Bon Journal

Who is God in Buddhism?

At the Self-Realization Fellowship Park in LA, I submitted two questions after my 10 minute meditation. Who is God in Buddhism? Please respond to analyticalQ. Here's the reply:

"From the Hindu philosophy came the Buddhistic philosophy, which develops the consciousness of love and devotion and kindness. Buddhists started the first missionary movement in India.

Buddhism, however, does not give a clear teaching on the consciousness of the ultimate Supreme Being. It teaches that negation or cessation of desire is the goal.

Hinduism, on the other hand, teaches that there is something to be sought here and beyond: "From Joy we come, in Joy we live, and into that sacred Joy we melt." Through various pathways of ambition we are consciously or unconsciously seeking God. We are all seeking one thing-- perennial happiness, which is God.

Bliss-consciousness is also stressed in so-called atheistic religions, such as Buddhism. The Buddhistic Nirvana is not, as mistakenly supposed by Western writers, a "blowing out of the light," an extinction of existence. It is rather the state where narrow individuality is blotted out and transcendent calm in universality is reached.

This is exactly what comes in higher Bliss-consciousness, though the name of God is not attached to it by the Buddhist."

I forwarded this e-mail response to my friend who took me to the park. Here's her reaction:

"Yes, Buddhists don't believe in a creator-God, or an almighty Good vs Evil kind of thing. It's more like the goodness (or maybe more properly - the Buddha) is within you (and all of us) and we work through meditation to remove confusion so we can get closer to that.

The Buddha was an actual human who walked the land, experienced hardships and then attained enlightenment. Like being able to see how things really are - without judgment.

We all have a different path, and Buddhists are not into converting people to Buddhism, but more interested in helping people find their own path to happiness. Maybe that's why we're so broke. :-)

So- Buddhism is very appealing to me, as I've never really been big on the 'God' thing - not that there's anything wrong with that philosophy - it just never really resonated with me."

30 September 2003 Tuesday

Serenity at the Self-realization fellowship park - windmill meditation chapel

Dedicated to all religions, the park contains plants from all five continents. My friends and I walked around the park and witnessed the fish and swans being fed at 3 pm. It's truly a place not to be missed in Los Angeles.