Question for Buddhists

[o0mz_rasmalai0o]

I've been under the impression that Buddhists do not believe in a God, but I'm just wondering, do Buddhists pray to Buddha?

I'm curious because I have two Sri Lankan friends who are Buddhist and they have told me that they do pray to Buddha. Moreover they also pray to Hindu gods. This kinda indicates to me that you believe Buddha is a God? If not, why do Buddhists pray to him? And is it common practise for Buddhists to pray to Hindu gods (are they also Gods in Buddhism)?

No offence intended I'm just curious about Buddhism

[Nationalist]

Well, Buddha himself never consideded himself divine, or a god, or even a savior in any way... He simply stated that he was a teacher that people can listen to if they wanted to... I learnt alot about the philososphy, but the rest of your question requires a practicing Buddhist.
Buddhism is very interesting as a religion, right on par w/ what Hinduism intended...

[desi_gunda]

Buddhists believe in God, they dont talk abt God since they know God is beyond their comprehension. They arent atheists, or cults like sum fuktards have claimed before.

[Impulse]

Buddhists do not pray to Buddha nor to any other higher being. Buddha never said to pray to him or to bow to his image. He did not consider himself a higher being; he said that people could only help themselves. The reason that there are statues to Buddha is primarily to serve as a visual inspiration for people. But otherwise, bowing down to that image and praying to the Buddha is useless.

[drunkenmaster]

Buddhism denies a creator/ruler God, however Buddha never denied an infinite first cause, an immutable inexpressible Reality. Its stance in this regards is adumbrated by the saying "If thou knowest the Uncreate, thou hast found Deliverance."

This however is not to be confused with the Abrahamic dualistic concept of 'God', which is an entity.

Like others have said, Buddha never claimed to be a God, Prophet or anything of the sort.

Note, different schools of Buddhism differ on certain beliefs, and in some aspects quite drastically. According to the Mahayanists doctrine of 'The Three Bodies of Buddha', the historical Buddha - Siddhartha Gautama, was the emanation of the eternal Buddha, in other words an incarnation of the Ultimate Reality. The eternal Buddha or the Buddha-Nature is absolute, the Ultimate Reality which can be equated with the Brahman of the Upanishads. Theravada Buddhism on the other hand, stands in contrast to the Body of Emanation/Illusion of Mahayana, who believe Buddha was a nothing more than a human.

The Hindu Gods, known as Devas or Demi-Gods are believed to exist in heavenly realms of existence, these Devas are subject to the same law of karma/suffering/rebirth as we are, however these heavenly realms are not the ultimate destinations.

One thing that has always fascinated me is the difference between Buddha's 'Emptiness' and the Upanishad's 'Brahman', to me they sound like 2 different terms refering to the same thing.... any thoughts?.

[Nationalist]

In mahayana Buddhism there are gods, but they R only protector demigods. I know that in Tibetan Buddhism, there are signs of Shaivism in their religion...

[Sherriynda]

Buddhism never denies or acknowledges there is a god or not... Many have taken on that Buddhism is an athiest religion when it is not... it's really personal choice..Buddhism allows people to be more open minded than some other religions with out so many limitations. However it is a religion of common sense.

Buddhim just like any other religion has different sects. So one group of buddhist believers may think differently than another group of believers on the subject of God.. However, We all work toward a common understanding of birth/life/suffering/death/rebirth... Karma (cause and effects of our actions in life).