Buddhism may not have "a God" but Buddhism belief has "gods" who are superior beings existing at various planes of existence. Their gods, called "Devas", apparently exist at the highest plane of existence well above humans, and animals, and various beings condemned in past lives to inhabit hell (the lowest planes). Buddhism's "demons" called "Asuras" occupy another zone.
However, in Zorastrianism, conversely the gods are called "Ahuras" and the demons are called "Daevas" (root terms of devil): So it seems possible that all these zones / planes are actually political statements referring to events in some hoary past at an indeterminate location. http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/aryans/religion.htm http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20583/20583-h/20583-h.htm (page 287) Re: Buddhism as a religion: BTW: Are we referring to "God" as "creator- God" ? On 9/23/12, Russ Abbott <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks, Sarbajit. As I understand it Buddhism does not have a God. Does > that mean you would not classify it as a religion? > > -- Russ > ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
