How Western Buddhism Has Changed in 50 Years.

[white_wolf]

2. Your last sentence raises a great point.

In Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, human beings can never be even close God, they are worthless in his sight and evil. However, the Buddhist suttas make it clear that the gods were below the Buddha, because only he had broken the cycle of samsara and had the knowledge to teach others the Way. In some texts, Brahm, the highest god in the Hindu religion knelt before Buddha and begged him to teach the Dharma, because he too was subject to samsara. I forget the most important point. Buddha was not special. He was no better than you or me, what he achieved we can achieve. Mahayana Buddhism stresses the concept of Buddha-nature, that we are all Buddhas, we just need to wake up to it. That to me, is a much more noble view of humanity than the Abrahamic view.

I agree about Tibetan Buddhism. It is too superstitious to suit me, but if it helps others along the Path, I'm fine with it. To be honest though, it just seems odd to me and slightly frightening, with aspects such as the Wrathful Deities.