• Drusas@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    The Buddha is not a god. Buddhism is nontheistic and shouldn’t be included in this meme.

    • andros_rex@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      The picture is not of the Buddha. That’s a picture of Budai, who was a Buddhist monk and has a variety of religious traditions and worship associated with him. Fat Buddha =|= the Buddha.

      Some varieties of Buddhism are nontheistic, but not all varieties. There’s the “little wheel” versus the “big wheel.” Some varieties of Buddhism have hundreds of gods.

      Edit:

      I do see someone that looks like “the Buddha” in the background - that is, Siddhartha Gautama.

      But the idea that Buddhism is some rational atheist philosophy is very much a western gloss. Friend did a study abroad in Myanmar - the Buddha is so revered that having tattoos/casual iconography is sacrilegious and dangerous. A very popular form of Buddhism is “Pure Land” Buddhism, where the goal is to not necessarily reach nirvana, but to be good enough to get to chill in a nice place with the gods in your next life. Buddhist traditions tend to recognize their gods as trapped in samsara just as much as we are, but again, lay practice is going to treat various Buddhas as Demi-gods.

      • Drusas@fedia.io
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        15 hours ago

        Pointing out a basic fact is not pedantry. I am definitely pedantic, but this isn’t an example of it.

      • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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        1 day ago

        I grew up Buddhist and I feel like people might think Buddhas are gods but they’re more like role models. I hope Buddhists see that.