Are buddhist athiest or agnostic?

[yasiin sadiq]

    I've heard different things. any one know if the buddhist believe in a god. Maybe  there is some variation among them on the issue and that's why I'm getting conflicting information.

[AbdusSibtayn]

They are agnostic. 

Buddha never really dealt with the question of God's existence. 

Some traditions have their own major and minor demi-gods borrowed from the local pagan traditions, but OG Buddhism (Theravada) is agnostic. 

Edited February 23 by AbdusSibtayn

[PureExistence1]

Salaam,

I found:

Buddhism is best described as a non-theistic tradition. It does not involve belief in a creator god or personal deity, focusing instead on understanding the nature of the mind and reality through practices like meditation and ethical living.

While Buddhists generally do not affirm the existence of a god, they also do not necessarily deny it outright. This places Buddhism outside the strict definitions of atheism (which denies gods) or agnosticism (which suspends judgment). Instead, it emphasizes practical teachings over metaphysical beliefs. Secular or agnostic forms of Buddhism, often called "Secular Buddhism," are also common and align with skeptical or pragmatic approaches.

In summary, Buddhists are typically non-theistic rather than explicitly atheist or agnostic.

This info is from AI and i e found AI to sometimes not entirely be accurate, like if you know a subject REALLY well, and you ask it a question, it can give you an inaccurate answer, but when you "put it in its place" by correcting it with the right info, it actually apologizes (lol) and ends up agreeing with you and then it will spout out a bunch of info about why what you said is in fact true..so weird.

I e gone round and round with it trying to learn its biases. I found it to basically be sunni in nature til you prove imamah to it,lol! In the end, it agrees.

[Abu Nur]

7 hours ago, PureExistence1 said:

It does not involve belief in a creator god or personal deity, focusing instead on understanding the nature of the mind and reality through practices like meditation and ethical living.

There is nothing to found there, just shaytan deceiving thinking they are doing good.
 

[mahmood8726]

They're not agnostic or aethiestic, they just don't adress the question of a god.

 

But they have some false beleifs like incarnation, the idea of bad and good karma(which isn't always true in islam), or being pacifist. 

[Eddie Mecca]

On 2/22/2025 at 7:47 PM, yasiin sadiq said:

I'm getting conflicting information.

Ask one hundred Buddhists about the existence of God and you're liable to get one hundred different answers...it depends on their understanding or their particular worldview...some may describe themselves as: atheist, agnostic, nontheistic, pantheistic, polytheistic etc....Buddhists believe in angels and different otherworldly beings and invisible entities...Buddhists are not supposed to pray to these entities but you can't help (i.e. prevent) people from being people...Buddhist so-called atheism is largely a modern indigenous reaction to the influx of Christian missionaries following the British colonization of Hong Kong...this strong use of language and extreme self-categorization helped to construct an impenetrable wall and protect against Western spirituality / overseas foreign devil influence...Buddhism focuses on present moment living and stresses positive action over theology...Buddhism sprung forth from its sister religion (i.e. Hinduism) in northern India and its endless conjecture and theorizing about thousands of gods were unrestrained...be mindful that Buddhism arose under these circumstances...bear in mind this context...Buddha taught his followers not to obsess over unanswerable philosophical questions (i.e. origins of the universe, existence of God, multiplicity of gods etc.) and concentrate on enlightenment

 

[Eddie Mecca]

Jewish (i.e. Abrahamic) meditation versus Buddhist meditation - 7 minutes

 

 

[Abu Nur]

On 2/23/2025 at 4:22 PM, Abu Nur said:

There is nothing to found there, just shaytan deceiving thinking they are doing good.
 

Whoever shuns the remembrance of the Most Gracious, We assign for him a devil, to be his companion. 043036

They hinder them from the path, though they think they are guided. 043037

[Eddie Mecca]

Dr. Ali Ataie - Buddhism In A Nutshell: The Basics of World Religions Series - 1 hour

 

[Eddie Mecca]

Buddha Could Be Al-Khidr - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf - 1 minute

 

 

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 5/29/2025 at 6:11 PM, Eddie Mecca said:

Buddha Could Be Al-Khidr - Shaykh Hamza Yusuf - 1 minute

Salam he has done weak plagiarism from Arabic version of Kanat Elyoun in order to deny status of Imam Hasan (عليه السلام) & Imam Mahdi (aj) .

۴۳:۵۵
YouTube · Kanat Eleyoun (‫قناة عليون‬‎)
يونس هو بوذا (Yonus was Buddha)

إنعكاس ملكوت الامام الحسن على النبي يونس . من هو بوذا

(Reflection of divine image of Imam Hasan (عليه السلام) on prophet Yonus (عليه السلام). Who has been Budha)

Edited May 31 by Ashvazdanghe

[ServantOfMahdi]

Many researchers are of the view that Gautama Buddha, the prince of Kapil, has been mentioned twice in the Qur'an as Dhul-Kifl, with Kifl here being the arabized version of Kapil. Other interpretations for Dhul-Kifl like Ezekiel etc. don't have solid arguments. Moreover mentioning Dhul-Kifl (a title) twice without name without going into details too makes sense if he is a well-known non-Israelite non-Arab figure whose title suffices for his identification. His prophecies that seem to be about Prophet Muhammadص too endorse this view.

[ServantOfMahdi]

 

[ServantOfMahdi]

The only qualities with which Dhul-Kifl has been mentioned in the Qur'an are goodness and patience.

[Ashvazdanghe]

21 hours ago, Zaydi Shiapard said:

Many researchers are of the view that Gautama Buddha, the prince of Kapil, has been mentioned twice in the Qur'an as Dhul-Kifl, with Kifl here being the arabized version of Kapil. Other interpretations for Dhul-Kifl like Ezekiel etc. don't have solid arguments. Moreover mentioning Dhul-Kifl (a title) twice without name without going into details too makes sense if he is a well-known non-Israelite non-Arab figure whose title suffices for his identification. His prophecies that seem to be about Prophet Muhammadص too endorse this view.

About the name of Dhu l-Kifl, there are many disagreements. Some considered him Ezekiel.^[4] Also, there are views which considered him Elijah (a) (Elias), Joshua (a) or Elisha (a).^[5] Some believe that he was "Bushr", the son of Prophet 'Ayyub (a) (Job).^[6] Some others, based on a hadith, considered his real name "'Uvidia", meaning "the Servant of God".^[7]

[4-6] Sunni viewpoint

[4] Mullā Ḥawīsh, Bayān al-maʿānī, vol. 5, p. 208.

[5]  Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh madīnat Damascus, vol. 17, p. 370.

[6] Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 9, p. 78.

[7] Shia Hadith from Imam Jawad (عليه السلام)

[7] Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 216.

Quote

Tabrisi narrated in Majma' al-Bayan's commentary on the Book of Prophethood by Sheikh Saduq that Abdul-Azim al-Hasani wrote a letter to Imam Jawad ((عليه السلام).) and asked the Imam about the name Dhul-Kifl and whether he was one of the messengers [note 4]. The Imam wrote in his response: Allah sent one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets, three hundred and thirteen of whom were messengers. Dhul-Kifl is one of them. He lived after Solomon ibn Dawud. Like Dawud, he judged among people. He did not get angry except for the sake of Allah. His name was "'Uvidia, son of Adariin." [16]

Tabrisi , Majma' al-bayan , V7 , P107

https://fa.wikishia.net/view/ذوالکفل

https://en.wikishia.net/view/Majma'_al-bayan_fi_tafsir_al-Qur'an_(book)

 

Prophethood

Most Islamic scholars considered Dhu l-Kifl among divine prophets.^[13] The Qur'an mentioned his name together with other prophets (a); and some considered the appearance of these verses suggesting his prophethood.^[14]

There is a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a) where he (a) considered Dhu l-Kifl among the prophets of Banu Israel after Prophet Solomon (a), who judged people like Prophet David (a).^[15] Some Sunnis too considered Dhu l-Kifl among the prophets of Banu Israel.^[16]

^[15]  Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 7, p. 95.

Abu Musa al-Ash'ari transmitted a hadith from the Prophet(s) that Dhu l-Kifl was not among the prophets and was only a righteous servant of God.^[17]

https://en.wikishia.net/view/Dhu_l-Kifl_(a)

 

Edited June 2 by Ashvazdanghe

[ServantOfMahdi]

He (a) fasted all days and never became angry. Some sources mentioned a story about him when Satan tried to make Dhu l-Kifl angry but failed.[19] https://en.wikishia.net/view/Dhu_l-Kifl_(a)

∆

Resembles the story of Buddha vs Mara.

"Uvidia" is a treasure for those acquainted with the proper indic pronunciation of "Buddha" and indic linguistics, where "b" and "v" often are used interchangeably, like "nirvana" in Sanskrit is "nirban" in north-western hindi and "nibbana" in Pali buddhist scriptures. And the indic "d+dha" (द्+ध=द्ध) = ddha is different from the usual Arabic rendering of "ذ" , and the Arabic بوذا has been derived from the European Buddha, not the original indic बुद्ध, with which buda/vuda would have been closer in pronunciation.

Also Buddhist texts, like the Lotus Sutra, describe Buddha as a spiritual "vaidya" (healer or physician in Sanskrit).

Edited June 2 by Zaydi Shiapard