Are the Buddhas and Gods in China Confused?

Fellow initiates, judging from the questions you asked, you really confused God with Buddha.

Buddha is the transliteration abbreviation of Sanskrit Buddha in ancient India, and its full name is Buddha or Buddha. Free translation means awakening, knowing, being wise and awakening. Awareness has three meanings: self-awareness, other people's awareness (enlightened beings) and complete awareness (complete awareness, after all, complete). Only with these three meanings can it be called Buddha.

God, in legend, is the creator or master of all things in heaven and earth. From the perspective of Buddhist thought, it is to practice ten good deeds and die in heaven.

In fact, your problem comes down to your ignorance of Buddhism. I extracted a part of Master Hui's "Reciting the Dharma" for fellow initiates to learn.

Misunderstanding of Buddhism-This department puts forward clarification ideas for those who have not yet studied Buddhism and are not deeply educated.

* There is no distinction between gods and buddhas.

China's culture is all-encompassing, and all religions that preach goodness can be widely accepted. Up to now, everyone who worships incense has mistaken it for Buddhism. In fact, many gods in folk beliefs, such as Huang Chengzhu, the Land Lord, the Third Prince, Mazu, etc., have been put on the cloak of Buddhism by laymen, but their nature and wishes are different and should be investigated.

God is the sentient beings of the six divisions in the wheel of karma, and belongs to those who are protected by ghosts and gods. In other words, he made outstanding contributions to the country and mankind before his death, and later generations set up temples to sacrifice and cherish his kindness. Or is it because people are ignorant of natural phenomena and are awed by the thunder and lightning of mountains and rivers? People think that God has the power to dominate the life and death of all things, and has the ability to dominate good fortune and bad fortune, but they don't know that God himself is an ordinary person in the world. His purpose is nothing more than persuading the good, and there is no complete and meticulous ideological system. Worship god for secular protection and disaster relief, but can't get rid of it. Other religions affirm that God is unique. God and man are masters and servants, and they can never be equal.

Buddha, on the other hand, is a practitioner who puts down his throne, his wife and children and seeks truth. He is a natural saint, who understands the truth of the universe and life and proves the wisdom of reaching nature. He advocates that all good and bad luck should be borne by people themselves. If you don't pay attention to it, you can completely improve your thinking and behavior. Blind worship can't avoid bad luck, let alone purify personality. Buddha loves all sentient beings with compassion. He is a good teacher and friend. Therefore, Buddha and human beings are teachers and students in love. Everyone can become a Buddha as long as they follow their teaching methods. Therefore, Buddha and man are equal in essence.

Wisdom and confusion are indistinguishable.

People often criticize Buddhism as superstition. What is superstition? Believing in a daze without careful thinking and rational discrimination is called superstition. Critics often have never heard of classics and Buddhism, and even the original meaning of "Buddha" is speechless, that is, they subjectively believe that Buddhism is superstition. Isn't this critic more blind and superstitious?

What is bosom friend? Judging with wisdom, observing calmly, and finding kind and beautiful people can free people, and then accept and believe, which is called wisdom and faith. Liang Qichao once said: "Buddhism is wisdom and belief, not superstition. Buddhism not only disagrees with superstition, but even encourages rational exploration and questioning. This tolerant and realistic attitude is a symbol of wisdom and belief and the biggest difference between Buddhism and other religions.

* Folk heresy is mistaken for Buddhism.

Many folk customs, or heresies, are not true believers in Buddhism. The following are:

◎ Fortune-telling: By drawing lots, divination, playing chess, touching bones, etc. It is asserted that a person's life is a blessing or a curse. This is because people are at a loss about their own future, hoping to guide the direction, while Buddhism advocates "if you want to know the past causes, you should suffer in this life;" Want to know the afterlife, the author of this life is. Your own thoughts can determine your future destiny. You don't need to rely on fortune telling, you need to rotate karma.

◎ Geographical geomantic omen: Geographical geomantic omen is related to the north and south poles, magnetic field and groundwater flow, which is scientific and natural. It really has an impact on ordinary people who have never been confused. And those who are proved to be Siraitia grosvenorii, wherever they go, are pure land, which is exactly the same as "ordinary people turn their hearts, saints turn their hearts." "Do the best footnote. But Buddhism pays attention to the mind, and all blessings are inseparable. The heart is far more important than the external geography.

◎ Divine divination: This is a ritual of folk belief, in which psychics are used as a bridge to pray. This is by no means a product of Buddhism, but a category of witchcraft.

◎ Cup-throwing: If people can't communicate with ghosts and gods, they should ask themselves and answer themselves according to my opinion, and guess God's will. In fact, it is a matter of probability, which is not credible.

◎ Burning ghost paper: a promotion technique started in the Han Dynasty by paper merchants, which has been followed to this day, and even derived the custom of tying paper with ghost tools to pray for the use of the dead. Buddhism believes that to do merit, it is necessary to give alms, seal scriptures and support the three treasures in the name of the deceased, which will better benefit the deceased. Cover the cremation paper, ghosts, only ghosts, but the dead are not necessarily reincarnated ghosts. And the money of past lives must not be burned, and the mantra is printed on it. If cremated, it will be regarded as burning books, which is a big sin.

◎ Killing is sacrifice: people who don't know often offer chickens, ducks and fish to the Buddha to show their sincerity. But Buddhism is merciful, advocating the equality of all living beings and respecting the right to life of all living beings. And six sentient beings, generations of marriage, how do you know that those who were killed were not born to previous parents? Is based on its basic principle-don't kill people.

* Wrong cognition-negative, pessimistic and blind worship.

Buddhism unveiled the veil of life and fully realized that its essence is bitterness, emptiness and impermanence. For people who are not deeply involved in the world, they often interpret the meaning according to the text and think that Buddhism is negative and pessimistic. In fact, Buddhism is negative for creating evil, but very positive for doing good. Buddhism is willing to pull out the suffering of all beings, so it is a kind of "sadness" rather than "sadness" view of goodness. Some people even criticized becoming a monk as unfilial and evading responsibility. As we all know, a diversified society needs all kinds of talents, and the great task of spiritual salvation depends on the Bora monks!

Becoming a monk is a man's business, not a man's business. Becoming a monk is true filial piety, because becoming a monk is a family's trouble, and what you do is Long Shao Buddhism, spreading Buddhism and benefiting life. The Tibetan Bodhisattva vows: Hell is not empty, and I will never become a Buddha; Bodhi can only be proved when all beings are exhausted. What a positive thing this is!

Outsiders often criticize Buddhism for worshipping idols, but they don't know that Buddhism worships Buddha statues for the convenience of believers to meet the sage Qi and learn the spirit and behavior of Buddhism, not to pray. Just like the national flag, the national anthem and the cross, they are all symbols of spirit, and the Buddha statue is also expressive. Buddhism has always been isolated from the world and never gives up, and the Diamond Sutra is even more disfigured. How can I worship idols? But there is no phase, that is, the heart is the Buddha

My humble opinion on ancestor worship is as follows: this is the great filial piety advocated by Confucianism, and whether it is a Buddhist disciple or not, it should be worshipped in a rational way. However, the meaning of worship is not to pray for the prosperity of ancestors, but to be grateful. Our bodies come from our parents, and their bodies come from their parents. There are no ancestors, there are us. Therefore, people who worship their ancestors are for filial piety and gratitude. This can't be compared with worshipping ghosts and gods.

I wonder if I can solve your doubts. Welcome to continue the discussion.