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Unlock This CourseIn Ultimate Reality: One God, Many Gods or None, you learned that ultimate reality means whatever is most real and lies behind everything else, and that Buddhism is non-theistic. Remember, Buddhism teaches no creator God. So what do Buddhists believe is ultimate? Most would give two answers.
Remember, the Dhamma is the truth of how things are, which the Buddha taught. Buddhists believe the Buddha did not make this truth up. He discovered it. He compared himself to a man who finds an old, overgrown path in a forest and follows it to a forgotten city. The path was always there. The Dhamma holds true whether or not a Buddha appears to teach it.
Everything in the universe is impermanent and depends on conditions. Buddhists believe nibbana is the one exception. The Buddha described it as unborn, unmade and unconditioned, so it does not change or end. It is not a god, a person or a heaven. It is the complete end of greed, hatred, ignorance and suffering. You will study it fully in Nibbana and the Noble Eightfold Path.
So the Buddhist ultimate reality is not a personal being who creates, judges or answers prayers. It is a truth to be understood and a freedom to be reached.
Key terms:
Traditional Buddhism does include gods. The Buddhist scriptures often mention devas. But they are very different from the God of monotheism.
So where do Buddhists turn? The Dhammapada says that frightened people go for refuge to mountains, forests and sacred trees, but that these are not a safe refuge (verses 188-189). The safe refuge is the Three Refuges: the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha (verses 190-192).
Most Buddhists say these questions are not the important ones. The reason is practical. The Buddha said that what he taught was suffering and the end of suffering. Arguing about whether a God exists does not remove greed, hatred or ignorance from anybody's mind.
The Buddha once picked up a handful of leaves in a forest. He asked his monks which were more: the leaves in his hand or the leaves on the trees. The leaves on the trees, they said. The Buddha replied that, in the same way, the things he knew were far more than the things he had taught. He taught only what leads to the end of suffering. For most Buddhists, debates about God or gods are leaves left on the trees: interesting, but not needed for the path.
Some Buddhists think the question does matter in two ways:
Theravada Buddhists stress that the Buddha was a human being who became enlightened, not a god. Bowing or offering flowers to a statue of him shows respect and thanks. It is not a prayer asking him to act. Devas are accepted as real, but nobody looks to them for nibbana.
Mahayana Buddhists believe there are many Buddhas and bodhisattvas who can help people. Examples are Amitabha Buddha and Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Mahayana Buddhists may chant their names, make offerings and ask for help. This can look like the worship of gods, but these beings are not creators. They are enlightened or close to it, so they are honoured far above devas.
Many secular Buddhists in Western countries do not believe that devas or heavenly Buddhas really exist. They may read the stories about them as symbols for states of mind. For them Buddhism is a practical way of living, built on meditation and ethics. The writer Stephen Batchelor called this approach 'Buddhism without beliefs'.
Mahayana Buddhists also describe ultimate reality in their own ways. Remember sunyata (emptiness) and Buddha-nature. Many Mahayana Buddhists see these as the deepest truth about everything that exists.
Do not write 'Buddhists do not believe in any gods'. Traditional Buddhism accepts devas, but teaches that they are impermanent and cannot give nibbana. Do not write that Buddhists worship the Buddha as God either. Buddhists believe he was a human teacher who became enlightened.
Paper 1 style. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three different beliefs about whether God or gods exist. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two beliefs about ultimate reality in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why there are different attitudes to gods in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'It does not matter whether God exists.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. There is one God (1). 2. There are many gods (1). 3. There is no God (1).
(b) Buddhists believe the Dhamma is ultimate (1), because it is the truth of how things are, which holds true whether or not a Buddha appears to teach it (1). Buddhists also believe nibbana is ultimate (1), because it is unconditioned, which means that unlike everything else it does not change or end (1).
(c) Buddhists agree that there is no creator God, but they have different attitudes to other gods. Theravada Buddhists follow the scriptures, which describe devas as real beings who are still in samsara. Because devas are impermanent and cannot give nibbana, Theravada Buddhists do not rely on them, and they honour the Buddha as a human teacher.
Mahayana Buddhists believe that many Buddhas and bodhisattvas, such as Avalokiteshvara, help living beings out of compassion. This means they pray and make offerings to them, which can look like the worship of gods.
Secular Buddhists in the West have often grown up with a scientific view of the world. They see devas as symbols for states of mind, so they concentrate on meditation and ethics.
(d) Plan. For: the Buddha taught only what leads to the end of suffering (the handful of leaves), and debating God does not remove the three poisons; even devas are impermanent and cannot give nibbana, so each person must practise for themselves; many humanists say people can live good lives whether or not God exists.
Against: for monotheists it matters more than anything, because they believe God created them and will judge them; some Buddhists say it matters because trusting a God to save you can weaken your own effort; Mahayana Buddhists believe help from Buddhas and bodhisattvas makes a real difference.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly agree. For a Buddhist the question is not needed for the path, as the handful of leaves shows, but the statement goes too far, because for a believer in God the answer changes the whole purpose of life.
In part (c), the word 'different' is where the marks are. Name at least two groups of Buddhists, such as Theravada and Mahayana, and give the reason for each group's attitude. Describing one view only keeps you in Level 1.