𝘾 𝙖 𝙡 𝙢 🌼 A Pocket Guide To Breathe Easy

🌿 going further: is the Buddha our creator-god?

The short answer is no. If you yourself believe in God or a creator, read on only if you wish to read a Buddhist's challenge.

In the Buddhist understanding of the universe, there is no creator because none is logically possible. A creator is by definition beginningless, because they were not created. However, anything beginningless can not itself create, because it cannot possess the will do so, and why?

Because the only possible source for a creator's will is the creator, yet this is an untenable paradox. To will something is to make it happen, but a creator cannot be made happen because it is beginningless. Without a beginning, something cannot be started or made. Therefore a creator cannot be made happen, therefore it could not have been willed, therefore a creator could not have willed himself. Because of this, a creator cannot will to create. Thus creation is not logical.

And if it isn't logical, by definition there is no reason to believe it. Any "reason" is self-deluded. One could believe in a creator for "no reason" or because of "true belief," but these are not possible, because not a thing is true unless all true things are true. In other words, a thing is not true without a reason. Thus there is always a reason. The reason for someone's belief in a creator boils down to ignorance.

Because Buddhism is a strictly logical religion, we do not believe in a creator. The Buddha is not our God, but rather... well... it's simple but complicated. To put it in simple terms, a buddha is us, following the Bodhisattva's path to its completion and continuation. Only with great study and meditation does the nature of the Buddha really make sense! It took me many months in an undistracted world.

Still, there are reasons to venerate figures such as the Buddha. One great reason is to practice humility. As a Zen Buddhist, you ultimately rely on your own faculties to explore the universe, and because of this great reliance, it can be easy to grow arrogant. By venerating the Buddha, you quickly understand how much work you have left to achieve.

The Buddha is also a figurehead, which is useful for people not deep into the practice, or who know nothing about it. A religion without a figurehead has difficulty finding students, to put it simply.

Around 500 BCE, the Buddha taught sutras to help people. These sutras remain helpful to this day. They cannot be relied upon because everyone learns in different ways, but what Shakyamuni (the Buddha) taught reverberates strongly to this day. It is a baseline for study and for practice among all Buddhists.