The Humanistic Saviour
This is why the Buddhist does not think, “the saviour of the world is the Creator of the world.” The Creator cannot be a saviour because he is the Creator of suffering. The true saviour can only be a human being who can free himself from this suffering by transcending the normal human consciousness, which is dreaming that a “self” exists in a world that exists.” This saviour awakens from this “dream of existence,” and then teaches others to awaken from this terrible nightmare, “the dream of life and death.” The all knowing, all powerful, all good “God” is not an unknown Creator, but a known human being who has transcended all human weaknesses. Such an individual is the Buddha, and He is therefore the true God of the Buddhists. He is called “God-become” (brahma bhuto).
This description of the Buddha helps one understand that Buddhism is neither theistic nor atheistic. It is humanistic because this concept of God is a humanistic concept of God. It recognises the potential divinity of the human being. It is through the process of evolution that the human being evolves to the level of God. This is the humanistic way of union with God, which all religions speak of in their own way. God is understood in Buddhist thinking to be only the human concept of perfection. God is the ideal of perfection that human beings conceive, and struggle to realize through the practice of religion. When a human being does realize this ideal, he is called an Awake One, a Buddha. When this occurs, the process of evolution stops, because the futile struggle to exist stops and one has “Awakened” from the “dream of existence.” The essence of this “God” is not “existence,” as in the case of the theistic God; the essence of this God is “non-existence.” This God does not exist, even when others see Him as an existing person. This is the anthropomorphic God of the Buddhist.
This description of the Buddha helps one understand that Buddhism is neither theistic nor atheistic. It is humanistic because this concept of God is a humanistic concept of God. It recognises the potential divinity of the human being. It is through the process of evolution that the human being evolves to the level of God. This is the humanistic way of union with God, which all religions speak of in their own way. God is understood in Buddhist thinking to be only the human concept of perfection. God is the ideal of perfection that human beings conceive, and struggle to realize through the practice of religion. When a human being does realize this ideal, he is called an Awake One, a Buddha. When this occurs, the process of evolution stops, because the futile struggle to exist stops and one has “Awakened” from the “dream of existence.” The essence of this “God” is not “existence,” as in the case of the theistic God; the essence of this God is “non-existence.” This God does not exist, even when others see Him as an existing person. This is the anthropomorphic God of the Buddhist.