Some say the Buddha never spoke about God.
From a non-dualist perspective, he never spoke of anything except God.
I found the text below in a file from June 1998. I do not remember the origin, however I’m sure I saved it because I wanted to share it, which I do now:
Robert Thurman spoke at Dickinson in March, and he said something funny
and true, I think. To paraphrase: “Many people think Buddhism is
atheistic. It isn’t. Buddha recognized the existence of God. Buddha MET
God. He just wasn’t that impressed.”I think it is more accurate to say that Buddhism has “no opinion” rather
than to say that it rejects the existence of god. The good life and the
good outcome are just not dependent upon the will of an external power.
Perhaps god exists; perhaps god created the universe, even; and perhaps
god can help those in need. But does it really matter?Dan Cozort, Dept. of Religion | “True freedom is freedom from
Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773 | your own desires.”
Carlisle, PA 17013. 717/245-**** |
fax 245-1942; cozort@dickinson.edu | –Katsuki Sekida
A version of what may be a version of this story is at time 12:55 in the podcast below.
I imagine that Dan Cozort’s opinion on this matter has changed since 1998. Mine has. Buddhist philosophy has a clear “opinion” on God. A non-dualist view sees how the artist and art have no independent arising. Where is God not? It is artificial to place some dividing line between creation and creator. No matter your view of God, I feel there is at least an operative free will in play, putting the onus on us to act as agents of Love – Karuna and Metta are our gifts. Creation does the work of creating.
From The Lion’s Roar Podcast: When Buddha Met God / Is Buddhism even a religion?