Changes

==View of God==

==View of God==

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, thus creating a paradox as to why they are called a religion. They can be considered to be philosophies of life. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that gods exist, but does not consider that knowledge crucial to an individual's practice of Buddhist teachings. The Buddha taught that we should not speculate about what we cannot know, and that speculation about [[God]] is pointless. Buddhists' priorities are release from suffering and direct experience of the true nature of reality. Many modern strains of Buddhism are [[atheist|atheistic]] in nature, this however does NOT create a paradox as to why they are called a relgion as religion as defined by the oxford english dicitionary means "a particuar system of faith or worship", therefore it is possible to be religious and deny the existance of god. They can be considered to be philosophies of life. Certain denominations, such as the Mahayana tradition, believe in [[Bodhisattvas]], or quasi-divine cosmic beings that seek to benefit others by remaining in a state of [[Samsara]], or eternal rebirth. These are prayed to, for advice and spiritual guidance, and often venerated.

==Teachings==

==Teachings==