---But Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig) is a Yidam or "god-like" character; since Buddhists clearly worship A/C "as if" he were a god. Avalokitesvara is also Enlightened, according to the Buddhist Scriptures. These 2 facts combined refute "Buddhist Thought", for all practical purposes. (unless one might attempt to worm one's way out by saying Avalokitesvara is not a "god"). Sorry - no worms allowed!
In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Richard J. Williams" <willy...@...> wrote: > > TurquoiseB wrote: > > Even simpler answer: There is no God... > > > Some 'Buddhist' materialist you turned out to be! > > Traditionally Buddhists throughout the Buddhist > world consider that the universe contains more > beings in it than are normally visible to humans. > Buddhists have no objection to the existence of > the Hindu Gods. > > "Nevertheless, Buddhists can't take refuge in the > gods because the gods are not Buddha. That is, > they are not enlightened. All the Hindu gods, for > all their power, are not the final truth of things. > > Power does not necessarily entail insight, and for > Buddhist the gods do not have the liberating insight. > But none of this entails that the gods do not exist > or that the gods cannot except a powerful influence > over our lives. Thus, the Buddhist has no problem > with the gods." > > References: > > 'Buddhist Thought' > by Paul Williams > Routledge, 2000 > > 'Buddhism in Practice' > ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. > Princeton Readings in Religion, 1995 >
