Have
you heard many "Buddhists" denying Buddha is God? Some Buddhists even say Buddha NEVER talked about God, only the Four
Noble Truths...
Guess
what?
They
are WRONG! Buddha is what every other religion calls God, but knows not...Buddha is the fulfillment of the Vedic concept
of God, Aham Brahmasmi! Now by fulfillment I don't mean Buddhism owes anything to Hinduism or any other religion. What???!
How can you say that? You cannot understand Buddhism without Hinduism and other religions! Not!
Actually,
the religions which came before were not clear, they were partial understandings of a concept the average person could never
grasp. It's as if God revealed his teachings to people who were not perfectly purified and therefore, they got it all
wrong! So after a SammasamBuddha finally manifests to tell you what some spiritual people have heard/seen/smelled etc.,
but in a perfect way, then the other teachings are useless. So if you have the literal embodiment of all intelligence
as your teacher -- er, do I need the old teachings? Not really, I can get the perfect teachings from Him alone. All
I need is Lord Buddha -- Intelligence and Wisdom of ALL!
Buddha indeed states he
has become Brahma (Brahma Bhutto). Unlike other religions where God is a separate and almost unknown being whom you
pray to, in Buddhism we practice to become another Buddha -- another manifestation of the Supreme most being with none other
than the last Buddha as our guide. We study, practice and learn what makes God, well...God. The Noble Eightfold
Path is Godly, supreme wisdom and intelligence is Godly, the perfection of the Paramitas is Godly, Metta is Godly. A
Buddhist aims to have these countless Godly qualities manifest perfectly within and without.
These qualities cannot
manifest perfectly without taking refuge in Lord Buddha. Sure there are many paths but for any path to be true, they
must lead to Buddha alone. Only by taking refuge in Buddha alone is the perfect Dharmakaya (or mind of Buddha) transferred
to the faithful, allowing pure communion. All other paths and practices are tainted and imperfect and do not offer the
Dharmakaya or body of the Law -- it's as if they are building on an imperfect surface. While taking refuge in Buddha
is like building on a cleared land, which is perfectly leveled, in a perfect area, perfectly clean with a real architect --
this is Buddha's Dharmakaya -- the perfect building template which he gives to the faithful who take refuge in Him alone.
Buddhists are literally generators of rich minds, they help manifest into reality the best qualities of humanity in
an untainted condition -- Buddhists are literally "pure mind" substance generators which lead to heavenly states and Nirvana
states for all of humanity! Other religions generate impure mind substances which are tainted and distort reality and
can never obtain Nirvana, in fact, they might not even be able to obtain heaven.
Those who understand this are truly Buddhists
-- i.e. they have Buddhi or intelligence and understand what separates Buddha from the rest -- the wheat from the chaff of
bad religions created by imperfect gurus and teachers with poor understanding.
ARE YOU A BUDDHIST?
It's kind
of funny actually. To ask someone if they are Buddhist is akin to asking someone what the color of George Washington's
white horse was. To call oneself Buddhist is to literally call oneself "wise ones" or "intelligent ones". It
is wisdom and understanding which defines a human being as a human being. So if someone asks, "are you a Buddhist?"
and the response is, "no" -- the person is actually saying he is not intelligent and has no wisdom -- since "Buddhist"
is actually derived from the word "Buddhi" which means intelligence. To say, "yes" means you have done sufficient good
deeds in the past and thus are in possession of great intelligence - enough to actually understand Buddha and immediately
take refuge upon seriously studying his teachings. You admit, no one knew more than Buddha. You actually understand
things like mind regeneration, body regeneration and speech regeneration. You were born a human and you didn't waste
a human birth by not thoroughly studying all major teachings and had the integrity to admit -- gosh, no one knows more than
Buddha. You did not fall into the trap of your culture, nation, race or family tradition. You chose Buddha after
fully comprehending his teachings. Congratulations! You must of done something really good to get the best teacher
ever!
Lord
Buddha - The Root of ALL!
In the New Testament,
The Book of Revelation, Jesus says he is the root of David, nothing more.
Only
Buddha is called the "root of all" in the earliest Pali texts:
Bhagavaṃ
mūlakā no, bhante, dhammā, bhagavaṃnettikā
bhagavaṃpaṭisaraṇā.
Translation:
For us, Lord, all things have the Blessed One as their root, their guide, their refuge.
Atthinukhopariyāyasuttaṃ
All Buddhist
Suttas/Sutras begin with "Evam maya sutam, ekasmin samaya BHAGHVAN viharati..."
Which
literally is translated as "Thus Have I heard, at one time GOD was residing at..."
In North
Indian Language, "Bhagavan" is as common a word used for God, as God is a common word for God in the English language.
However,
this word is almost always foolishly translated as "the Blessed One"...In Indian religions God is God because he has unlimited
blessings.
WHO IS BUDDHA???
"In this world with its devas, Maras, &
Brahmas, its generations complete with contemplatives & priests, princes & men, the Tathagata is the unconquered conqueror,
They ensure victory, glory and fame; Turning back violent challengers, They crush foreign forces
completely; Laying battle foes in ruin, They bring victory in war. Pacifying all bad dreams, They annihilate
negative actions And pacify all non-virtuous deeds.
The whole of this Jambudvipa Will resonate with his fame. His enemies will be utterly routed; His foes will be vanquished in full.
He will abstain entirely from evil acts. Completely victorious in battle, He will be utterly without enemy
And filled with supreme joy.
nihataśatruḥ sadā bhoti sarvapāpavivarjitaḥ | sadā
vijitasaṁgrāmaḥ śriyā sa ca pramodati || 21 ||
BUDDHA
IS UNLIMITED
Throughout
the most ancient Pali scriptures Buddha is referred to as, without limits...
Apamano Buddha, Apamano Dhamma, Apamano Sangha
literally
speaks about the unlimited nature of Lord Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This is found throughout the most ancient
Buddhist scriptures.
THE
SUPREME REFUGE
Do
modern Buddhists know who they are taking refuge in????
Many
modern self proclaimed "buddhists" deny the Godhood of Buddha, these people cannot be called buddhists since their taking
refuge is meaningless -- it is purely in ignorance. Noone takes refuge in a mere human -- only a fool would.
The
Dhammapada Buddhavagga makes it clear -- Buddha is the supreme protector and SUPREME refuge -- i.e.
GOD.
192.This indeed is the safe refuge,
this the refuge supreme.
Having gone to such a refuge,
one is released from all suffering.
Buddha Lights the Inner Fire of Knowledge (Veda Agni) and burns it constantly!
ßBrahmin, wood does not compose the mind. Know! That's only external purity. The wise do not
say that it is purity. If you desire external purity, leave me and burn wood. I light
the internal flame. I burn it constantly for stable appeasement. I am worthy and lead the holy life. Brahmin,
dealing with the mind is your own business. Anger is smoke and lying, ashes, For life's good the heart has to be kindled. A
well tamed self, is a man's light Brahmin, the Teaching is a deep pond and virtues the ford. When the water is undisturbed,
it is constantly praised. There, those who have attained knowledge take a bath, And cross to the other shore with a
not sticky body. Lead the true holy life, restraining righteously. Brahmin, smiling attain the highest good. Make
your venerations straightforwardly. I say, they lead a righteous life!
7. 1. 9.
From the Sundarika Bharadvaja Sutta
The
first Buddhists who were enlightened Arahants were all theists and had always thought of Buddha as God and the many
terms used for Buddha were equivalent Indian terms for God.
We find
references to the Buddha being God in the Pali Jatakas, in the "Deva Dhamma Jataka", the Bodhisat describes all the different
kinds of Gods, with Buddha included in them:
Devas who are born amongst Devas are Devas by birth.
Buddhas and Paccekabuddhas are God owing to their purity.
In the
MajaJanaka Jataka, the Bodhisat reveals that going to the paccekabuddhas is akin to the rising sun,
The treasure
of the rising sun, the treasure at his setting seen,
"The sun’
cannot be this sun, but pacceka-buddhas are called suns from their likeness thereto; the treasure must be where he used to
go and meet them."
Then he asked
them, "When the pacceka-buddhas came, where did he use to go and meet them?"
"When
he followed them as they departed, where did he stand as he bade them farewell?"
So going to the Buddha is like our
sunrise! This gives new meaning to "I am going to Buddha for refuge -- Buddham Saranam Gacchami!!"
It literally means going to the sun
-- our sunrise!
Put the fact together that Buddha
is a SammasamBuddha (not just a Buddha, but THE Buddha of all Buddhas) the brightest sun of all, this together with the fact
that Buddha is also known as the "essence (sara)" or "heartwood" which is a term for release from all phenomenal existence.
Buddha is the essence, the heart of all phenomenal knowledge and release - he is the Aditya Hridayam -- the heart of the sun!
From the Ramayana of Valmiki the Aditya Hridayam is a famous chant to releave Rama from fear of defeat:
In the Pali suttas this is supported
by Buddha being called "kinsmen of the Sun" and even calls the sun his "son" in the Suriya Sutta.
iii. "O Rahu,
swallow not the dispeller of darkness, the shining one, the radiant and effulgent traveler through the sky. Rahu, release
Suriya, my son."
BUDDHISM
IS PURE MONOTHIESM
No modern
monotheistic tradition can even compare with the declaration of the Pali Buddhist Prayer and DECLARATION OF TRUTH:
Nathi Mein Saranam Annam
Buddho Mein Saranam Varam
Etena Saccha Vajena Hotu mein Jayamangalam!!!
There is no other refuge!
Buddha is the true refuge!
With this truth, may glorious victory be mine!!
The
power of Monotheism is not understood outside of meditation. Having Buddha as your sole focus, a mind is undivided and can
easily be brought to focus and attention and so can be easily purified. The above declaration is awesome. Focus
ONLY on Buddha. Don't focus on the past or future -- Buddha is the present -- Right here, right now -- let your focus
remain in the now.
When Buddhists take refuge, Dharma
is not first -- why not? Because Dharma is only theory. Buddha did the hard job of breathing life into the Law.
Buddha is the manifestation and actualization in a living being - the theory of Dharma. Buddha is the Dharma perfectly
practiced and completed -- BUDDHA IS THE WHOLE BODY OF THE LAW...living, breathing love -- living, breathing compassion --living,
breathing wisdom...etc. The Sangha are all the humans who see the Buddha's perfection and believe it and partake
of this perfection incompletely -- they can only partake of it completely ONCE THEY THEMSELVES become Buddhas. The Sanghas
very breathing is connected to Buddha's breathing, the Sanghas mind is connected to Buddha's mind, the Sanghas speech is connected
to Buddha's speech. The Sangha stands in awe of being connected to this complete manifestation of the Law known as the
Buddha, as a child stands in awe of his glorious parents.
Somewhere due to foreign mistranslations,
Bhagava became translated instead as "Blessed One" which might as well be the literal translation of "God" as meaning "the
invoked one". The literal meaning leaves much to be desired. The fact that every Buddhist sutta/sutra begins with
"Bhagava" itself makes it known that the earliest Buddhists thought of Buddha as the supreme most being.
Buddha
is Lord Rama himself reborn as he reveals in the Dasratha Jataka! In the most ancient Pali Texts Lord
Buddha reveals that he is Gopala and Govinda (the names of Lord Krishna in Hindu scriptures)!!
The
Buddha often tells the Jataka stories where he NEVER DENIES THE EXISTENCE OR POWER OF DIETIES. The Buddha was born as
Brahma, as Indra, and as the Divine Chakravartin King hundreds of times...etc. One can gather this to mean,
that BUDDHA IS ALL THE GODS in ONE. In Indian religions, he is the Supreme Brahman.
In the earliest
canon, in the Pali, all of terms used were the same used to describe God in the Indian languages:
In
the Pali Buddha anusati, Bhagavan or God is defined the following way:
Iti pi so Bhagavan
Thus is God (Buddha),
1) Arham - worthy of worship.
2) Sammasambuddho - all knowing.
3) Vijja carana sampanno - at whose feet knowledge is completed.
4) Sugato - Happy One
5) Lokvidu - knower of the world
6) Anuttaro Purisa damma sarathi - unequalled charioteer of heroes (BHAGAVAD GITA ANYONE??? One can
recall Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as charioteer to Arjuna)
7) Satta deva manusanam - Teacher of gods and men. (hmmmm, so Buddha is a teacher of Gods and
Men...superior to all the Gods and Men...whom, who calls Buddhism atheistic?)
8) Buddho - the knower.
9) Bhagavan - Supreme Most God.
Buddha is the heart of the sun or the essence of the sun of knowledge! This hymn from Valmiki Ramayana is known
as the Aditya Hrdyama, or the Heart of the Sun which describes Lord Buddha's qualities perfectly!
We further have the definition of Buddha as God in other suttas:
Knowing, the Lord knows; seeing, He sees. He
has become the eye, He has become knowledge, He has become the law, He has become Brahma. (the Supreme Brahma
of the Upanishads, not the diety) He is the speaker, the proclaimer, the elucidator of meaning, the giver of the Deathless,
the Lord of the Dhamma, the Tathagata. (Tat - in the Gita is literally a term for the Supreme Being)
"Friends, the Tathagata; the supreme man, the superlative man, attainer
of the superlative attainment (Anuradha Sutta To Anuradha)
Yo so Avuso tathAgato uttamapuriso
paramapuriso paramapattippatto
Ooops! Now these are further descriptions to describe God in his human form as the highest being in
Indian languages.
Here in Hindu texts, the term Bhagava is described as the supreme most truth:
Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.11) clearly states the meaning of Bhagavan to mean the supreme most being:
vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmeti
bhagavan iti sabdyate
The Learned Know the Absolute Truth call this nondual substance Brahma, Paramatma or Bhagavan
This Vedic definition matches perfectly with the Buddhist one, with Buddha described as "become
Brahma" and "become the Truth" or become Dharma.
Further evidence from the Pali Canon that Buddha is God:
In the Itivuttaka, Buddha clearly states he is the supreme object of verified faith and confidence:
§ 90. {Iti 3.41; Iti 87}
"Among whatever beings there may be — footless, two-footed, four-footed, many footed; with form
or formless; percipient, non-percipient, neither percipient nor non-:percipient — the Tathagata,
worthy & rightly self-awakened,
is considered supreme.
with confidence in the supreme,
supreme is the result.
Iti 100 goes even further, describing the Buddha as the supreme father and creator of the world:
You are my children, my sons, born from my mouth, born of the Dhamma, created by the "Dhamma,
heirs to the Dhamma, not heirs in material things.
Furthermore, AN 3.70 Muluposatha Sutta, the recollection of the Buddha is akin to observing the Brahma
uposotha, i.e. living with the Supreme Brahman.
As he is recollecting the Tathagata, his mind is cleansed, and joy arises; the defilements of his mind
are abandoned. He is thus called a disciple of the noble ones undertaking the Brahma-Uposatha. He lives with Brahma
[= the Buddha].
HOW TO END SUFFERING??? - TAKE REFUGE IN BUDDHA ALONE
!!
You think you can just practice the Noble Eightfold Path without knowing Buddha is the Supreme Most? NOT! You
can meditate, but not obtain the Noble Eightfold Path. BUDDHA GIVES YOU THE LAW, THE PATH!
Verified confidence and faith in the Buddha as "Bhagavan" constitutes the "Four Factors of Stream Entry" (AN 10.92 Vera
Sutta,Animosity),
"And which are the four factors of stream-entry with which he is endowed?
1)"There is the case where the disciple of the noble ones is endowed with unwavering faith in the Buddha:
'Indeed, God is worthy & all knowing, consummate in knowledge & conduct, happy, an expert with regard to the
world, unexcelled as a trainer for those people fit to be tamed, the Teacher of divine & human beings, awakened, God.'
2) "He is endowed with unwavering faith in the Dhamma...
3) "He is endowed with unwavering faith in the Sangha...
4) "He is endowed with virtues that are appealing to the noble ones...
"These are the four factors of stream-entry with which he is endowed.
with the stream being the Noble Eightfold Path (SN 55.5)
So if you don't have confidence in Buddha as Bhagavan or God -- no Eightfold Path for you!
"Sariputta, 'The stream, the stream': thus it is said. And what, Sariputta, is the stream?"
"This noble eightfold path, lord, is the stream: right view, right resolve, right speech, right
action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration."
"Very good, Sariputta! Very good! This noble eightfold path — right view, right resolve,
right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration — is the stream."
In the Mahaparinibbana sutta the Buddha recollection constitute "The mirror of the Dhamma" and thus
constitutes the first step in "right view" of the "Noble Eightfold Path."
TRUE FAITH IN BUDDHA IS BAPTISM!
[Nandaka responded,] "Enough, I say, with this external bath. I am satisfied with this internal bath:
confidence in the Blessed One."
— Licchavi Sutta
If there is any doubt to what is Buddha Dhatu or Buddha guna than the LankaAvatar Sutra leaves no further doubt:
There are some who call me the Self-existing One (svayambhuva), the Leader (nayaka), the Remover-of-obstacles
(vinayaka), the Guiding One (parinayaka), Buddha, Rishi, Bull-king, Brahma, Vishnu, Isvara [God], the Originator (pradhana),
Kapila, the Destroyer (bhutanta) [or: the Extreme of Reality], the Imperishable (arishta), Nemina, Soma (moon), Fire, Rama,
Vyasa, Suka, Indra, the Strong One (Balin), or Varuna; there are others who know me as Immortality (anirodhanutpada) [literally:
non-Cessation, non-Arising], Emptiness, Suchness, Truth (satyata), Reality (bhutata), Limit of Reality (bhutakoti), Dharmadhatu
[Realm of Dharma], Nirvana, Eternity (nitya), Sameness (samata), Non-Duality (advaya), the Imperishable (anirodha) [literally:
Non-Cessation; Non-Extinction, Non-Ending], Formless (animitta) [literally: Without Characteristic Marks/ Qualities], Causality
[pratyaya), Teaching the Cause of Buddhahood (buddha-hetupadesa), the All-Knowing (sarvajna), the Conquering One [or Conqueror]
(jina), or the Will-body (manomayakaya).
Will the REAL Buddhists stand up please!!! Real Buddhists won't hesitate to call Lord
Buddha Father...and only his true children can grow up to be just like HIM!
So if anyone tells you Buddhism doesn't have God, tell them to read this and ask them "Which
book have you been reading? BTW, Buddhism for Idiots and all those self help books in the Buddhism section by someone
claiming to be Buddhists are non-canonical books :P"(Translations of Tipitaka Suttas from Access to Insight)
BEAUTIFUL VERSES OF FAITH AND DEVOTION
10. 'The darkness-dispelling Buddha, the all-seeing,who thoroughly understands the
world[1], has overcome all existences, is free from passion, has left behind all pain, is rightly called (Buddha),
he, O Brâhmana, has come to me. (1132)
13. 'There is only one abiding dispelling darkness, that is the high-born, the
luminous, Gotama of great understanding, Gotama of great wisdom, (1135)
15. Bâvarî: 'Canst thou stay away from him even for a moment, O Pingiya,
from Gotama of great understanding, from Gotama of great wisdom, (1137)
16. 'Who taught thee the Dhamma, the instantaneous, the immediate, the destruction of desire,
freedom from distress, whose likeness is nowhere?' (1138)
17. Pingiya: 'I do not stay away from him even for a moment, O Brâhmana, from
Gotama of great understanding, from Gotama of great wisdom, (1139)
19. 'I see him in my mind and with my eye, vigilant, O Brâhmana, night
and day; worshipping I spend the night, therefore I think I do not stay away from him. (1141)
20. 'Belief and joy, mind and thought incline me towards the doctrine of Gotama; whichever way
the very wise man goes, the very same I am inclined to[1]. (?) (1142)
21. 'Therefore, as I am worn out and feeble, my body does not go there, but in my thoughts I always
go there, for my mind, O Brâhmana, is joined to him. (1143)
22. 'Lying in the mud (of lusts) wriggling, I jumped from island to island; then I saw the perfectly
Enlightened, who has crossed the stream, and is free from passion.' (1144)
