Although Mahayana Buddhist believe in some sort of divine grace and the story of Siddhartha mentions gods, the teachings of Buddha, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path steer Buddhism away from a god centered religion towards a human centered religion.
In Mahayana Buddhism, they do believe that Buddha is divine in some way. According to Smith, “Mahayanist added supplication, petition, and calling in the name of the Buddha for spiritual strength” to their types of prayer. The act of praying directly to Buddha exemplifies how Mahayanist have come to idolize Buddha as some type of God. However, the fact that their main goal is to reach nirvana and not worship Buddha, keeps Mahayana Buddhism a human centered religion rather than a god centered one. …show more content…
Mara tried to prevent Gautama from reaching enlightenment by becoming the god of desire, and later even showering flaming rocks down of Gautama . These actions taken by Mara seem to be godlike, but they are most likely exaggerations of the challenges faced by Gautama personified by the supernatural because of Buddhism’s roots in Hinduism.
Buddha himself preached of a human centered religion. He preached of a religion free of tradition and rituals, two aspects held by all god centered religions. He also directly “preached a religion devoid of the supernatural.” While he didn’t directly say there are no gods, he did “condemn” divinity, making Buddhism a human centered religion regardless of whether gods existed or not
In Mahayana Buddhism, they do believe that Buddha is divine in some way. According to Smith, “Mahayanist added supplication, petition, and calling in the name of the Buddha for spiritual strength” to their types of prayer. The act of praying directly to Buddha exemplifies how Mahayanist have come to idolize Buddha as some type of God. However, the fact that their main goal is to reach nirvana and not worship Buddha, keeps Mahayana Buddhism a human centered religion rather than a god centered one. …show more content…
Mara tried to prevent Gautama from reaching enlightenment by becoming the god of desire, and later even showering flaming rocks down of Gautama . These actions taken by Mara seem to be godlike, but they are most likely exaggerations of the challenges faced by Gautama personified by the supernatural because of Buddhism’s roots in Hinduism.
Buddha himself preached of a human centered religion. He preached of a religion free of tradition and rituals, two aspects held by all god centered religions. He also directly “preached a religion devoid of the supernatural.” While he didn’t directly say there are no gods, he did “condemn” divinity, making Buddhism a human centered religion regardless of whether gods existed or not