[Buddha-l] the existence of God in Buddhism

[Vicente Gonzalez]

Upeksacitta wrote:

Uac> Its necessary to ask  individuals what they mean and  assess its
Uac> practical impact on  their lives (is it a source of dogmatic
Uac> attachment, or of  openness to conditions?) before drawing even
Uac> the provisional  conclusion that they are  eternalists.

it is the real point. There is a long distance between the God of
Meister Eckhart or Ibn Al Arabi, which can be are close to buddhist
sunyata, and the God of the Old Gospel. Then when somebody talk about
God it's needed to know what he means.

Another  point is the authentic sense of atheism. Prefix '-a' in
fact drive us to a privative meaning. Therefore, it is closer to
"without" than to "not". In this sense, Buddhism can be truly
atheistic, because his followers are living without be conditioned
or concerned by some god. It doesn't imply that a God or a Creator
doesn't exists in a conventional point of view (which can be so truth
as a final one). However, sunyata it's the home for the final meanings
in Buddhism, not a creator.

I think one of the best passages to investigate the role of a creator
it's the Kevaddha Sutta, re-titled "What Brahma didn't know" in the
translation of Digha Nikaya of Maurice Walshe. Here there is a useful
teaching to investigate that.


best regards,