Once a man went to Lord Buddha and
said, “I do not believe in God.” Lord
Buddha said, “You are right.” The man
went back happily. A second man came and
said, “I believe in god.” Lord Buddha
said, “You are right.” He also went back
happily.” Then a third man came and
humbly submitted, “Some people say there is no God and when I listen to their
logic, I get convinced. But when I
listen to the sages, I feel that God exists.
Now I am confused. Does God exist
or not?” Lord Buddha told him that he
had come to a right place and urged him to look for God together. Lord Buddha said so because he did not have a
pre-conceived notion of God.
Lord Buddha continued and told him; “A
perturbed mind can never go close to God.
Drop your concept of God. Sit
with your eyes closed and go deep within yourself. When you experience the depth within, then
the truth will dawn on you. You will
find the answer by yourself. Repose in
the serene depth of your inner consciousness, all your worries will disappear.”
In Buddha Dharma God is uniquely
missing. Lord Buddha, Arahantas and Bodhisattvas
are revered. But they are not Gods. They are teachers and on their own merits they
are the source of inspiration. They are
not to be requested for boon or a favour through petitional prayer.
The followers of Buddha Dharma express
their wish and draw inspiration from Lord Buddha, Arahantas and Bodhisattvas for
commitment to higher ideals.
In Mahayana there is a plethora of
deities but they are not Gods or Goddesses either. They are not Gods and Goddesses in the sense
of entities endowed with any independent existence. The deities are the embodiment of the
respective field of merits they represent.
Being the essence of divinity, the deities motivate us, and serve as the
source inspiration to comprehend and contemplate, and actualized those fields
of merit within us, which they represent.
