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By Jayaram
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 is basically a religion of the mind, of the present moment
awareness, of leading a virtuous and responsible life, and of the individual
who is in search of an answer to the problems of change, impermanence and
suffering within the confines of his own experience as a practitioner of the
Eightfold path. The tenets of Buddhism are not centered around the concept
of an universal supreme being, who in other religions, is responsible for
all creation and existence. Interestingly, Buddhism does not even support
the existence of eternal soul. In Buddhist scriptures we come across
references to the devas, the heavens and other planes of existence. But the
Buddha always remained silent or non-confirmative when he was asked to
answer questions on the existence of a Supreme Being.
We are told that 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 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 Iswara, (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.
List of related articles
The following articles throw further light on the idea of God in
Buddhism.
Buddhism and the God-idea:
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 of the Buddha preserved in the Pali Canon, 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 of any description, such as world-soul,
etc., are excluded by the Buddha's teachings on Anatta, non-self or
unsubstantiality. More...
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