The Eightfold Path - The Fourth Noble Truth

[sky]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

However, since the Buddha maintained such a steadfast "Noble Silence" when asked about "God", Thich Nhat Hanh's inclusion of "God" in his "Buddhist teachings" remain questionable at least to me.

In Thich Nhat Hanh Teachings from what I have read over the Years He has never included God in The Buddha's Teachings (Suttas/Sutras). He talks about His personal belief in God not The Buddhas......

[sky]

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

Was Gautama Buddha silent on Love?
I think not.
So I don't know what God Buddhists or Gautama was silent about.
Because the essences and manifestations of Love are all through Buddhism and Life to be witnessed.

The Buddha most definitely according to His Teachings believed in Gods as do many Buddhist especially Zen Buddhist but from my understanding never as creators. Buddha spoke about the Universe being a manifestation of one 'Primal Essence', what is that one essence I wonder.

[Gem]

I think the best idea is NOT to try to make God fit. If Buddha said love, it means love, not something else. I guess people will insist in trying to make God fit, but essentially, there is no God in Buddhism and it really doesn't matter if you believe in God or not.

[Maisy]

Originally Posted by Gem

I think the best idea is NOT to try to make God fit. I guess people will insist in trying to make God fit, but essentially, there is no God in Buddhism and it really doesn't matter if you believe in God or not.

There are Sutra's in Buddhism where Buddha speaks about Gods like this example:

The Noble Sutra on Entering the Great City of Vaishali

"The Buddha, who has compassion for the world, has spoken... It is the wish of the gods. It is the wish of the lord of the demigods. It is the wish of all demigods. It is the wish of the servants of the demigods. It is the wish of all bhūtas"

“The Buddha, the Great God, the God of gods, the Guru of gods has arrived! Therefore, gods together with Indra, gods together with Brahma, gods together with Wangdak and people together with their kings will also come. The kings of the four quarters will also come. Hundreds and thousands of gods, the kings of demigods and hundreds and thousands of demigods will also come."

[sky]

Originally Posted by Gem

but essentially, there is no God in Buddhism

Essentially there is no 'Creator God' in Buddhism but there are Gods which you can find mentioned in many Sutras/Suttas and in various Schools of Buddhism.. Then we have 'The Noble Silence'......

[Still_Waters]

QUOTE 550 EXCERPT:

Originally Posted by ImthatIm

Was Gautama Buddha silent on Love?
I think not.

As you correctly stated, Buddha was NOT silent about love.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metta_Sutta

Read about the Buddhist Metta Sutta on Loving Kindness.

EXCERPT:

In terms of meditative development, the discourse identifies:

- an intentional wish that facilitates generating mettā (Pali: sukhino vā khemino hontu; English: "May all beings be happy and safe")

QUESTION: Are you suggesting that the Buddha needed to include "God" in his discourse on loving kindness and Love?

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by sky

In Thich Nhat Hanh Teachings from what I have read over the Years He has never included God in The Buddha's Teachings (Suttas/Sutras). He talks about His personal belief in God not The Buddhas......

That is quite different then. However, some people understandably may have difficulty discerning the boundary between his personal beliefs and the "Buddhist" practice that he taught.
Thich Nhat Hanh wrote some really nice stuff, but I was never really drawn to him.

The Buddha, however, is one of my foremost ideals ... especially his teachings AS HE REPORTEDLY TAUGHT. What has been reported about the Buddha's teachings have really resonated well with me and have guided me in many ways.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by sky

The Buddha most definitely according to His Teachings believed in Gods as do many Buddhist especially Zen Buddhist but from my understanding never as creators. Buddha spoke about the Universe being a manifestation of one 'Primal Essence', what is that one essence I wonder.

Could you elaborate further on the "Gods" whom you say that the Buddha believed in ... though "never as creators" ?

Also, could you point out where the "Buddha spoke about the Universe being a manifestation of one 'Primal Essence' "?

EDIT: You and Maisy already answered the first question and I responded to Maisy's detailed post.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Gem

I think the best idea is NOT to try to make God fit. If Buddha said love, it means love, not something else. I guess people will insist in trying to make God fit

Originally Posted by Maisy

There are Sutra's in Buddhism where Buddha speaks about Gods like this example:


“The Buddha, the Great God, the God of gods, the Guru of gods has arrived! Therefore, gods together with Indra, gods together with Brahma, gods together with Wangdak and people together with their kings will also come. ..."

The sutras that Maisy has mentioned are using the term "god" or "gods" in a totally different sense than the creator God that many understand the term to mean.

The "gods" like the Indra in the above quote are conquerable entities as duly noted in the Ramayana when referencing Indrajit ("conqueror of Indra"), who was the son of Ravana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indrajit

As Gem indicated, it is also my sense that people here are trying hard to fit "God" into Buddhism. It remains my understanding that Buddha neither affirmed nor denied the existence of God but steadfastly maintained the Noble Silence on that subject.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

As Gem indicated, it is also my sense that people here are trying hard to fit "God" into Buddhism.

I personally am not trying hard to 'fit' God into Buddhism, in my understanding there has to be a space to be able to 'fit' something into.