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Nontheism in Buddhism
Gautama Buddha was a notable non-theist: when asked whether God existed, or any similar question of metaphysics, usually responded with complete silence (see also mu). These questions became known as the Fourteen Indeterminates.[3]
On one occasion, when presented with a problem of metaphysics by the monk Malunkyaputta, Buddha responded with a story of a man shot with a poisoned arrow. The man's family summons the doctor to have the poison removed, and the man given an antidote:
"But the man refuses to let the doctor do anything before certain questions can be answered. The wounded man demands to know who shot the arrow, what his caste and job is, and why he shot him. He wants to know what kind of bow the man used and how he acquired the ingredients used in preparing the poison. Malunkyaputta, such a man will die before getting the answers to his questions. It is no different for one who follows the Way. I teach only those things necessary to realize the Way. Things which are not helpful or necessary, I do not teach."[4]
Although Buddhism has a vast number of scriptures and practices, the fundamental core of Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, are distinguished in the world of religion as being absent any mention of God(s) or any notion or worship of any deity. They are purely ethical and meditative guidelines based on the truths of psychological suffering due to impermanence.
Zen Master Bassui (1327-1387) had strong words for those applying notions of divinity to any separate beings, such as bodhisattvas:
"... so you should realize that all the names of the bodhisattvas are just different names for the nature of mind. As an expedient in the World-Honored-One's sermons, he defined things using certain names, and with these names he pointed to the truth. Ordinary people, unaware of this truth, become attached to the names and, in the hopes of attaining Buddhahood, seek the Buddha and Dharma outside their minds. It's like cooking sand in the hopes of producing rice."[5]
Despite an involved Buddhist cosmology, the creation of Things, along with their attachments and aversions (the illusion of maya), is attributed to ignorance or avidya; and attaining to Buddhahood is the end of such ignorance. This technical emphasis on creation, within the mind, contrasts with the notion of any God initating a cosmological creation story, as in theistic traditions.
Nontheism remains a common element of many schools of Buddhism. However, many theologians have argued that Buddhists have merely transferred their theistic devotion to ancestors, bodhisattvas, kami, and other alleged "deity surrogates". Other observers have dismissed these practices as mere folk traditions, analogous to the pagan undertones present in European Christian worship, and not a feature of higher religion. Most modern Buddhist teachers, such as Soyen Shaku and Robert Baker Aitken, avoid addressing the existence or nonexistence of deities, regarding the issue as an indulgence and a distraction. |
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狗仔卡
