Uncle wrote:
> I mean, think about the people who talk about Heaven 
> a lot.
>
In fact, Uncle, millions of Buddhists worship and pay respect to all 
kinds of heavenly and celestial entities such as Manjusri, 
Avolikiteisvara and the Goddess Tara, both White, Green, and Gold. 
In Nepal, most Buddhists worship Bhairava, the Tantric Goddess of 
fecundity.

> Would *you* want to be stuck with them for eternity
> in the kind of place they'd consider Heaven?  :-)
> 
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 or Heavens of the Gods. 

Nevertheless, Buddhists can't take refuge in them because the
Hindu Gods are not Buddhas; that is, the Gods are not enlightened. 
According to Buddhist teaching, all the Hindu Gods, for all their 
power, do not dwell in heaven for "eternity". 

But none of this entails that the Gods don' exist or that the Gods 
cannot excert a powerful influence over our lives. Thus, the 
Buddhist has no problem with the Gods, Sir. 

References: 

"Buddhist Thought" 
by Paul Williams 
Routledge, 2000 

"Buddhism in Practice" 
ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr. 
Princeton Readings in Religion, 1995 





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