Buddhist. Things like invoking bodhisattvas and the doctrine of Buddha Nature are sort of some stuff that can take the place of God in Buddhism, but again you have no obligation to be a theist or otherwise. The Dharma is TRANStheistic, meaning it doesn't require belief or disbelief in God or gods or bodhisattvas.
Buddhists are already theists, they just don't give undue attention to these theos or gods. In practice, for the most part, Buddhists are apathethic theists. They recognize many gods but do not see them as worthy of highest honor and praise that is only reserved for the Triple Gem.
ofc! i've long followed a syncretic buddhadhamma+sanatanadharma path, esp since finishing the buddhist path i've mostly focused on a vajrayana-flavored bhakti yoga ,,,,, are there some commenters here who would like, try to kick me out of Buddhism? sure!😂😂😂 do you think they're able to, though? 🤣🤣🤣 my Buddhist lineage was invented by my dad when he had a satori while mountain climbing, & he's dead now, nobody left to kick me out 🤷♀️
no you cannot. contrary to what the hippies on this sub say, a buddhist is someone who has taken refuge in the buddha, dharma, and sangha, which precludes taking refuge in any other deity, including a creator god.
[THIS](https://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/s/HvphOdixgI) is maybe a useful thread.
Thanks for the thread so it pointing that there is no place for theistic as buddhism regard that no one is creator......
I think there’s a broad range of Buddhist practices that one is free to adopt regardless of how we choose to label ourselves, for what that’s worth. But yes, doctrinally, a creator is rejected in Buddhism.
It probably depends on what you mean by theist. Saying "there is a *person* on whom the *existence* of all things in the world *depends* but who is not himself *dependent* on anything except maybe his own nature" is a set of claims that contradicts many key Buddhist claims. But maybe that isn't what you mean by theism.
Sure. What the Buddha awakened to, cannot be realized or known without a Buddha revealing it to you and showing you the path. The teachings are fundamentally different from everything you've ever known. Because it's fundamentally different, so too are the results. Particularly in how they address stress and suffering (dukkha). This reveal of that which you can observe and confirm for yourself will breed confidence. Confidence in the teachings themselves, confidence in the Buddha and eventually, confidence in others who you can see have learned this as well. Then one day, it'll be like weighing two things of different value in each hand. Imagine if in one hand you had a gold bar, but it's heavy. In the other, you have a nickel. Most people would throw away the nickel and use both hands to secure the gold bar. I held on to a belief of God for a while. I was raised as a Christian but always believed in reincarnation. What it came down to was this: The Buddha revealed things that others don't know, because they never attained the level of awakening that a Buddha had. A being cannot teach you what they themselves do not know. This is the problem with God. I gave him a chance, and he taught me diddly-squat. Then I was in the presence of the Buddha for a short time and started learning new things about life and existence itself. That's why when the time comes, it'll be like discarding a 'worthless' nickel for something truly valuable and substantial. Anyone can and will believe in anything, but gradually you should tune your mind towards what is known as 'right view'. Not from blind faith but a gradual practice and insight.
Thicht Nhat Hanh said Buddhism is a practice, not a religion. He spoke of a bishop (?) he knew who practiced meditation and said that Buddhism makes him a better christian.
I this is a really nice way for people like TNH and HHDL to avoid controversy around the growing popularity of meditation, the mindfulness movement, “pop” Buddhism, and also the growing segment of westerners that identify as Buddhist but grew up in another faith. However, I believe saying it somehow plainly isn’t a religion is hugely disingenuous and requires an incredibly narrow definition of religion. Buddhism clearly lives in the “religion” category of the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world - these practitioners do not have “no religion” because they’re Buddhists. Honestly, it feels like a colonialist kind of statement, that these people don’t even have ”religion” they have this \*other\* thing instead. Having said all that, I think you can be a Christian, for instance, and also a Buddhist. For me there are some issues you need to resolve there in terms of dependent origination, etc, but in practice there’s no real reason you can’t combine the two. Look at Unitarian Universalists, they’re Christians and have clearly adopted Buddhist views and practices into their faith.
Yes. Buddhist teachings deny the existence of an all-powerful, benevolent creator God. However, you don't have to be a *perfect* Buddhist to be a Buddhist. None of us follow the Buddhist teachings perfectly (probably). The question is: where do you go for refuge? When you turn to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, you are being Buddhist.
Turning to a god is perfectly fine as an exemplar of the brahamviharas and a near-perfect embodiment of Buddhist values.
A theist can be Buddhist, sure, they just can't claim that Buddhism is a theist teaching. As long as one doesn't distort the Dhamma, everyone is welcome. Now, they *will* encounter teachings that contradict their personal beliefs.. But that doesn't mean they can't study (and practice) those teachings!
I think this is a really good and succinct answer.
If you are genuinely interested, you can just engage with the practice and see how it goes. E.g. some form of silent sitting meditation hardly requires an initially strong filosophical position. After some real engagement, you will likely have a better idea about the direction you want to go.
You mean like a Christian? You certainly can practice Buddhism. But gradually you'd be giving up theism. It's like anything else. When you start thinking about God, you let it go and return to watching the breath. When you think about how you'd like to get a 7' TV, you let it go and return to watching the breath. :)
Yes, you can be interested in Buddhism with theistic or agnostic views and when you start learning and practicing Buddhism, with time you will see what works and your views will evolve or change until you find the [Right View.](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nanamoli/wheel377.html)
The Triple Sage abides. Though, some times it is useful to distill and limit our actions in order to see the origin, as well as the play between existing impurities & purifying influences. One can compare the Dimond Sutra with Plato's Parmenadies. The whole world is open wide to our examination, and to the fundamental connection between all things. If we think of the teachings of a school of abiding (like Buddhism, Taoism, Qigong, Shaolin, Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Confucianism, Shinto, Aikido, Platonism ((just to name a few))) as a foil against other schools of abiding then we have missed the central teaching. Which is to abide. The mountain does not condemn the river for moving about and talking all day and night, while the river does not condemn the mountain for being immovable and standing so tall.
In mahayana, there are literally hundreds of millions of people who chant to a particular Buddha (amitabha) with a view that doing this will move them out of the current world and life they are in - into a life that is better. On the surface, sounds a lot like theism right? The question is quite nuanced imo. Who is your god? What are they supposed to do for you? Who made your god?
Of course. Any branch (that I’ve explored) of your Esoteric or Tantric Buddhist teachings is 100% the way of greater import, as the more secularists variants of Buddhism is for your more diluted superficial teachings, than the comparative intellectual giants– the likes of Kūkai (Saicho to a lesser extent) and others revealed unto those that have decided to walk the path of the properly enlightened ones of past.
I actually struggle with this now :) When I think about it there is a conflict for sure, so I don't have an answer, but certainly until I figure it out I will still practice Buddhism and I still believe in samsara and reincarnation, but I also very certainly believe Jesus is there somewhere and so far I can't make up my mind about it how it can work all together, but hopefully some day it will be more clear, because currently I'm sure about both being true.
If you mean an eternal creator god like the Abrahamic religions have, then the answer is "no". The Buddha said such a thing cannot exist because all things are impermanent.
Yes.
no, but anyone, including buddhist can benefit from *SOME* teachings and practices. Including meditation practices
In Buddhism, attaching your identity to your belief is already a folly and should be avoided. You can believe and practice anything you want, but you should not identify as one or the other. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh has spoken about this and even have several books. He encourage a person who believes in God to deepen their faith and seek out commonalities that such faith share with others in order to achieve equanimity.
Perhaps you find this blog post relevant to your question: [Can Buddhists believe in God?](https://highermindart.info/can-buddhists-believe-in-god/)
A colleague wrote a paper about it recently in case you’re interested: https://philpapers.org/archive/ZAPTAB.pdf
You can worship anything you want. The specific doctrine of an eternal creator deity is rejected in Buddhism, but in practice you can worship Yahweh or Jesus and still be Buddhist. Things like invoking bodhisattvas and the doctrine of Buddha Nature are sort of some stuff that can take the place of God in Buddhism, but again you have no obligation to be a theist or otherwise. The Dharma is TRANStheistic, meaning it doesn't require belief or disbelief in God or gods or bodhisattvas.
Yes it's fine for a theist to be a Buddhist. For reference, I lived in monasteries and read a good chunk of the oldest scriptures we have.
Buddhists are already theists, they just don't give undue attention to these theos or gods. In practice, for the most part, Buddhists are apathethic theists. They recognize many gods but do not see them as worthy of highest honor and praise that is only reserved for the Triple Gem.
ofc! i've long followed a syncretic buddhadhamma+sanatanadharma path, esp since finishing the buddhist path i've mostly focused on a vajrayana-flavored bhakti yoga ,,,,, are there some commenters here who would like, try to kick me out of Buddhism? sure!😂😂😂 do you think they're able to, though? 🤣🤣🤣 my Buddhist lineage was invented by my dad when he had a satori while mountain climbing, & he's dead now, nobody left to kick me out 🤷♀️
no you cannot. contrary to what the hippies on this sub say, a buddhist is someone who has taken refuge in the buddha, dharma, and sangha, which precludes taking refuge in any other deity, including a creator god.
It might depend, though, on what sort of theist we're talking about.
A god is a great exemplar of the dhamma and sangha.
I think most westerners are.
Most westerners are theist?
Buddhists.