Seeking a Buddhist reference from the Pali Canon that there is no Supreme Personality of Godhead

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Taken from forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=6457926#post6457926
Abu said:
But like the pantheistic Brahmin, Buddha did not acknowledge his dependence on the gods. They were like men, subject to decay and rebirth. The god of today might be reborn in the future in some inferior condition, while a man of great virtue might succeed in raising himself in his next birth to the rank of a god in heaven. The very gods, then, no less than men, had need of that perfect wisdom that leads to Nirvana, and hence it was idle to pray or sacrifice to them in the hope of obtaining the boon which they themselves did not possess. They were inferior to Buddha, since he had already attained to Nirvana. In like manner, they who followed Buddha’s footsteps had no need of worshipping the gods by prayers and offerings. [CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Buddhism]](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03028b.htm])

A feature of Buddhism is that Buddhism is a non-theistic religion. Later Mahayana Buddhism virtually made the Buddha himself into a god, but the existence of God and even the existence of an immortal soul are either denied or irrelevant in Buddhism.

Buddha himself specifically denied the existence of a conscious God. (Buddhism, Bradley S Clough, in Jacob Neuser ed. God, Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1997, p 57).

It is good to clarify what Christ’s Church does not teach.
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I would appreciate if someone can provide a Buddhist reference from the Pali Canon that there is no Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Thanks in advance.
 
cho_pilo said:
I would appreciate if someone can provide a Buddhist reference from the Pali Canon that there is no Supreme Personality of Godhead.
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Digha Nikaya 1, Brahmajala sutta. Look for Wrong View #5, the first of the four partly Eternalist partly Non-Eternalist views. This is the view that God is eternal but the rest of us aren’t.

rossum
 
GaryTaylor said:
What is the Supernatural Realm to you?
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Buddhism doesn’t deny "super"natural realms (that is, realms of subtle form and formlessness).

Most discussions about Buddhism, theism, and “atheism” are hindered by the assumption that to deny a particular definition of “theos” (which is what the Buddha did in the Pali canon) is to deny any and all definitions of “theos” and any and all ideas of “super”-nature (or, a realm of other-than-matter/energy).
 
SedesDomi said:
What is a “Supreme Personality of Godhead”? What are its characteristics?
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I think the real challenge related to it is in exploring what “supreme being” could mean, in Buddhism and elsewhere.
So, rossum, if you’d like to explain the question above, sir, then I happily say: the floor is yours. *Is Buddhism Atheistic? *

It seems that when we think of “God” or “supreme being” and whether God exists, we tend to think in terms of “provider”, “controller” or “someone who bears all the responsibility” - and Buddhism characteristically does not cater to such notions of a supreme being, so it seems atheistic.
 
cho_pilo said:
So, rossum, if you’d like to explain the question above, sir, then I happily say: the floor is yours. Is Buddhism Atheistic?
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There are many gods in Buddhism. All with a small g. They are not important. There is no equivalent of the Abrahamic God, though you might want to read the section of the Brahmajala sutta I indicated in my earlier post for a more full and accurate statement of the Buddhist position.

The gods are not perfect and can make mistakes. They are all subject to karma and to reincarnation. They are alive and will all attain nirvana eventually.

Buddhism does not concern itself much with origins. We are in a situation of suffering and we have a way out of that suffering. All the rest is useless. The standard Buddhist world view is an endless succession of universes one after the other with no end in sight and no beginning in sight.

rossum
 
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