Most Buddhist schools teach that Buddhism teaches that there is no God. While many of the older schools teach there is a heavenly realm populated with "gods" they see this state as not being eternal. That even these gods eventually parish. So what they teach is heaven is ultimately a delusion. That the human state is the only one where a sentient being can pass beyond all self delusion into eternity. So they admit the existence of many realms and beings that exist there in. So in years of study I have never seen where Buddha said there was no God he simply said we become attached to our idea of and belief in god.
He taught that this attachment to the idea of god was another delusion that held us back in our search for Nirvana. So I have always felt these bold statements of "there is no God" so many modern Zen teachers make is an indication of their own not getting it yet. Mostly this seems like a response that is more a rebellion from their parents religion than a wisdom obtained from their own enlightenment.
All the killing that has been done in the name of this God or that God certainly shows the danger in becoming attached to the idea of God. But this is a chronic disease of the human mind not a perception of reality.
I have no idea if there is a God as in a omnipotent creator God. I am not so arrogant as to proclaim that other people's God are not kicking around in their own little heaven . For all I know there are Angels and demons and Jinn. I think perhaps a firm adamant disbelief in God can be as much of an impediment to spiritual progress as is a firm belief and attachment to a particular God can be.
He taught that this attachment to the idea of god was another delusion that held us back in our search for Nirvana. So I have always felt these bold statements of "there is no God" so many modern Zen teachers make is an indication of their own not getting it yet. Mostly this seems like a response that is more a rebellion from their parents religion than a wisdom obtained from their own enlightenment.
All the killing that has been done in the name of this God or that God certainly shows the danger in becoming attached to the idea of God. But this is a chronic disease of the human mind not a perception of reality.
I have no idea if there is a God as in a omnipotent creator God. I am not so arrogant as to proclaim that other people's God are not kicking around in their own little heaven . For all I know there are Angels and demons and Jinn. I think perhaps a firm adamant disbelief in God can be as much of an impediment to spiritual progress as is a firm belief and attachment to a particular God can be.
So I welcome Christ and Ali to have a seat on our cushions. All who worship them are welcome as well.
I once asked my Zen teacher what role belief and hope played in Zen practice. He said, "For the first four or five years [of practice] belief and hope are necessary." And after that, I asked. "After that, they are not so necessary," he replied.
ReplyDeleteBelief (as for example in God) can be a great inspiration to action. But belief separates believer and what is believed in. Practice, by contrast, builds a body of experience and experience trumps hope and belief.
From the perspective of experience, saying "there is no God" is the same as saying "there is a God." Both express a belief system ... something that is not so necessary as practice evolves.
yep
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