Do Buddhists believe in God?

[Eqilra]

What do Buddhists think about the origin of life?
What do Buddhists think is happening at the end of life?

[Batavia]

Buddhists do not believe in any kind of deity or god, although there are supernatural figures who can help or hinder people on the path towards enlightenment, like Baka Brahma or Vara Brahma.

[Jacques de Imbelloni]

They believe in many gods but their function is not as relevant as in Hinduism, They don't believe in the main deity that is above all.

[renaissance12]

What type of buddhism?

[Comealongwithme]

Buddhists are akin to Muslims. They will say they don't worship Buddha/Muhammad as their god but if you insult them, they will try to kill you or imprison you.

[Zyzz]

Buddhists are akin to Muslims. They will say they don't worship Buddha/Muhammad as their god but if you insult them, they will try to kill you or imprison you.

The Buddha is a historical figure, so your comment makes no sense. I suppose there are some rural Buddhists in Asia who have deified Buddha, but most Buddhists do not see Buddha as a god and many in fact are secular.

[Zyzz]

What do Buddhists think about the origin of life?
What do Buddhists think is happening at the end of life?

Many Buddhists are secular so their views may approximate what you find with agnostics. Since the Buddha did not oppose the scientific method, most Buddhists will accept modern theories about life, including evolution. The Buddha's main concern with with ethics, similar to Socrates and the Stoics, so he did not take a dogmatic view on such matters. Since Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism, many Buddhists believe in reincarnation. Not all Buddhists hold the same beliefs in these matters. Both Buddhists and Hindus are primarily concerned with finding enlightenment, called nirvana or moksha, which supposedly ends the cycle of rebirth. This involves the annihilation of the ego (a very difficult endeavor).

[Roy]

I consider becoming a Buddhist myself.

[Nurzat]

Atheism is the way, but I have to admit Buddhism has some nice own mind control techniques that one could benefit from. if you stick to the 'nothing supernatural' path and don't derail into mysticism brought by previous pagan/peasant beliefs

[Universe]

I consider becoming a Buddhist myself.
I will attend a "transcendental meditation" course in second half of February, but idk to what extent that is related to buddhism.

[Hexachordia]

What do Buddhists think about the origin of life?
What do Buddhists think is happening at the end of life?


Buddhism considers the idea of origin of things as meaningless, a form of vanity of all things, which are a vanity themselves. The treatment of the idea of vanity is of central spirit of Buddhism. About the end of life and after life there are many versions, but all agree that there is an afterlife to face consequence of deeds in forms of punitive reincarnation or demonization. There is a unique tibetan narrative of afterlife "The Tibetan Book of Dead" you can check out, it was said to have been written by a nepalese buddhist monk Padmasambhava who was said to have been predicted by Shyakamuni himself to preach the truth about afterlife.



Buddha Shakyamuni also said Padmasambhava would be an emanation of Buddha Amitabha and Avalokitésvara and referred to him as the embodiment of all the buddhas of the three times. Many prophecies indicate that Guru Rinpoche would be a fully enlightened buddha, appearing in this world to help sentient beings.

The concept of God is very evasive in Buddhism, I can not say that Buddhism is either atheistic or theistic, rather a form of enlightenment like science but not based on the dialectical evidences. However, I must say, as far as I am concerned about Buddhism, the truth of Buddhism is the wisdom of being a human being(muni), which is compassionate, wise, encompassing in a way to consider all lives as brethrens. But there is a danger when comes to the western romanticism of self-deification through buddhist humanist ideal: to become a demigod. This will be a grave mistake, Buddhism does not treat any way of ascension in western sense, it deals with how to be a good human being only(alive and dead) with a mission of extricating oneself from the endless loop of karma(cause and effects/consequence world)--Nirvana, if you do not believe me then I am out of this, go your way.

[Aila]

No, Buddhism does not believe in God, but one might talk about it in terms of Totality.

If one considers or understands all existence (manifested form reality), the energy behind it and the formless (the unmanifest, the unborn) as “God”, I don’t think Buddhists would have a problem with that.