Buddhism is indeed a godless religion, because when she explains the origin of everything, she uses the concept of origin and thinks that everything (various laws) is nothing more than karma. For example, a mage who firmly believes in the concept of origin certainly has no Oracle. No matter whether he advocates all dharma but has a mind (only knows Buddhism), regards nature as a Buddha (Zen Buddhism) or a pure land Sect (Pure Land Sect), there is no concept of God in their thoughts. For example, dr. zhang, a Buddhist scholar in China, said in his long article attacking Christianity: "Most religions in the world believe that there is a God who rules the universe. God is the original cause of the creation of all things in the universe, and the all-knowing and all-powerful creator. Buddhism completely denies this basic belief which is generally accepted by all religions. At this point, Buddhism can almost be said to have no Oracle "(see Buddhism, Religion and Today's World, published in Political Weekly 130). My rebuttal is contained in the same issue (14 1 issue).
As I have said several times before, Indians used to believe in polytheism, but around 500 BC, there was a sudden cause that Sakyamuni advocated godlessness, saying that although there were many believers at that time, after Sakyamuni's death, his godless teachings still could not fill the spiritual emptiness of Indians, so Buddhism began to change and gradually produced Mahayana Buddhism similar to god worship. Mahayana Buddhism is characterized by:
Attach importance to the spirit of Sakyamuni Buddha and despise all kinds of commandments in the order.
Oppose the view that Sakyamuni has been reduced to ashes advocated by the existing cults, but emphasize that Sakyamuni's body is destroyed, but his dharma body will live forever (Sakyamuni has been deified and become the god of the universe).
Oppose hiding in the mountains, but should go deep into folk education.
It is advocated that spirit comes first, then matter, and all objective things transcend all kinds of changes by looking at the subjective mind.
It is believed that in addition to Sakyamuni, there are many buddhas and bodhisattvas in the universe, the number of which is immeasurable.
The dharma master of Mahayana Buddhism in China once went to Hinayana to preach Mahayana, but it was an eye-opener. When he came back, he violated his inherent position and advocated that Mahayana was not a Buddha. Mahayana is not a Buddha. People who believe in Mahayana will know that it is not true as long as they are willing to study it with an open mind. French master is one of them. He said: "Mahayana was originally a product of the integration of Buddhism and Hinduism. The prevalence of Mahayana is the success of the Hindu revival movement. He also said: "After Ashoka was destroyed, Hinduism began to rise again, deified the Buddha and began to melt Buddhism, so Mahayana flourished." However, Master Yin Shun retorted: "This view is simply upside down; He should be upside down, that is to say, Buddhism and Hinduism are integrated-Buddhism is transformed into Mahayana (the reason is not simple) (for the original text, see page 86 of "Learning Buddhism from Buddhism"). According to my knowledge of Buddhism, I stand in the position of Master Yinshun, that is, Buddhism was absorbed by foreign ideas such as Hinduism and transformed into Mahayana Buddhism.
According to Buddhist legends, the first Buddha statue in the world was completed in about 150 BC. At that time, there was a Greek king Menada100–160 BC in northwest India. After he believed in Buddhism, there was no "idol" to worship (it was said that there were no statues of Buddha and bodhisattva in India at that time), so he was called from Greece.
After centuries of tempering, Buddhist painting and sculpture have experienced Gandhara, Indo-Greek mixed art, Matala art and Gupta dynasty art, and a large number of Buddha statues, bodhisattvas and various painting sculptures have emerged in Buddhism. Later, Buddhism in China began to imitate India and the Western Regions, and made statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas for people to worship. Some of them are made by completely imitating Indian technology, while others are carved by Chinese-Indian mixed technology or all-China technology. Therefore, if we look at the true spirit of primitive Buddhism or Buddhism, worshipping bodhisattva is not Buddhism; But for example, from the Mahayana Buddha bodhisattva, isn't this the standard Mahayana Buddhism?
However, China people who believe in many gods and ghosts need something to worship after they convert to Buddhism, otherwise they will return to their old beliefs. Buddhism probably understood this point, so since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it has been vigorously advocating the beliefs of Guanyin Bodhisattva (centered on Putuo Mountain in Dinghai, Zhejiang Province) and Manjusri Bodhisattva (centered on Wutai Mountain in Shanxi Province), and later included the Bodhisattva Dizo and the Bodhisattva Dizo. Originally, Guandi Bodhisattva (Guan Gong), Zhou Cang Bodhisattva and Zhu Tian Bodhisattva (Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty, highly respected by Hangzhou people) which had nothing to do with Buddhism all squeezed into Buddhism, and were widely read and worshipped by Buddhists. In the famous Baojue Temple in Taichung, besides Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and Tibetan Bodhisattva, there are people standing and watching Guan Gong! In front of him, it is also the peak of incense. If Sakyamuni Buddha has a spirit, we must ask this red-faced friend why he can share incense with him in front of believers.
China people worship bodhisattvas to the point where they regard them as "gods". I believe that begging him to worship him will definitely "get rid of all diseases, make money and treasure, and make the whole family safe"! Belief in Guanyin Bodhisattva is the best example. On the contrary, Sakyamuni Buddha was put in limbo and nobody cared. If this continues, Buddhism in China will become the world of bodhisattvas. Buddhism, which really talks about cause and effect, not only withers because of this, but also the hundreds of millions of Buddhists who make a fool of themselves and worship bodhisattvas. Do they all have to suffer again? It is also a headache for people who are superstitious and blindly worship Bodhisattva, and for those who care about Buddhism, but the tide of Buddhism has fallen, and it seems difficult to recover it. West Kricketot said: "Generally speaking, people who practice Buddhism pay special attention to the Buddha, but not to the Bodhisattva (Buddhism Today, 196 1 August). Master Yin Shun said: "Generally, other worshippers of Buddha and Bodhisattva ignore the world, that is, Sakyamuni, and no longer pay attention to the authenticity of Buddha on earth. As a result of abnormal development, Buddhism, which was originally bred by Buddhism, declined and became an empty and mysterious belief. Buddha's belief should not be idolatry (Learn Buddhism from Buddhism, p. 90). The words "deformed and developed", "mysterious" and "idolatry" are all painful criticisms of people who worship Bodhisattva.
Bodhisattva worship is a unique Buddhist custom in China, but this superstition can't be seen in neighboring Japan. It is a combination of Buddhism and folk polytheism in China. It is not recognized by orthodox Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In terms of faith, worshippers have become "orphans" asked by various religions, which is really pitiful!
It turns out that the so-called Bodhisattva is formed by the Sanskrit word Bodhi -sattva. The first word Bodhi is translated as "feeling" and the second word sattva is translated as "sentient beings". The original sentence means "sentient beings". Therefore, Bodhisattva refers to the practitioners of Mahayana Buddhism, with Kuboth (Taoism) above and all beings below. If I borrow the original meaning of this Sanskrit, then all Christians are great bodhisattvas, because they are also persuading all beings while pursuing the Holy Way. However, after that, the bodhisattvas were deified. In addition to the living bodhisattvas who practice Buddhism and Taoism, there are also many metaphysical bodhisattvas. None of these bodhisattvas have lived, and there is no history to check. They are just idealizations of certain meanings or roles. For example, Guanyin is the idealization of compassion (some people think it is the idealization of a certain character), Manjusri is the symbol of wisdom, and Dizang is the idealization of vows. Of course, these bodhisattvas are untrustworthy and there is no reason to be worshipped. People who really believe in Buddhism will not kowtow to them. Today, Buddhists in China worship Bodhisattva, which is symbolic and idealistic. I don't know that worshippers themselves are bodhisattvas who practice Mahayana Buddhism. This is a bodhisattva. Goodbye! Many Indian monks and China monks who came to China to preach were also awarded the title of Bodhisattva. Although there is no Guanyin red, it has a lot of face. For example, Zhu Fahu in India is called "Dunhuang Bodhisattva", and Daoan (3 14-85), a monk in China, is called "Indian Bodhisattva". In the Tang Dynasty, Nuo Sect named Daxing monk "Constant Diligence Bodhisattva". Another example is the late master Taixu in modern times, who was widely called "Taixu Bodhisattva" by Buddhists.
It can be seen that being called a bodhisattva is an honor, but it does not mean that it has become a responsive "god." But after a long time, many living and dead Buddhists have also become the objects of worship (bodhisattvas) by ordinary people. Many bodhisattvas from India belong to this gate. As for Guan Gong, being called Bodhisattva (Guan Di Bodhisattva) is just a kind of hero worship, but it has also been absorbed into the temple by Buddhism. This is to cater to the needs of ordinary people.
Now you probably understand the meaning of worshipping Bodhisattva in China! But sadly, there are still many people kneeling in front of these clay sculptures today. If this is not idolatry, what is it? Christianity is most opposed to idolatry, because the true God in heaven is invisible and an invisible spiritual existence. Only by believing in Jesus can people get close to the true God, who we worship with our hearts and honesty. In today's Asian countries, thousands of Qian Qian people have divorced from their traditional beliefs, abandoned the worship of Mu Bodhisattva and converted to Christianity! In Christianity, the belief of these people has changed from the complex worship of many "God" bodhisattvas to the pure and unique worship of one God. They used to beg for worship from the east and the west and didn't know what to do. Now they are devoting themselves to serving the highest true God in the universe. This is Christ's greatest blessing to the Asian people. I only hope that you will abandon evil and do good as soon as possible and enjoy the joy and peace of truly believing in Jesus!