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Somewhere, I read that Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. That He did not deny the existence of God pleased many a-believers of God. There is a popular Chinese story about the Monkey King or Sun Wu Kong who created havoc in Heaven and had the Jade Emperor at his wits end. The Jade Emperor then appealed to the Buddha, who made a bet with the monkey that the latter could not jump further than his palm. The monkey which could cover 108,000 li in one leap proudly, took a great leap to what he thought was the end of the world. There were five pillars there and on them, he wrote a phrase declaring himself the great sage equal to heaven. Following which, the monkey leapt back and landed in the Buddha's palm where he found out that the five pillars were in fact the five fingers of the Buddha's hand. The monkey then tried to escape but the Buddha turned his hand into a mountain, sealed him there using a paper talisman on which was written the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in gold letters. That Buddha did not deny that there is God could mean either there is a God or there is not. Some Buddhist literatures do not refute the existence of God. If you'd believe that there are devas and different planes of existence, perhaps you'd believe that too. You may however, be like the monkey, prefering to leap out of a palm that controls.
Somewhere, I read that Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. That He did not deny the existence of God pleased many a-believers of God. There is a popular Chinese story about the Monkey King or Sun Wu Kong who created havoc in Heaven and had the Jade Emperor at his wits end. The Jade Emperor then appealed to the Buddha, who made a bet with the monkey that the latter could not jump further than his palm. The monkey which could cover 108,000 li in one leap proudly, took a great leap to what he thought was the end of the world. There were five pillars there and on them, he wrote a phrase declaring himself the great sage equal to heaven. Following which, the monkey leapt back and landed in the Buddha's palm where he found out that the five pillars were in fact the five fingers of the Buddha's hand. The monkey then tried to escape but the Buddha turned his hand into a mountain, sealed him there using a paper talisman on which was written the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum in gold letters. That Buddha did not deny that there is God could mean either there is a God or there is not. Some Buddhist literatures do not refute the existence of God. If you'd believe that there are devas and different planes of existence, perhaps you'd believe that too. You may however, be like the monkey, prefering to leap out of a palm that controls.
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