> http://optagon.page.tl/Did-The-Buddha-believe-in-God-f-.htm
>
> …within Buddhism, in the most famous of its scriptures, the
> Dhammapada(47), the Buddha clearly espouses a belief in a supreme
> Creator. Buddha, contrary to being an atheist or a person
> who never answered or avoided answering the question of
> God’s existence, as present day Buddhist sects and most Western
> and Eastern scholars portray, also believed in One God:
>
> Who is capable of praising one like a coin
> of finest
> gold, one whom the knowing praise after finding him
> impeccable, controlled, intelligent, insightful, ethical,
> and
> composed day in and day out? Even the gods(48) praise such
> a one, even the Creator [brahmuna] (17:9,10).(49)
>
> In the Sutta-Pitaka which is part of the Tripitaka texts,
> translated by T.W . R. Davids of the Buddhist Pali Text
> Society, the Buddha has categorically stated, in the Tevigga
> Sutta, that he had a relationship with the Creator and they
> should listen to him and follow his ways , since they too
> want to know how to relate to the Creator.
>
> …to the Tathagat [the fully enlightened person] when
> asked touching the path which leads to the world of
> Brahma [the Creator], there can be neither doubt nor
> difficulty. For Brahma I [do] know Vashetta [the young
> Brahmin the Buddha was addressing], and the world of
> Brahma and the path that leads to it. Yes, I know it ever as
> one
> who has entered the Brahma world, and has been born within
> it!(50)
>
> To paraphrase, Buddha is saying that: “Vashetta, I know, as an
> enlightened person that the path to God has certainty and is easy. I
> know God and the path that leads to God, since I am part of God’s
> creation.” Buddha also believed in hell, a paradisiacal state in the
> next life, and the accountability of deeds in the hereafter:
>
> One who speaks untruth goes to hell, as does one
> who claims not to have done what he has in fact
> done.
> Both become equal after death, people of base deeds
> in
> the hereafter. (22:1)
>
> When a person long absent from home returns safely
> from afar, relatives, friends, and well-wishers rejoice at his
> return. In the same way, when one who has done good
> is gone from this world to the beyond, his good deeds receive
> him, like relatives receiving a returning loved one. (16:11,
> 12)
>
> In the book Outline of Mahayana (Chapter IX) D.T. Suzuki
> explains that God is referred to by the term Dharmakaya-Buddha or the
> religious object of Buddhism. In fact in a Tibetan text, the
> Dharmakaya is described with eight attributes, which are:
> Sameness, Depth, Everlastingness, Oneness, Harmony, Purity,
> Radiance, and Enjoyment [some of which are explained as]:
>
> Sameness, because the Dharmakayas of all Buddhas are
> not different.
> Depth, because it is ineffable.
> Everlastingness, becaus e it has no beginning or end.
> Oneness, because the Dharmadhatu (Absolute Reality)
> and Transcendent Awareness (are not different).
> Harmony, because it is beyond positive and negative poles.
> Purity, because it is free from the three taints of hatred,
> greed,
> and delusion.
> Possessing enjoyment, because with its wealth of qualities
> it is the basis of all enjoyment.(51)
>
> Suzuki elaborates that “The Dharmakaya assumes three essential
> aspects: intelligence (prajna), love (karuna) and will
> (pranidhanabala).” In fact, Professor Robert F. Thurman, Columbia
> University, who is also a Buddhist monk, passionately emphasizes
> that: “Buddha not only believed in God, he knew God. There were
> numerous atheists in Buddha’s time – the Charvaka materialists –
> and the Buddha specifically critiqued their lack of belief
> in any spiritual reality.”(52) In a chapter
> entitled: “The Differing Viewpoints of Buddhism and the
> Other World Religions regarding Ultimate Reality” William Stoddart, in
> his book, Outline of Buddhism, explains that the true Buddhist
> belief is really theistic, but that the existence of
> Ultimate Reality (i.e. God) who is both immanent and
> transcendent, has been misunderstood because of the emphasis of
> the immanence component. In fact, Thurman emphasizes that
> Islam clearly depicts the physical inconceivability of God, in
> that there is nothing like God and that Buddhism, if
> understood correctly, has one and the same goal. It is easy to see
> how the emphasis of the Buddha on the non-corporeality of God has led
> to many erroneously believing that there is no God in Buddhism.
>
> 47. Thomas Cleary (Translator), (1995), Dhammapada: The
> Sayings of Buddha.
>
> 48. Deva in the original Pali; this likely refers to the created
> angels
> or the good spirit entities.
>
> 49. Thomas Cleary (Translator), (1995), Dhammapada: The
> Sayings of Buddha.
>
> 50. Muller, F. Max, (1881), The Sacred Books of the East, p. 186.
>
> 51. Guenther, Herbet (Translator), (1970), The Jewel Ornament of
> Liberation, p.264-5.
> http://www.kheper.net/topics/Buddhism/dharmakaya.htm
>
> 52. Henry, Gray (Editor), (1997), Islam in Tibet and the
> Illustrated Narrative: Tibetan Caravans,pp. 35-37.
>
> http://optagon.page.tl/Did-The-Buddha-believe-in-God-f-.htm