Brahmā (Buddhism)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Brahmā
Ming dynasty statue of Brahma (Pinyin: Fàntiān) in Zhihua Temple in Beijing, China
Sanskritब्रह्मा
Brahmā
Pāli
ब्रह्मा
Brahmā
Burmeseဗြဟ္မာ
(Bya-mar)
Chinese梵天
(Pinyin: Fàntiān)
Japanese梵天（ぼんてん）
(
romaji: Bonten)
Khmerព្រះព្រហ្ម
(Preah Prom)
Korean범천
(RR: Beom Cheon)
Sinhalaබ්‍රහ්මයා
Brahmayā
TagalogBlahma
Thaiพระพรหม
Phra Phrom
Vajrayāna
icon Religion portal
Part of a series on
Buddhism
History
Buddhist texts
Practices
Nirvāṇa
Traditions
Buddhism by country

Brahmā is a leading God (

Buddha and invited him to teach, once the Buddha attained enlightenment.[3][5]

Brahma lords over the heavenly realm of rebirth called the Brahmaloka,[2] one of the highest realms in Buddhist cosmology.[6] Brahma is generally represented in Buddhist culture as a god with four faces and four arms, and variants of him are found in Mahayana Buddhist cultures.[3]

Origins and nomenclature

Brahmā (Phra Phrom) at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok, Thailand

The origins of Brahma in Buddhism and other Indian religions are uncertain, in part because several related words such as one for metaphysical Ultimate Reality (Brahman), and priest (Brahmin) are found in the Vedic literature. According to KN Jayatilleke, the Rigveda expresses skepticism about major deities such as Indra; whether he even exists,[7] as well as whether the universe has any creator and whether this can ever be known, as evidenced in its eighth and tenth book, particularly in its Nasadiya Sukta.[8][9]

The late Vedic hymns had begun inquiring the nature of true and valid knowledge, empirical verification and absolute reality.[10] The early Upanishads built upon this theme, while in parallel there emerged Buddhism, Jainism and other skeptical traditions. Buddhism used the term Brahma to deny a creator as well as to delegate him (and other deities such as Indra) as less important than the Buddha.[11][12][13]

In Hindu literature, one of the earliest mention of deity Brahma with Vishnu and Shiva is in the fifth Prapathaka (lesson) of the Maitrayaniya Upanishad, probably composed in late 1st millennium BCE, after the rise of Buddhism.[14][15][16] The spiritual concept of Brahman is far older, and some scholars suggest deity Brahma may have emerged as a personal conception and icon with attributes (saguna version) of the impersonal universal principle called Brahman.[17] The Buddhists attacked the concept of Brahma, states Gananath Obeyesekere, and thereby polemically attacked the Vedic and Upanishadic concept of gender neutral, abstract metaphysical Brahman.[18] This critique of Brahma in early Buddhist texts aim at ridiculing the Vedas, but the same texts simultaneously call metta (loving-kindness, compassion) as the state of union with Brahma. The early Buddhist approach to Brahma was to reject any creator aspect, while retaining the Brahmavihara aspects of Brahma, in the Buddhist value system.[18] Deity Brahma is also found in the samsara doctrine and cosmology of early Buddhism.[19][20]

Brahma is known as Fantian (梵天) in Chinese, Bonten (梵天) in Japanese, Hoān-thian (梵天) in

Taiwanese language, Pomch'on in Korean, Phạm Thiên in Vietnamese, Phra Phrom in Thai, and Tshangs pa in Tibetan.[3]

Classification

The term Brahmā in Buddhism refers to the leading god, but in some Suttas the term broadly refers to all deities who live in the realm of form. Ancient and medieval Buddhist texts define seventeen,[2][21] or more,[22][23] heavenly Brahmā realms (along with demi-gods, hungry ghost and hellish realms), in a stratified manner, which are reached in afterlife based on monastic achievement and karma accumulation. A brahma in these texts refers to any deva in the heavenly realms.[24] The Buddhist god Brahmā himself resides in the highest of the seventeen realms, called the Akaniṣṭha.[2] The multitude of Buddhist brahmas can refer to:[2][21]

  1. Any of the deities of the formless realm of existence called Ārūpyadhātu brahma, who enjoy the highest heavenly pleasures in afterlife;
  2. Any of the deities of the anthropomorphic form realm of existence called Rūpadhātu brahma, who enjoy moderate heavenly pleasures;

In the Niddesa, the Buddha is devatideva, the god beyond the gods including Brahma.[2]

In Thailand, Brahma or Phra Phrom is typically seen as the Buddhist god of order, government, law, students, the police, education, and the physical world.[25] He also has a role of both making the universe from chaotic, primordial matter and states of existence, and afterwards continually maintaining it by mitigating the depredations of these forces, with his efforts both being helped and hindered by the order and chaos of humanity and its civilizations.[25] Although, in modern and historic Thai religious writings, depictions that resemble the Hindu Brahma much more existed.[26]

Baka Brahmā

Baka Brahmā (literally "crane-Brahmā") appears in the

Majjhima Nikaya, where he is a deity who believes that his world is permanent and without decay (and that therefore he is immortal), and that therefore there are no higher worlds than his.[27]

Brahmā Sahampati

Gold covered Phra Phrom statue at Sanggar Agung, Surabaya, Indonesia. He is known as Brahmā Sahāmpati in the Thai tradition.

Brahmā Sahāmpati, said to be the most senior of the Mahābrahmās, was the deity who visited the Buddha when he attained

enlightenment, and encouraged him to teach the Dharma to humans.[3]

Brahmā Sanatkumāra

See also: Four Kumaras

Brahmā Sanatkumāra (Sanskrit) or Brahmā Sanaṅkumāra (Pāli), the "Ever-young", appears in the Janavasabha-sutta (DN.18), where he is recalled as having created an illusionary presence to make himself perceptible to the coarser senses of

Trāyastriṃśa.[28]

Mahābrahmā

Main article: Mahabrahma

The singular leading deity and the king of heavens Brahmā is sometimes referred in Buddhist texts as Mahābrahmā.[29][23] However, the Suttas are inconsistent in this regard and several early Buddhist texts depict Sakra (Pāli: Sakka) – who is same as the Hindu Vedic god Indra – as more important than Mahabrahma.[30]

The Mahābrahmā, or the Great Brahma, states Peter Harvey, is mentioned in Digha Nikaya as the being who dwells in the upper heaven; a Buddhist student can join him for one kalpa (eon, Brahma-year in Indian religions) after successfully entering the first

jhana in the form realm of Buddhist practice.[31]

Subrahmā and Suddhāvāsa

A pair of Brahmās who are usually seen together while engaging in conversation with the Buddha.[32]

Brahmavihara

Main article: Brahmavihara

In the sense of "a being of the Rūpadhātu", the term Brahmā may be related to

Rūpajhānas, which are shared by the inhabitants of the Rūpadhātu. Prior to the advent of the Buddha, according to Martin Wiltshire, the pre-Buddhist traditions of Brahma-loka, meditation and these four virtues are evidenced in both early Buddhist and non-Buddhist literature.[33] The early Buddhist texts assert that pre-Buddha ancient Indian sages who taught these virtues were earlier incarnations of the Buddha.[33] Post-Buddha, these same virtues are found in the Hindu texts such as verse 1.33 of the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali.[34] According to Peter Harvey, the Buddhist scriptures acknowledge that the four Brahmavihara meditation practices "did not originate within the Buddhist tradition".[35] The Buddha never claimed that the "four immeasurables" were his unique ideas, in a manner similar to "cessation, quieting, nirvana".[36] These meditation practices are named after Brahma, a god also found in Hinduism texts as well as Jainism text wherein he is equated with Rishabhanatha – the first Tirthankara in Jaina tradition.[2]

Chronology and Non-Buddhist views

Japanese statue of Brahma

The old Upanishads mention both Brahma in the masculine gender deity "Brahmā", as well as gender neutral "Brahman" as the impersonal world principle.[37]

According to David Kalupahana, the Upanishads do not strictly distinguish between the two.

Atman (self, soul) – is the predominant and frequent teaching in the Upanishads and other Vedic literature of the Upanishadic period,[40][41] so much so that early Hinduism is also referred to as Brahmanism.[42] The Pāli scriptures, which were written centuries after the death of the Buddha (although understood as representing the memorized word of the Buddha), mention Brahma, but there is no unambiguous mention of the gender neuter Brahman concept.[39]

Buddhism denies both Brahman and Atman concepts in ancient Hindu literature,

Anatta (non-Self, no soul) concept instead.[44][45][46]

The word Brahma is normally used in Buddhist sutras to mean "best", or "supreme".[47][48] Brahman in the texts of Advaita Vedanta and many other Hindu schools, states Nakamura, is a concrete universal, manifesting itself as phenomenal reality which is not illusory and nondual.[49]

In the earliest Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, the Absolute, which came to be referred to as Brahman, is referred to as "the imperishable".[50] The Pāli scriptures present a "pernicious view" that is set up as an absolute principle corresponding to Brahman: "O Bhikkhus! At that time Baka, the Brahmā, produced the following pernicious view: 'It is permanent. It is eternal. It is always existent. It is independent existence. It has the dharma of non-perishing. Truly it is not born, does not become old, does not die, does not disappear, and is not born again. Furthermore, no liberation superior to it exists elsewhere." The principle expounded here corresponds to the concept of Brahman laid out in the Upanishads. According to this text the Buddha criticized this notion: "Truly the Baka Brahmā is covered with unwisdom."[51]

concentration.[52][53] The Upanishadic scholars, according to Francis X Clooney and other scholars, assert their insights as a combination of intuitive empiricism, experimentalism, and inspired creative perception.[54][55]

See also
Wikiquote has quotations related to Brahmā (Buddhism).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Brahma (Buddhism).

Notes

  1. ^ Bonten Nichiren Buddhism Library, Soka Gakkai
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-81-215-0565-9
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-521-85942-4
    .
  5. ^ "Ayacana Sutta: The Request". www.accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 2018-01-08.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4008-4805-8
    .
  7. ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1
    ., Quote: "What evidence is there for the existence of Indra unless someone has seen him? One stanza in a hymn says, 'One and another say, there is no Indra. Who hath beheld him? Whom then shall we honor?' - Rigveda 8.100.3, in Griffith: 8.89.3"
  8. ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1
    .
  9. ISBN 978-90-279-7997-1
    .
  10. ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1
    . Quote: "Here for the first time there is an expression of doubt about the possibility of knowing certain things and a dim awareness that some sort of evidence was necessary before we can afford to make factual assertions. What evidence is there for the existence of Indra unless someone has seen him? (...)"
  11. ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-595-26925-9
    .
  13. ISBN 978-90-279-7997-1
    .
  14. ^ Hume, Robert Ernest (1921), The Thirteen Principal Upanishads, Oxford University Press, pp. 422–424
  15. ISBN 978-81-208-0619-1
    ., Quote: "We may conclude from the above that the rise of Buddhism is not far removed in time from, though it is prior to, the Maitri Upanishad".
  16. ^ Jan Gonda (1968), The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Vol. 63, pages 215-219
  17. ISBN 978-8120816763
    , pages 82-83
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-81-208-2609-0
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-19-160671-7
    .
  20. ISBN 978-1-4411-4726-4
    .
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-1-55939-868-8
    .
  22. ISBN 978-1-135-79122-3
    .
  23. ^ a b Joseph Edkins (1880). Chinese Buddhism: A Volume of Sketches, Historical, Descriptive and Critical. Trübner. pp. 224–225.
  24. ISBN 978-81-208-1375-5. {{cite book}}: |author2= has generic name (help
    )
  25. ^ a b "Hindu Ideas of Creation". In Our Time. BBC Radio 4. 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  26. ^ Phromsuthirak, Maneepin (1981). "Hindu Brahmā in Thai Literature" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 69 (1): 43–44.
  27. ^ "Brahma-nimantanika Sutta: The Brahma Invitation". www.accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  28. ^ "DN 18". SuttaCentral. Retrieved 2017-04-23.
  29. ISBN 978-1-134-24210-8
    .
  30. ISBN 978-1-136-15623-6
    .
  31. ISBN 978-0-521-85942-4
    .
  32. ^ "SN 6". SuttaCentral. Retrieved 2018-11-11.
  33. ^
    ISBN 978-3-11-009896-9
    .
  34. ^ Quote: मैत्री करुणा मुदितोपेक्षाणां सुखदुःखपुण्यापुण्यविषयाणां भावनातश्चित्तप्रसादनम् ॥ ३३॥ - Yogasutra 1.33; Source, SanskritDocuments.Org
  35. ISBN 978-1-4411-4726-4
    .
  36. ISBN 978-81-208-1403-5
    .
  37. ^ Hajime Nakamura, A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy: Part One. Reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1990, page 136.
  38. ^ David Kalupahana (1975), Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, page 19.
  39. ^
    ISBN 978-1-136-98588-1
    .
  40. ISBN 978-81-208-1330-4
    .
  41. ISBN 978-88-7652-482-0
    .
  42. ISBN 978-0-8108-4070-6
    .
  43. ISBN 978-81-208-1592-6
    .; Quote: "In very few words, Brahmanism, the old Indian religion, was a pantheism with Brahman (the eternal, absolute, unchanging principle) as the first cause of the universe. The manifestation of this Brahman is sometimes personified and is called Brahma (god, or the great self). Every human being has atman (little self). Brahman and atman are one, and of the same substance. Brahmanism, therefore, is an effort to seek the ultimate principle, Brahman, by studying one's Self, atman. The Buddha denied the existence of Brahman and atman and advanced a new theory of anatman (no-self)...."
  44. ISBN 978-1-317-72386-8
    .
  45. ISBN 978-8120806191
    , pages 246-249, from note 385 onwards;
  46. ISBN 978-8120801585
    , page 63, Quote: "The Buddhist schools reject any Ātman concept. As we have already observed, this is the basic and ineradicable distinction between Hinduism and Buddhism".
  47. ^ Steven Collins, Aggañña sutta. Sahitya Akademi, 200, page 58.
  48. ^ Peter Harvey, The Selfless Mind. Curzon Press, 1995, page 234.
  49. ISBN 978-8120819634
    , pages 137-139
  50. ^ Karel Werner, The Yogi and the Mystic: Studies in Indian and Comparative Mysticism. Routledge, 1994, page 24.
  51. ^ Hajime Nakamura, A History of Early Vedānta Philosophy: Part One. Reprint by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1990, pages 137-138. "It has the dharma of non-perishing" is Nakamura's translation of "acavanadhammam".
  52. David J. Kalupahana, Buddhist philosophy: A Historical Analysis. Published by University of Hawaii Press, 1977, pages 23-24;
    David Kalupahana
    , Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism. The University Press of Hawaii, 1975, page 185.
  53. A.K. Warder
    , A Course in Indian Philosophy. Second edition published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1998, page 81.
  54. ISBN 978-9004125568
    , pages 13-14
  55. ISBN 978-0-7914-4778-9
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brahmā_(Buddhism)&oldid=1195253293"