Do Buddhists Believe in God?

[Nadine]

@Kensho

I told my wife last night that the scariest thing about Buddhism is its teaching that there is no god to help solve our problems, and therefore no value to petitionary prayer.

Very much so, yes. If we look at it another way, we see that we have had the strength to make it this far in life without divine intervention, and that we can keep doing so on into the future.

[Kensho]

@Nadine

@Kensho

I told my wife last night that the scariest thing about Buddhism is its teaching that there is no god to help solve our problems, and therefore no value to petitionary prayer.

Very much so, yes. If we look at it another way, we see that we have had the strength to make it this far in life without divine intervention, and that we can keep doing so on into the future.

Thank you. That’s very encouraging. Buddhism helps us grow past a sense of learned helplessness.

[amimettalove]

@Kensho

As far as the meaning of Nirvana, I tend to agree with Bhikkhu Bodhi, that it’s an existing reality, rather than merely the blowing out of a flame:

This is the great thing about the teachings. They are meant to be known. When we know, we will know beyond belief. This is what I love most about Buddhism, it is based in experience more than belief.

[Kensho]

@amimettalove

This is what I love most about Buddhism, it is based in experience more than belief.

I agree. In Japanese, the word for this experience is satori or kensho.

[Kensho]

@alaber

After 10 years in the Tibetan Buddhism (Mahayana tradition) I abandoned it because I could not see how all these concepts could help us end Dukkha.

Deity yoga is the central practice of Tibetan Buddhism, with the term “deity” referring to enlightened beings. Amida Buddha is one of many such meditation deities utilized for the sake of realizing one’s Buddha-nature:

The purpose of Deity yoga is to bring the meditator to the realization that the yidam or meditation deity and the practitioner are in essence the same, that they are non-dual (advaya). According to John Powers. “Deity yoga is a technique for becoming progressively more familiar with the thoughts and deeds of a buddha, until the state of buddhahood is actualized through repeated practice.”[4]

According to Gyatrul Rinpoche, the point of this practice is to “understand your buddha nature, which is the very essence of your being” and is “intrinsically present” in all beings.[5] The fact that the deity is a reflection of qualities already inherent in the practitioner is what makes this practice different than mere deluded or wishful thinking.[6]
Deity yoga - Wikipedia

Deity yoga, then, is a practice which helps us identify with a particular fully enlightened being or Buddha in order to realize our innate Buddha nature. Using visualisation, chanting, mantra recitation, and meditation, we focus upon a particular deity and in many practices visualize ourselves as that deity, non-dual with them…

The deity mirrors to us our true enlightened nature. As our practice deepens, and we reach an ever closer identification/relationship with the deity, delusion and obscuration are revealed as illusory, and the energies of deluded mind transform into their non-dual, naturally enlightened qualities.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, “In brief, the body of a Buddha is attained through meditating on it.”
Deity Yoga Practice - RigDzin Dharma Foundation

Like in Zen Buddhism, the purpose of Pure Land practice in deity yoga is to realize Amida Buddha as our True Self, rather than an external being:

Thine own consciousness, shining, void, and inseparable from the Great Body of Radiance, hath no birth, nor death, and is the Immutable Light-Buddha Amitabha.
http://redzambala.com/tibetan-book-of-the-dead/tibetan-book-of-the-dead-part-2.html

If one attains Buddhahood through deity yoga, one will naturally liberate oneself and others from suffering.

[alaber]

All these concepts and practices were not taught by the Buddha. I prefer to stick to what he used himself for attaining awakening.

[Kensho]

@alaber

All these concepts and practices were not taught by the Buddha. I prefer to stick to what he used himself for attaining awakening.

I would like to say that I have the same preference:

@Kensho

This luminous mind is also referred to as Buddha-nature, which is every being’s innate potential for enlightenment…

“Luminous, monks, is the mind.[1] And it is defiled by incoming defilements.” {I,v,9}

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements.” {I,v,10}

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is defiled by incoming defilements. The uninstructed run-of-the-mill person doesn’t discern that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that — for the uninstructed run-of-the-mill person — there is no development of the mind.” {I,vi,1}

“Luminous, monks, is the mind. And it is freed from incoming defilements. The well-instructed disciple of the noble ones discerns that as it actually is present, which is why I tell you that — for the well-instructed disciple of the noble ones — there is development of the mind.”
Pabhassara Sutta: Luminous

Buddha-nature is simply another way of describing the luminous mind.

Celestial Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, like in deity yoga, are symbolic of the luminous mind, a meditation subject for realizing the luminous mind.

Using a meditation subject, such as a buddha, goes back to the beginning of Buddhism:

Kammaṭṭhāna