[Buddha-l] angels

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

r.g.morrison schreef:

>: Gary Gach schreef:
>:
>: > For a text I'm writing, I'm very interested to hear of any
>: > descriptions of angels in Buddhism
>
>Erik:
>
>: Depends what you mean by an angel. It's originally a divine messenger.
>: So it implies a god who likes to send messenges to people who need to
>: recieve them. I'm afraid this leads us far away from buddhism.
>
>What about Brahma Sahampati pleading with the Buddha to teach, when the 
>Buddha thought that trying to communicate the Dharma would be, in coloquial 
>terms, 'a pain in the ass'!
>
>  
>
As far as I understood the passage, B was a god and he could communicate directly with humans. In the desertreligions there's only one god who's so far away from his business (transcendent) that he needs messengers. This lone ranger god also has no attributes, clothes, vehicles and even no face. This all has been given to the angels who need it for their jobs. 

Erik