/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>47008909
>What difference does womanhood make
>when the mind is serene,
>and knowledge is present
>as you rightly discern the Dhamma.

>Surely someone who might think:
>'I am woman', or 'I am man',
>or 'I am' anything at all,
>is fit for Māra to address.

>>46977569
It depends on the strand of Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhists for example pray to Amitabha, which is the Buddha of Eternal Life. Like all Buddhas, he was once human, and now guides people to reincarnate into something called a "Pure Land", a blissful realm where achieving nirvana is easier. Some recite his name to reincarnate into the Pure Lands, some do it out of gratitude because he will save everyone. One might call him a god, but he was not involved in the creation of the universe, he simply has his own world.

Zen and Nichiren buddhists do pray, but for them the religion is more about meditation and trying to achieve enlightenment and following the Bodhisattva path, which basically means trying to achieve enlightenment as stated. This is all under the Mahayana sect of Buddhism, the one Byakuren follows and the most popular one in Japan.

Prayer for Buddhists in the sense of meditation is more to get closer to enlightenment than to be saved by a higher power (unless we're talking about pure land Buddhists). when they do praise the Buddha, it is mostly out of reverence, the Buddha (Siddharta Gautama) does not use his supernatual abilities (which some even reject) to save people. Only Amitabha does that.